The Cornwall Blog

We've taken quite a battering in Cornwall with storm Eunice, and storm Franklin may well bring more damage. Thankfully I've only had sleepless nights and flickering lights but many around me have lost power and lost tiles. My mum's greenhouse, plastic, twisted into quite an impressive modern sculpture. Thankfully no one I knew has been hurt. I can't say I ventured out myself to get any photos but I have sought out some who have. With waves dwarfing defences and monolith trees crashing leaving chaos in their wake, there has been no shortage of drama.  Here are a few pictures that capture the storm perfectly.  Tom Cox caught on camera this casualty of storm Eunice, a tree in Bude thankfully fell away from the road. From The Guardian .  The post office on St Martins, the Isles of Scilly took a great picture of the crashing waves. From the BBC . Poor Porthleven always takes a battering, wonderfully moody photographs from Cornwall Lives ' Greg Martin. A little bit of fun...

I just love looking at old photographs, it makes history feel real and tangible. If you are travelling down west to Penzance this year, from the 12th Jan to the 16th of March you can see a new exhibition at Penlee House. This creative hub will showcase around 100 images in their Luminaries exhibition , revealing how west Cornwall looked in the Victorian era. The collection contains some of the Gibson & Sons archive which Penlee acquired in 2016, plus professional and amateur photographers from the time. These include Robert Preston, William Colenso and John Branwell who was the first owner of Penlee House. A fascinating glimpse into the social history in this beautiful part of Cornwall, and a chance to see what has changed, if anything, in the last 100 hundred years.

There is so much of this lovely county to explore - but how about seeing it in style? New Cornish business Cornwall Discovery has just been set up by Barry Pengelly, he aims to give bespoke tours of our diverse county in luxury and comfort.  The beauty of Cornwall Discovery is the flexibility, if you fancy a romantic picnic on the North Coast cliffs to watch the sunset, it can all be arranged. If you want to a tour of ancient churches and structures, a trip can be tailored. Or if you would like to be collected from the airport and discover the moors complete with history and folk tales, your wish is their command!   Barry has just launched his new website full of quirky photographs of some the gems that make Cornwall so special, I particularly like the cows who look wonderfully blow-dried! You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook to see some great snaps of this wild, wondrous and bizarre county.  Where would you go? To book your own tour contact Barry...

A new exhibition showcasing the work of Falmouth-based photographer Oliver Raymond-Barker will be taking place at The Poly, Falmouth, from 1-7 March 2011. This is his first solo show and has been enabled by a development grant from the arts organisation Creative Skills Cornwall. Through the medium of photography and print Raymond-Barker explores his connection with the natural and built environment. The wild coast of Cornwall provides a wealth of inspiration, as does his work as an architectural photographer. His images seek to transcend the original subject and create a new vision, communicating the energy and essence of locations as he sees them. Raymond-Barker graduated from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in 2002 with an honours degree in Photography. Following his degree, he worked as studio assistant and later digital manager for Sanctuary Studios in London before deciding to go freelance two years later. He has spent the last five years working in the outdoor adventu...