Thursday 21st February
Whether you are a resident or visitor, we hope you’ll use this site to keep up to date with what’s going on in and around Port Navas.
If you have any photos to contribute, or ideas for other items that could be included on our website, please send us an email. Many of the pictures on our site can be enlarged just by clicking on them. If you want to re-publish any photos please email us.
The Port Navas Village Hall has a full programme of talks, courses and exhibitions. Please come along and support our events. The hall is here for the benefit of the village and we hope the programme is to your liking. All comments and suggestions would be most welcome.
You can book the hall for private and group events. There is a modest charge. Email Mel Chambers or call on 07768 1938488.
Christian Boulton, who lives locally, has written a new book tracing the colourful history of the Helford River.
Evidently the Helford became one of the most significant waterways in Europe during the Iron Age and Roman periods. Despite being mainland Britain’s most southerly haven, it has not always been a place of good fortune. Once a thriving seat of Celtic Christianity, it apparently became more associated with villainous seafarers. Nor could it be always relied upon for sanctuary from storms, as the numerous graves of mariners in its village churchyards attest. Although now overshadowed by its more famous siblings, the Helford truly is the enigmatic beauty of the family whose rich past deserves wider knowledge.
‘Five Million Tides’ is available to pre-order from Amazon.
A beautiful sunny day in Port Navas for the January Soup Kitchen. The Village Hall was packed for Teresa Butler’s Leek and Potato and Dilys Gardiner’s Carrot and Vegetable. Teresa also made the brioche and delicious Bakewell tarts.
Don Garman was on hand to tell us about the Constantine Museum’s latest acquisition: a Constantine constable’s staff from 1845 donated by a Suffolk based collector who’d had it for forty years.
More photos…
On the eve of Epiphany the residents of Port Navas and friends, young and old, gathered in the village hall to celebrate the last day of Christmas in style. Everyone brought food and all enjoyed a great evening culminating in the ceremonial switch-off of the Christmas lights.
More photos…
On the eve of Epiphany the residents of Port Navas and friends, young and old, gathered in the village hall to celebrate the last day of Christmas in style. Everyone brought food and all enjoyed a great evening culminating in the ceremonial switch-off of the Christmas lights.
Happy Christmas to Port Navas from the Village Hall committee. Another year has passed and we continue to thrive, all because we treasure our little hall and enjoy being there.
The cards on my mantelpiece are one or two from previous years, painted by Tiffa; they come out every year!
Margaret Scott
Last Friday the lights were switched on by Nina, one of our younger residents.
It all looks very blue, but not so the ceremony, which was accompanied by the wonderful Constantine Band, mulled wine, hot food and enthusiastic carol singing from the large crowd of young and old.
A great start to the festive season.
Click for more photos. Thanks Ben.
Last Friday the lights were switched on by Nina, one of our younger residents.
It all looks very blue, but not so the ceremony, which was accompanied by the wonderful Constantine Band, mulled wine, hot food and enthusiastic carol singing from the large crowd of young and old.
A great start to the festive season. Thanks Ben for the photos.
We now have a new noticeboard at the Village Hall, thanks to a contribution from both The Parish Council and Cllr John Bastin’s Community Chest.
The old board, which was gently disintegrating, had been with us since we renovated the Hall in 1992. Huge thanks go to Roger Wickins who sorted out the whole process and then voluntarily helped Henry to install the board. The new board is made from re-cycled plastic and should last for many years to come without warping.
Chris Gregory, the Duchy Land Steward, has sent us this update on the Oyster Farm:
Plans for the re-opening of the Helford oysterage continue apace. The Duchy have selected Tristan Hugh-Jones as their preferred new lessee and are now working to conclude details for the new lease agreement. Tristan was born on his family oyster farm, where the main focus was to breed and grow native oysters, using ponds for breeding the young spat. He has worked with oysters for over 20 years, both on the farm in Ireland, and also setting up tanks in London for distribution. He now lives in Penberth, near Penzance, with his wife Vickie and four young children. He is delighted that this opportunity to revive a native oyster bed is possible, and at last, close to home!
