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Tags: Archeology, Conservation, Books, Cornwall, Archives, History, Collections
MORRAB BOOK & POSTCARD FAIR
We’re all gearing up for this year’s Book and Postcard fair, to be held at St. John’s Hall, Penzance, this coming Saturday 24th September from 10 – 4. It promises to be a great day – loads of second-hand and antiquarian book stalls, postcard stalls, raffle, delicious cakes, tea & coffee – all to raise money for the Morrab Library. Everyone is welcome, so do please come along and support the library. Hope to see you there!
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This month’s offering from the slide collection. We have a fair bit of information about this one, but if you have any more we’d be really grateful – thank you.
‘Loading Stone Boats’ on the South Pier at Newlyn c1970
This is a Ruston diesel Loco (LM 40, No. 375315), used to deliver the millions of tons of ‘Blue Elvan’ stone quarried at Penlee (started in 1880s and originally called Gwavas Quarry). Vessels were moored alongside the railway, and the trams, each containing two and a half tonnes, tipped the stone chippings into the hold. The narrow gauge railway ran from the end of the Lighthouse Pier back to the quarry ‘bins’ which have since been demolished. In 1973, a new conveyor system replaced the familiar little trains, and the whole quarry operation ceased in the 1990s.
The brass plate on the tram (bottom right) refers to a Newlyn man: Mr. John W Jenkin, a much respected and long serving employee of the firm. The loco driver (just visible – you can see his hand + a boot!) could well be Mr. Bill Sleeman and the figure helping to tip the trams is possibly Mr. Louis Lawry.
In the distance you can see glimpses of Newlyn – to the left, the houses above Sandy Cove and the road to Mousehole. And to the right the houses above the Fishermens Arms Inn extending up to Lynn Terrace and St. Peter’s Hill.
The Penlee story is well documented and a major part of Newlyn’s history.
Penzance Literary Festival 2011
Penzance Literary Festival took place in the town last week and the library hosted a number of talks and workshops as well as offering Library tours throughout the week.
Dawn (who conducts our regular Friday afternoon library tours) did a fantastic job and took lots of people around the library, explaining our history and origins, and showing some unique items from the special collections and archive. We would also like to thank Ros in particular who was an amazing host, offering visitors tea, coffee and biscuits and doing a mountain of washing up – the best front of house we could ask for.
The talks and workshops were all well attended and enjoyed- the reading room was packed out for three lectures/workshops a day and all the guest speakers were well received. So, well done to Peter Levin and his team who co-ordinated and ensured everything ran smoothly – the festival was even bigger and better than last year and we look forward to PZ lit-fest 2012!