Volume 2, Issue 3, New Series

Dear Member/Associate,

A brief and quick letter this time. Normally it takes a few days to put one together but there have been so many things to do that an evening will have to suffice this time.

I am about to depart for Brittany with paintings by the Kensey Art Group, founded and based in Truro High School; you may have seen an article about them in the West Briton a little while ago. I am hoping that some of them will call in and see the exhibition in the course of their holiday across the Channel.

Two Sundays ago 1 went to Lostwithiel to see the Cornish wrestling championships and take a few pictures and last Sunday a Breton team came over to take part in the Inter-Celtic tournament.

One of their number, not a wrestler but a stickler, is based at a university in Rennes and is researching aspects of the history of the sport in Brittany. ( a welcome meeting as I am doing the same thing here!)

The whole event was very pleasant and finished with a meal and music at St Minver, thanks in no small measure to Mr Colin Meneer, a former feather-weight champion wrestler and now very much a current champion ambassador for Cornwall! Shy and retiring he is not but a splendid motivator of people of all ages. Seeing him patiently persuade a shy and reluctant young Breton girl to sing a party piece and still remain friends and you might have thought that he, not Condileeza Rice, should be sent off to the Lebanon.

Another of the party is building up a museum of wrestling in Belle Isle en Terre, which 1 look forward to visiting when it opens.

The Dinner.

This went very well with several new guests and we have two new members. The venue was a little, shall we say, cosy, but the meal was good. The Mayor of Restormel, Councillor Marilyn Wellman, was a gracious guest and won our principal raffle prize ( a Cornish/European teddy bear ) which she said would have an honoured place in her office.) Before we sat down she paid a visit to Rachel John, our founder member, who was unable to attend, which was pleasant.

Foreign visitors

Years ago I spent a year in a pre-prep school in Sussex - quite an adventure by Cornish Riviera to Paddington, bus or taxi across London to I forget what station - Victoria or Waterloo I believe, and then a local train to Bexhill; and making sure that my trunk kept pace, even though it went "luggage in advance."

Anyhow, my reason for mentioning it is that quite a lot of my fellow pupils were sons and daughters of international business people, diplomats, the military and so on. There were Africans and South Americans, Channel Islanders and even some from eastern Europe places I had never heard of before, like Latvia and Lithuania - were they real places? They did not leap out at you from the atlas. That, of course, is because they were buried, then, in the USSR, painted the same colour on the page.

July 2006

In our house/dormitory I recall a son of a Channel Island tomato grower, a scion of the 'Tailor of Taste' ( which company long had an associated sportswear division in Lorient glorying in the name of Athlete's Foot (!) ) and a Lithuanian (a dissident's son? I forget now.)

I have recently been helping out in the Cornish Shop, Gwynn ha Du, in Liskeard, full time while the boss is away on holiday. This very day, amongst the usual Dutch and German visitors, and a Breton and his girl friend, we had a visiting couple from Lithuania.

In my schooldays that would have been something to remark on; I suppose it will become more and more usual in future. Do we not live in a far better world today? A student distributing tickets for a show in Wadebridge was from Poland - she was delighted to be given one our Brief Introduction to Cornwall leaflets in her own language. This is how Europe will develop. Through increasing mutual familiarity and shared decencies will we the people confound our disgraceful and shaming political leadership. It needs time, though; the situation may not yet have reached the point of no return. It is encouraging that a recent poll shows opposition. in GB to the European Project is less now than for many years. Positive support is still too low but as no one even now, apart from ourselves and a few other stalwarts, gives the positive case, it is hardly to be wondered at!

Company Secretary.

A volunteer is worth a thousand pressed men, so it is Said, and we are delighted to welcome Mrs Anna Monk of Liskeard to this position. Her qualifications are legal, including company law, and she works in a law group in Plymouth whilst continuing her studies at university. I believe she will be an active and enthusiastic member of the team.

From Roman Empire to Treaty of Rome

This is the working title of a little book (c30pp) 1 have been working on for a few weeks and hope to have finished by the end of August. It has come about because a young lady in the town explained that she and her generation had not been taught modern history sufficiently to really understand many of the issues of the day. Modern history seems to concentrate on the Nazis.

As I tried to put together an answer I found it necessary to start at a much earlier beginning than I had originally intended because so many of the issues of today have very long roots and it is not fair to the intended clientele to assume the necessary background knowledge.

Pictures and maps are also necessary. I am aiming to use some of those that formed part of our exhibition in County Hall last autumn but there may be some copyright problems with one or two of them.

As well as the basic story there are sections, distinguished by a differently-coloured text, raising matters of current concern arising out of the basic story. This will, it is hoped, inspire some informed discussion, which is, after all, one of CoBER's aims.

Finally, to return briefly to the Brief Introduction to Cornwall leaflets, I believe I may actually have found, at long last, translators for Welsh and Russian versions. ( At from �20 to �80 a page it would not be possible to have done what we have professionally. Fortunately, Cornwall has friends if you know where to find them!)

Absolutely finally, my usual plea. The editor would love to receive articles, thoughts, whatever, from members.