Update: Congestion westbound into Cornwall and on A30 at Bodmin as holiday season gets into full swing
West Cornwall fishwives hope for chart success
THE FISHWIVES Choir have released their first single and singer Hannah Pascoe is asking the people of west Cornwall to help push it up the charts.
The choir comprises 40 women from fishing communities, including operatic soloist Hannah from Newlyn and mother and daughter Sue Hendricks and Jennie Ansell from Perranporth.
They came together to support the work of the Fishermen's Mission after a number of them – including Sue and Jennie – lost loved ones at sea.
They then approached Hannah, the group's only trained singer.
Now they have recorded and released their first single, a double A-side of When The Boat Comes In and hymn Eternal Father, available as an iTunes download.
Hannah, a soloist with the Mousehole and Holman's Climax Male Voice Choirs, Penzance Operatic Society and Duchy Operatic Society, and singer with the Goonvrea Singers, said: "Only iTunes sales count towards the chart so we need to sell 10,000 downloads by August 24 to guarantee chart position.
"Any help would be appreciated.
"I'm really excited at the idea of being in the charts."
The choir have appeared on The One Show on the BBC, on Radio 4 and numerous local TV and radio shows as well as featuring in The Cornishman.
The next step is to break into the charts.
You can download the Fishwives single at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/when-boat-comes-in-eternal/id675149831
Learn more at www.facebook.com/thefishwiveschoir and follow the girls at www.twitter.com/fishwiveschoirs
Penzance solicitor Helen's new job at Coodes
A SOLICITOR based in Penzance has been promoted to head of department at law firm Coodes just six months after relocating from London.
When she worked at international law firm SJ Berwin Helen Willett worked on a £1.8 billion property deal.
Now Helen, who divided her time between Coodes' Penzance and Truro offices, has been named head of commercial property at the firm.
This means she will also cover the firm's other five locations, at St Austell, Liskeard, Launceston, Newquay and Holsworthy.
Alistair Whyte, a partner at Coodes, said: "The past six months have seen a great deal of success for the commercial property team.
"We've got a strong and growing team in place and Helen's promotion will further add to this."
Helen said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge of being head of the commercial property department.
"The past six months have been busy and successful and it's great to be part of a strong team. There's a huge amount of experience and that will help us achieve further growth.
"It was a big step leaving London but it's been made easier by the fact Coodes has a strong sense of its own identity and is committed to Cornwall and Devon.
"I'm also enjoying working closely with commercial property agents, accountants, developers and investors."
Vandals destroy newly-opened path's benches
VANDALS have caused nearly £3,000 of damage along a cycle path in Truro just two months after it opened.
Five of seven new benches along the Coosebean Greenway have been destroyed in a spate of "wanton destruction".
It is believed the vandals struck between Saturday and Monday.
The damaged benches have since been removed.
The bill for the damage is believed to be around £2,800.
Cornwall Council is appealing for help in tracing the vandals.
The benches lined the route of the 1.3km off-road path connecting St George's Road with Coosebean Lane and Treliske Lane.
Councillor Bert Biscoe, Cornwall Council's portfolio holder for transport and waste, said: "This is wanton destruction which has upset many people. If you know who did this please contact Crimestoppers so we can take steps to ensure those responsible are punished."
Joining existing off-road routes between Treliske, Gloweth and Threemilestone, the Coosebean Greenway gives cyclists a safe alternative to the busy A390 and walkers a scenic walk behind Malabar.
The path also links with Malabar Road, giving nearby residents off-road access to the city centre.
If you have any information about the incident please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference number GT/13/1371.
'Appalling' smell concerns St Mabyn villagers
A VILLAGE is kicking up a stink after noxious smells have been making their lives a misery.
Drains in St Mabyn have been full of foul water for days, but attempts by residents and the parish council to get various authorities to take action have failed.
Villagers say the powerful smells have been unbearable, particularly during last week's heatwave.
They claim the problem has been caused by the failure of the sewage system installed at a newly built housing estate, but the estate developers, Linden Homes, say the stink is simply down to high summer temperatures.
Resident Audrey Cooke said the situation where she lives in Station Road is particularly bad.
"The smell in this heat has been absolutely appalling," she said. We do not have mains sewage disposal in this village. All properties have independent septic disposal facilities.
