Sea Salts and Sail Festival

Type: Festival

The village of Mousehole lies on the coast, five miles from Lands End. Once the homeport of the fastest sail fishing fleet in the world (Fisheries Exhibition 1876), Mousehole has retained its character and a strong community spirit whilst developing into a tourist destination. Though many of the buildings have been modernised internally, the Village has retained its charm with its narrow streets and enclosed courtyards, once built to be easily defended against Pirates, press-gangs or other invasive forces.

See visiting traditional sailing craft moored up alongside the 13th century quay. On Saturday and Sunday there will be sailing races, giving the spectators a chance to see these wonderful boats in full sail, ranging in colour, from the traditional tan sails to the more modern white etc.

Enjoy the unchanged delights of our narrow street, glimpses of St Michael’s Mount and the reflections in the harbour of the granite and slate roofed cottages.

Absorb the atmosphere of a bygone age and listen to the soft Atlantic swells caressing smugglers’ caves, with evocative names such as Slinky Dean and Dickie Daniel’s Hole.

Sit back and relax on a still summer’s day, listen and watch the traditional Celtic music and dancing of our county.

Admire the views across the beautiful bay and witness firsthand what it was like years ago to see the working sailing boats leaving the harbour.

Learn and discover Mousehole’s past by taking one of the guided walks around the village, visiting the photographic heritage display or viewing the film archive of Mousehole and the fishing industry.

Taste the delights of local fish dishes prepared in front of your eyes by some of our local chefs.

Stay with us to rekindle the spirit of our past in our ancient and picturesque village of Mousehole

Sit back and sample the sea air while watching the children go through their displays

Allowyourself time to take in everything we have to offer, including sampling our refreshments

Smoked Herring
A very familiar and popular visitor to the festival is Mike Smylie otherwise known as the “Kipperman.” He started his Herring Exhibition in 1996 and you can locate this at the end of the South pier and remember your visit to the festival will not be complete until you taste his produce. A Maritime Historian, Mike has produced many articles for the “Classic Boat”. In 2004 Kipperman was presented with the BBC Radio 4 Food Campaigner/Educator Award. Mike travels all the way down from Camarthen to attend our event and has been heard to say that out of all the festivals he attends, Mousehole’s is one of the best. You can find out more about the Kipperman by logging on to www.kipperman.co.uk. See also our images, which include pictures of the Kipperman Exhibition.

Crab Pot Making
Ably demonstrated by Mr Richard Ede, made in the traditional way using willow (withies)

Woodcarving – traditional Cornish Folk Art Re-discovered
In the nineteenth century St Ives fishermen, who might be away at sea for long periods, took with them pieces of old spars or oars, from which they carved wooden dolls for their children. These were called Joannies. Some of these have survived and can be seen in the St Ives Museum. Steve Martin, an artist from St Ives, has re-discovered this primitive folk art, and to help celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, he carved fifty one of these wooden figures, representing the people of St Ives – “The Jubilee Joannies” – and continues to carve Joannies and has now moved on to “Joaney-Cats”, the local cats as wooden caricatures.

Pottery
John Swan of Pendeen Pottery will demonstrating his skills and you may even get the opportunity to throwing a pot (not literally mind). John has a workshop and gallery in Pendeen and is regularly seen at local craft shows, exhibiting his pottery.

Cornish Wrestling
This is an ancient art, which has recently been revived and is now very popular in parts of West Cornwall. This weekend a group will be demonstrating the various moves and an expert in the art will be giving a running commentary.

Cookery – Saturday & Sunday
We are very fortunate to have the assistance of two head chefs of our local restaurants, namely Keith Terry from the Cornish Range and Joe Wardell of Nr 2 Fore Street who will be demonstrating their cookery skills. This item has always proved very popular, generating a lot of interest and willing guinea pigs ready to sample the mouth-watering fish delicacies cooked right in front of you. Lindsey Bareham will also be tempting us with some of her culinary creations and there will be opportunities to purchase her books, including one of her newest, which features Mousehole.

Photographic Display
Photographs and memorabilia will be on display in the Mousehole Sunday School, depicting Mousehole in many stages, from early 1800’s to present day. Each year we are discovering more photographs and these are added to our archives.

Films
The committee has created an archive from old videos/films, transferring them onto DVDs in order to preserve the heritage and these will also be shown during the festival.

Heritage Walks
Not to be missed if you would like to learn more about the village. Our guide will take you around to places you probably would not normally visit during your stay in Cornwall, and you will also hear stories of times past.

Dates

Event 2008 04/07/2008 - 06/07/2008