Welcome to the Cornish List Tregenna Party 2004
Welcome to the Cornish List Tregenna Party 2004
Turn on your speakers and get in the mood.
Welcome to the beautiful Tregenna Castle Hotel. Set in a magnificent estate, with an 18 hole golf course, quiet wooded walks and tropical gardens high above the holiday town of St Ives. This is the place that Jan Mackey suggested we should hold part two of the annual virtual shindig................
Dear List,
May I suggest that we hold the annual Christmas party at Tregenna Castle Hotel,
just above St. Ives? It's nice and large with vast lawn space to
accommodate the various animals and modes of transportation that will arrive
plus the harbor at St. Ives will accommodate sea transports. Down long
is Trenwith Car Park, a great place for overflow parking that just might glow at
night from the uranium once mined there. (Madam Curie herself used this
source for her uranium needs!) The St. Ives train station is just over the
cliff from the Castle and a horse drawn carriage would be lovely for drawing up
guests. And just a little ways from Tregenna Castle is The Cornish Arms, a
great pub which has been around for ever. Mr. Fox runs the place and is
happy to welcome guests from all over the world. He'll even befuddle you
with a bit of real St. Ives speak, leaving you blurry eyed before you've tasted
a drop! Non-smoking areas are available to those such as Jan Davis and
myself who are sensitive to cigarette smoke. Around the corner from the
Cornish Arms is a Monument and across from there is an old wooded area mined by
the Ancients, all bumpy and lumpy with stunted, overgrown mossy trees. The
perfect place for a midnight party!
So, what say ye to this idea???
Jan Mackey
California, USA
Old Tregenna
Sandra P wrote...........
I'll vote for that
Jan
Tregenna Castle was a beautiful old house with large lofty rooms, plush carpets,
roaring fires, a large wine cellar and a fantastic ballroom. The old road to St
Ives went right past the entrance and those arriving by air can be easily guided
in to the landing place on the lawns as nearby is Trencrom where you can
get a 360 degree view and see both coasts and as far west as St Buryan and east
to St Austell on a clear night. No reason for anyone to get lost this time and
be late for the party. We can light the beacon on the very top to show you the
flight-path in. From the very top you can also see the Mount as it sits in
a glittering sea when the moon is full. The giants of St Michaels
Mount and Trencrom Carn used to throw stones at each other for fun. One still
lies at the foot of
the carn and was rumoured to give witches their power of flight. Sadly, no
broomstick trips now as its power is spent. Wesley used it as a preaching mound
before the chapel was built in the woodland clearing nearby and all its magical
power ebbed away with his words.
More than one kind of spirit frequents this landscape and the jingle of
pack mules may be heard on the still night air. Is it something else beside tin
they carry in their packs?
A walk back through
the woods takes you over the lands of the Praed family of Trembethoe, by the
ancient village now buried beneath the shifting sands of the Hayle
estuary and past the ruins of the old manor of the Pawley and Bottrell families.
At Longstone Cross the phantom coach may appear on moonless nights; the horses
hooves sparking and their nostrils flaming. Good Christian souls would bar their
doors at the sound of the approach of the snorting, fire-breathing beast.
Despite all this hocus pocus in the "other world" St Ives folk
enjoyed running amok themselves.
During the 12 days
of Christmas men & women would cross-dress and blacken and veil their faces
in an effort to disguise themselves. They would chose a couple as their 'Lord
& Lady of Misrule' and would go through the streets singing and dancing. No
doubt they would visit the various inns for refreshment on the way. Later,
very much under the influence, they would burst into houses in the middle of the
night [no one ever locked their doors then] demanding food and more drink,
refusing to leave until their hosts could guess their identity! [ Have you ever
had party guests like that?]
With the advent of the chapel these 'goings on' were frowned on until gradually
it went the way of all traditions and today is a pale shade of it former self.
Now in St Ives,on the last night of the old year, youngsters from far and near
gather in fancy dress to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. The pubs stay
open until long into the night but people's doors are now kept firmly shut
and locked. We could bring back the Lord of Misrule to reign in St Ives once
more, at least for a short while in the virtual world, if not in reality.
Sandra P
OK, so Tregenna was the choice for most people on the list for the Christmas ball but lets start our visit to St Ives in the woodland glade as Jan suggested. So if you are ready to party lets go...............