"However, the new housing estate on the perimeter of the village has its own sewage treatment plant that has stopped working, and all the residue is therefore being directed through the clean water pipes in Station Road.
"Various people, including parish councillors, have contacted the local authorities, without success," said Mrs Cooke.
Another resident, Sheila Menhennit, said: "There is a terrible stink coming up from the drains which has been in the village for days, and we have been trying to get hold of Cornwall Council, and South West Water to do something, but nothing seems to have happened."
Both Cornwall Council's environmental health department and the Environment Agency said they had sent officers to St Mabyn to investigate the stink. Both said the odours came from the estate's pumping station.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We have been out and investigated the complaints of odour and reports of raw sewage in the street. We could not locate any discharge into the watercourse.
"The issue is an odour from the pump station which serves the new housing estate. The developers have taken responsibility for further investigation, alongside the environmental health department from the council."
A Linden Homes spokesman said: "As a result of the heatwave, there is an unpleasant odour coming from the pumping station at Greenwix Parc in St Mabyn. We would like to reassure the local residents that there is no raw sewage, blockage or overflow coming from the pumping station.
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Trevithick Day attacker weeps as he is sent down
A TEENAGER involved in a "cowardly" attack on two Latvian men on Trevithick Day in Camborne wept in the dock as he was sentenced.
William Trengove, 19, known as Daniel, pleaded guilty to counts of affray, witness intimidation and being in possession of a bladed article, when he appeared at Truro Crown Court on Friday. Family and friends in the public gallery were also in tears.
The court heard that Trengove, of Chapel Terrace, Brea, Camborne, was seen chasing down the two men in their twenties – Dmitrijs Zablovkis and Aleksejs Sperlins – on April 26.
He was with a group of 17-year-olds, some of whom were dealt with at Truro Youth Court.
Iain White, for the CPS, said Trengove was one of the "prime movers" in the attack.
He said: "Trengove was seen to punch one of the men to the head and while on the ground to kick and stamp on the young man's head."
One of the men suffered a depressed nasal bone which had to be treated under general anaesthetic and the other suffered a wound above the right eye.
Mr White said one witness described feeling physically sick after seeing the violence.
The court heard that the charges of witness intimidation and being in possession of a bladed article related to the following Friday, May 3, when Trengove threatened a 16-year-old witness to the Trevithick Day incident.
He believed the youth had spoken to the police about it and threatened him with a machete, saying, "I'll chop your head off".
Barrie Van den Berg, for the defence, said Trengove had shown "a real understanding" of how wrong, frightening and terrifying his actions were.
Sentencing him to ten months in a young offenders' institution, Judge Christopher Harvey Clark, QC, said: "It was a cowardly attack ... I hope you are utterly disgusted with what you have done."
On July 12, Truro Youth Court ordered two 17-year-old boys from Camborne to carry out an eight-month referral order after they admitted threatening unlawful violence at the Trevithick Day attack.
A 17-year-old girl from Redruth, who admitted using threatening, abusive or insulting words towards the 16-year-old witness on May 3, was given a six-month referral order. She was also ordered to pay £175 in costs and compensation. The boys were ordered to pay £115 each.
Judge Harvey Clark, QC, warned Trengove and people in the gallery: "If I hear of further problems arising out of this incident and sentence they better beware."
Children get in on the act of storytelling
A CELEBRATION of the written word is taking place in Penzance.
Hundreds of school children have joined forces with local artists to create a sea-inspired installation complete with a fisherman's net full of sea creatures and a fish chandelier made of poetry.
The eye-catching display, which is on show at The Exchange from now until August 3, is the creative idea of The Story Republic, a county-wide programme of events to inspire and entertain with words.
"The Story Republic is about making storytelling in its various shapes and forms accessible and fun for everyone," said Amanda Harris, one of those behind the scheme.
"Stories are an important part of our culture and vital to our learning. They are our past, present and future so it's important for The Story Republic to support and promote artists, performers and story writers in Cornwall."
A total of 750 children across Cornwall have taken part in the scheme, including Penzance pupils.
The installation will be in The Engine Room at The Exchange, Penzance, open 10am-5pm every day (except Sundays).