Tristan will be farming native oysters using traditional cultivation techniques, with the oysters being grown directly on the seabed. Oysters and other shellfish will still be processed from the depot at Port Navas but on a much reduced scale compared with the previous lessee and we are confident that the new enterprise will sit comfortably with the continued use of the quay by the community, under the terms of the agreement that the Duchy has with the Village Hall Committee.
Potentially our greatest challenge concerns the depot building itself. Sadly two engineers have now advised that the building is beyond economic repair and we are therefore having to consider demolishing the existing structure and replacing it. Plans for this have been prepared and an application for planning permission has recently been submitted to Cornwall Council. The full details of the proposals will be sent to Constantine Parish Council in the usual way and they will of course be available to view on line through the Cornwall Council planning portal. We have tried to introduce as few changes to the design of the current building as possible. The most significant addition is the inclusion of a small managers flat under the eves on the first floor, which will provide on- site accommodation and will, we feel, provide for better overall management of the site.
Alongside the planning application, we are also assembling a funding package and if all these pieces come together, we would look to start construction in the early part of 2019. We look forward to updating this post when we have news of the progress of the planning application.
Port Navas Oyster Farm – Proposed elevations
Click to enlarge
Chris Gregory, the Duchy Land Steward, has sent us this update on the Oyster Farm:
Plans for the re-opening of the Helford oysterage continue apace. The Duchy have selected Tristan Hugh-Jones as their preferred new lessee and are now working to conclude details for the new lease agreement. Tristan was born on his family oyster farm, where the main focus was to breed and grow native oysters, using ponds for breeding the young spat. He has worked with oysters for over 20 years, both on the farm in Ireland, and also setting up tanks in London for distribution. He now lives in Penberth, near Penzance, with his wife Vickie and four young children. He is delighted that this opportunity to revive a native oyster bed is possible, and at last, close to home!
Tristan will be farming native oysters using traditional cultivation techniques, with the oysters being grown directly on the seabed. Oysters and other shellfish will still be processed from the depot at Port Navas but on a much reduced scale compared with the previous lessee and we are confident that the new enterprise will sit comfortably with the continued use of the quay by the community, under the terms of the agreement that the Duchy has with the Village Hall Committee.
Potentially our greatest challenge concerns the depot building itself. Sadly two engineers have now advised that the building is beyond economic repair and we are therefore having to consider demolishing the existing structure and replacing it. Plans for this have been prepared and an application for planning permission has recently been submitted to Cornwall Council. The full details of the proposals will be sent to Constantine Parish Council in the usual way and they will of course be available to view on line through the Cornwall Council planning portal. We have tried to introduce as few changes to the design of the current building as possible. The most significant addition is the inclusion of a small managers flat under the eves on the first floor, which will provide on- site accommodation and will, we feel, provide for better overall management of the site.
Alongside the planning application, we are also assembling a funding package and if all these pieces come together, we would look to start construction in the early part of 2019. We look forward to updating this post when we have news of the progress of the planning application.
Port Navas Oyster Farm – Proposed elevations
Click to enlarge
A weekend of activity in the hall has just finished, with tutor Mel Chambers instructing in the art of encaustic tile making. By the end of Saturday we had engraved our tiles (click to see picture) and covered them in blue “slip”. On Sunday we scraped off the slip to rediscover our designs. There was much hilarity when one of the students was heard to say “I’ve lost my eye, I couldn’t have put it in”, and another asked “Can you put back toenails?”.
Mel will now glaze and fire our tiles and we will get them back in about three weeks time. Mel will be running more courses next spring; you can be a complete novice and still produce something to be proud of. All the materials and tools are provided, as are the soup, bread, cheese and delicious chocolate brownies.
A weekend of activity in the hall has just finished, with tutor Mel Chambers instructing in the art of encaustic tile making. By the end of Saturday we had engraved our tiles and covered them in blue “slip”. On Sunday we scraped off the slip to rediscover our designs. There was much hilarity when one of the students was heard to say “I’ve lost my eye, I couldn’t have put it in”, and another asked “Can you put back toenails?”.
Mel will now glaze and fire our tiles and we will get them back in about three weeks time. Mel will be running more courses next spring; you can be a complete novice and still produce something to be proud of. All the materials and tools are provided, as are the soup, bread, cheese and delicious chocolate brownies.
