The Museum has purchased five colour slides of the final days of the Newquay-Chacewater branchline taken from Presingoll Farm, next to St Agnes Station, in 1963. They include shots of the last diesel train to use the line, a “Special” steam train hired by the Plymouth Railway Society, a view of the railway track being dismantled, and one of some station staff. The latter also includes a young Chris Williams whose parents farmed Presingoll Farm.
Railway workers
Next year, 2013, marks the 50th anniversary of the line’s sad closure and we hope to add these to a display to mark the occasion.
We have been given a fascinating pair of caricature drawings by the well known artist Hyman Segal (1914-2004) whose Russian Jewish parents fled to London.
Reg Trezise of Water Lane by Hyman Segal
At the age of 12 Hyman won a scholarship to St Martin’s School of Art and went on to work for many big companies. After serving in Africa during the war he came to Cornwall, perhaps first to St Agnes, where we think he was involved with organising Art Therapy for TB patients at the nearby Sanatorium, before settling in St Ives. He enjoyed sketching local personalities in the public houses. Reg Trezise of Water Lane, with his cap and dog-headed cane, was very well known in St Agnes, and we understand that he brought back a walking stick from each of his visits to Canada and left them at the St Agnes Hotel.
However, there was also another sketch. This gentleman was thought to have been a regular visitor to St Agnes, possibly a schoolmaster, and undoubtedly a cricket fan, judging by the Wisden under his arm, but nobody was sure who he was. After an appeal for information, it seems that he was a George Morrison who, along with his brother Ken, holidayed in St Agnes. We believe that they both worked at a Public School, one as a Schoolmaster and the other as Bursar. George was, self evidently, quite large, while Ken was like a bean pole. They eventually retired to the Quay Flats and it is thought that they worked part-time for Jo Bates in the Ope, at Churchtown, possibly in the 1950s.
Caricature by Hyman Segal
It appears that their daily routine included walking up to the St Agnes Hotel every lunchtime for a half of bitter and lunch cooked by the landlady, Audrey Simmons, and calling in at the Peterville Inn, either on their way there or on their way back, to enjoy a drink with Alfie Bunt. Alfie’s daughter thinks that her father also had his caricature sketched by Segal but she does not know what happened to it. She does, however, recall that Alfie used to take the Morrisons all over Cornwall in his car since they didn’t have their own transport.
If anyone can fill in any gaps in our knowledge, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Everyone at the Museum is celebrating the purchase at auction of an antique artist’s palette which belonged to St Agnes painter Edward Opie RA (1810-1894) and which, it seems likely, also belonged to Edward’s Great Uncle, John, “The Cornish Wonder”.
Edward Opie’s paint palette
Spotted in an up-country auction catalogue by an eagle-eyed Museum member, the palette, described as “an antique artist’s palette, signed to back Edward Opie, St Agnes, Cornwall, 1839, also dated 1788 in black paint with cheque signed Amelia Opie for £8 on the back, Messrs Marsh, Sibbald, Tracey, Fauntleroy & Son” was bought for the Museum with a telephone bid against fierce competition.
Edward Opie’s palette – back view
1839 saw a major milestone in Edward’s life as he exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time, but the palette is also dated 1788, in which case it could have first been owned by John Opie. Did Amelia, John’s widow, give it to Edward to mark his first Royal Academy success? It should be possible for paint analysis of the heavily encrusted palette to date it definitely.
In the meantime the palette is the latest acquisition on display at the Museum, alongside two Edward Opie paintings, a John Opie self-portrait and his presentation paintbox.
The Museum is commemorating the Diamond Jubilee with a special first floor exhibition.
Jubilee exhibition
Among many treasures is a fascinating book published to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, together with an 1897 Diamond Jubilee Medal, a Coronation Medal for Edward VIII, rubber moulds for the tokens (made of St Agnes tin) which were presented to the school children of the Parish for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, together with some of the tokens and souvenir brochures describing the celebrations across the Parish from the Coronations of George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, to the present day. The exhibition provides a fascinating glimpse into celebrations past and present within the Parish.
The Museum had a very successful stall at the Diamond Jubilee Victorian Fayre held in the centre of St Agnes on 4 June.
Choosing what to buy at the Victorian Fayre
Sue and Mike Amor had prepared real Victorian lemonade and elderflower cordial (Mike had chopped 100 lemons into 16 pieces each) while others baked small cakes and biscuits. Roger Radcliffe and Sue manned the beautifully decorated stall in warm sunshine and rapidly sold out of lemonade. Crowds poured into the village. Many Museum leaflets were also given out to visitors.
Almost £200 was raised for Museum funds and we are very grateful to everyone who helped.