For more information visit www.thestoryrepublic.co.uk
Report slams state of Newquay's public toilets
"RUNDOWN, dirty, litter-strewn and mouldy" – these are just some of the words used by town councillors in a report on the state of Newquay's public toilets.
The audit document, by Joan Bowden and Kevin Towill, has prompted the town council to demand Cornwall Council cleans up the conveniences before ownership is passed over.
Members agreed in March to dip into the emergency reserves cash pot to fund the management of the toilets, deemed to be a vital necessity in a tourist town.
Cash-strapped Cornwall Council, which has historically run public lavatories, had threatened to close and sell the majority.
It is estimated that it could cost up to £250,000 a year to run the nine toilets taken over by the town council, and a consultation is planned to see if Newquay taxpayers are willing to foot the bill.
The councillors' report revealed the worst toilets were on East Street, where the appearance of the building was rated just one out of ten, with 'cleanliness and hygiene' graded one out of ten in the gents' and two in the ladies'.
The report states: "There is a very unpleasant smell when you enter the gents'. There are pools of urine on the floor, green and yellow slime in the stainless steel wash basins and accumulated piles of rubbish in the closed cubicles. There are dirty floors in the ladies', mouldy walls, filthy toilets and there's a squalid baby-changing area."
Other toilets were slammed for having no soap, dead flies in light fittings, litter strewn around and obscene graffiti, among other criticisms.
The best rated were Narrowcliff and Watergate Bay, which scored between eight and ten.
Mr Towill and Mrs Bowden concluded: "It is obvious that the majority of public conveniences have not received meaningful investment for some years, if not decades."
Town clerk Andrew Curtis said the council's solicitors were "working hard to address the inherited problems from Cornwall Council" before the toilets were transferred.
He said improvement works were set to be carried out at the end of the summer season, and town councillors were pushing for "more immediate remedial works".
Andy Hannan, chair of the Economic Development and General Purposes (EDGP) Committee, which is overseeing the transfer, said: "We have stepped in and rescued as many toilets as possible following Cornwall Council's decision to stop providing toilet provision for the town. We are now working hard to make sure that the current toilets are kept as clean as possible prior to them being refurbished in the autumn.
"Once again the town council has been quick to act to secure this vital service and protect it for the benefit of our residents and visitors."
Cornwall Council remains responsible for toilets at Newquay Harbour, Chester Road and Little Fistral.
Teamwork creates 'a pint of goodness'
TREWITHEN Dairy and Lostwithiel Rotary Club have teamed up to turn pints of milk into pints of cash for a good cause.
The dairy has commissioned 1,200 specially designed glass milk bottles with retro labels in their Pint for Change campaign.
These will be delivered to all Rotarians from 41 clubs in Cornwall, Plymouth, west Devon and the Isles of Scilly.
The Rotarians then have four months to fill their bottles with loose change to raise as much money as possible for the End Polio Now initiative.
The bottles will be collected at the end of October to coincide with World Polio Day on October 24.
Through the End Polio Now campaign, the world has almost been freed of the potentially fatal, infectious disease.
About seven million children have been prevented from contracting polio since 1988, when 125 countries were polio endemic.
Today only three countries are still reporting cases of polio – Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Trewithen Dairy founder Bill Clarke, a member of Lostwithiel Rotary Club, said: "The idea behind Pint for Change was a simple one; to come up with a creative way to motivate people to raise money for a cause that is especially close to our hearts.
"We don't actually use glass milk bottles in the dairy any more but they are very striking to look at and evoke fond memories in many people, so both Trewithen Dairy and Rotary hope that people will take these bottles and fill them so that the value of the contents can be magnified across the globe."
Year 10 students at Fowey Community College helped put stickers on 500 bottles to raise £100 for their Year 11 prom.
"Rotary is working hard to raise awareness and to finally eradicate this terrible disease from the remaining endemic countries," said Rotary district governor Stephen Lay.
"We are all extremely grateful to Bill Clarke and Trewithen Dairy for supplying the milk bottles and the labels and also to Absolute and Excess Energy – Trewithen Dairy's communications agencies – for volunteering their time and resources to make this a success.
"We urge people to get behind this brilliant initiative.
"The cream on the top is that for every £1 raised, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving Rotary another £2 to End Polio Now."