The Cornwall Blog

Reservations are now being taken for a special fundraising lunch at Fifteen Cornwall, Watergate Bay, on Thursday 11th June, when Jamie Oliver will be donning his chef whites and getting back in the kitchen. Returning to Fifteen Cornwall for the graduation of the latest apprentices, and to welcome in the new cohort, Jamie will accompany Executive Chef Neil Haydock and the team of professional chefs to create a sublime three course lunch using the finest local seasonal ingredients. Fifteen Cornwall proudly aims to use a minimum of 80% local Cornish produce. In what promises to be a fun and relaxed occasion, Jamie will be chatting to guests to take them through the menu. Dave Meneer, Fifteen Cornwall’s CEO, will be on hand to give guests a chance to put some questions to Jamie over the course of the lunch. Later in the day Jamie will attend a private graduation ceremony for this year’s White Hats (Fifteen Cornwall’s apprentice chefs) after a year of training and experience in the kitche...

Fire fears disrupted a Truro concert held to mark 30 years of the city being twinned with Morlaix in France. Organised by the Truro Morlaix Twinning Associaton, the concert was due to start at 3pm on April 18 in the Mayor's Parlour at Truro City Hall. However, just as the conductor stood with baton poised for the music to begin, the hall’s fire alarm sounded. The audience, along with musicians from France and Cornwall, hastily evacuated the building. The concerned crowd then waited for half an hour in Boscawen Street whilst the fire brigade searched the building. Finally the all clear was given and the rest of the concert passed off without a hitch, except for local cellist David Hoskin being temporarily stuck in a lift with one of the more mature French female musicians. The orchestra – composed of members of renowned string group the St Mewan Sinfonia and Morlaix’s L’Orchestre de Patio – played a well received programme of works by Bach, Grieg, Vivaldi and Brahms. The concert, wh...

If you are fortunate enough to live near the Camel Trail in Cornwall, no doubt you have had a stroll or bike ride somewhere between Padstow and Bodmin, maybe even ventured the full length. Whatever the case I am sure you would have delighted in the bird life found all along this trail. I wrote previously regarding bird watching on the Camel Estuary, and recently I took the plunge and purchased a scope to enhance my birding. It took me hours of research, visits to optic demonstrations in the field, and advice from other users before I finally made up my mind on which scope to go for. My decision?…Swarovski ATS 80HD with a 20 - 60 Zoom lens (pictured above). No, it was not cheap, but I had been saving for some time and reasoned that I only want to buy once, and so in my research decided to get one of the best on the market. It hasn't let me down. In my opinion the optimum Zoom for clarity is around 35 - 40 times. I am not a Swarovski salesman, nor am I suggesting you go out and buy o...

Rick and Jill Stein announce an exciting new grill menu at St Petroc’s Bistro in Padstow. Rick Stein’s Mediterranean-style bistro is now expanding its menu to incorporate three new grill dishes, including an 8oz sirloin steak with pommes coq d’or, 12oz rump steak with tomato, mushrooms and thin cut chips and a special 16oz Chateau-briand for two to share. St Petroc’s Bistro has always served simple, classic bistro dishes, offering a mixture of both seafood and meat options. In addition to the new grill menu, signature dishes such as the Parmigiana di melanzana, whole grilled lemon sole with mushrooms and brown shrimps, and escalopes of salmon with sorrel sauce will still be available. Head chef at St Petroc’s Bistro, Paul Harwood, comments: “We’re really happy with the new steak dishes. We’ve sourced a really high quality Aberdeen-Angus with Charolais cross for the new grill menu, well-known for being tender, succulent and full of flavour. “Our rib-eye steak proved so popular...

Teenage Correspondents Report from the Healthcare Frontline In a ground-breaking new film project, Stepping into Shoes, seven Cornish teenagers have been recounting their first hand experience of receiving medical treatment within the NHS. The first film tells the story of three young people with long-term illness, exploring what impact managing their condition has on their lives. Seen entirely through the eyes of these adolescents, it reveals ‘matter of fact’ insights into the daily care regime for three teenagers with Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis and Diabetes. Working with Cornish film-maker Hana Backland, the documentary uses video diary and interviews to explore the issues, challenges and good practice which inform their encounters with the health service. The second film follows the journey of four healthy teenagers, recruited from Youth Cornwall, who report on their experience of hospital treatment. It examines the hospital environment from the viewpoint of teenag...

Visitors from far and wide winter in and around the estuary that stretches from Wadebridge to Padstow. They can be seen all along the well known Camel Trail, and if you want a close, clear, colourful view of these valued visitors, the best time is at low tide with the mid-afternoon sun at your back. They of course are waders, wildfowl, gulls and an array of other exotic species that we are privileged to have an acquaintance with at this time of year. Above you can see a shot of a Little Egret that I took on a journey to the waterside last Winter. My last visit was rewarded with a spectacular view of a kingfisher. It flew diagonally across the estuary, straight towards me and my wife, and suddenly stopped mid-air and hovered, like a Kestrel at the side of a motorway. We've often seen this little wonder but usually as it flashed by. This time with the sun behind us and in a hovering position he/she lit up like a rainbow. What a wonderful moment! There are many rewarding moments along...

New Book by Contemporary British Artist John O’Carroll. Title: ‘John O’Carroll Art Works 1998 - 2008’ ‘John O’Carroll has parallel careers as an archaeological illustrator with the Dakhleh Oasis Project, Western Desert, Egypt (an archaeological and environmental study) and in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, as a contemporary artist working in the desert and by the Cornish coast. This book brings together a body of work united by an interest in time and place in landscape and the elements that shape it. It reveals a preoccupation with processes of change and interchange, illuminating a correlation between micro and macro systems. Although ostensibly impressionistic, the works are often rich in metaphoric potential. Through their treatment of the abstract and transient, they pursue what is essential and universal. A key constituent of this is the sourcing of natural pigments, resins and waxes for use in the work. Followed by their meticulous, almost alchemical, preparation and subs...