Those of you who
were among the thousand or so people who participated in the St Piran’s day
march on the dunes will have had a chance to see the Old Church and the play
by Simon Parker in which Perran Tremewan played St Piran – there is a nice
photograph on the cover of Cornish Nation. There are not all that many
Perrans or Pirans around the world, and we are having a little bit of fun on
the website and trying to get all the Perrans in the world to register
themselves. If you qualify, please do so! But even if you are not a Perran,
please sign our guest book.
More seriously,
each time I have to put pen to paper to write this newsletter I struggle to
find something to say that is new. I am beginning to realise that my
struggle is not because nothing is happening, but because we have actually
been quite successful in achieving our objectives! It has been a long road,
and there is a long way to go, but one thing is sure – the St Piran sites
are now back in the main stream, and are no longer neglected.
As I reported in
the last newsletter, Perranzabuloe Parish Council has been gifted the Round
by Nigel Holman. This public spirited gesture should ensure a secure future
for such an important monument. The Council already owns, of course, the
sites of the Old Church and the Oratory. We have yet to discuss with the
Parish Council what the best plans are to maintain and, even more important,
use the Round, and will be expecting to do so in the coming period. If the
Round is used, it will be looked after. Can we get back to the good old days
when we have regular performances and festivals? This is something we hope
to discuss with the Council in due course (the photographs shows the Isle of
Mann Mummers in their performance during Lowender Peran).
A number of people
have asked ‘where exactly is the Round?’, and indeed it is not clearly
marked. It is off the road on the right after you leave Goonhavern on the
Perranporth road, and you come across it suddenly just after a line of
houses on your left. You can turn in and park: some care is needed when you
get back on the main road as visibility is not good and some drivers go too
fast. There is a style, and it is possible to go into the Round, even though
it is private property at the moment. If you look at the pictures on the
website of its original condition when the Trust began to look after it, you
will be astonished at how good it looks now, and how accessible it is. And
don’t forget to put August 1st in your diaries for the performance by the
Miracle Theatre in the Round of Jason and the Argonauts.
Meanwhile we have trimmed the vegetation and limewashed the Old Church,
thanks to our volunteers. I really hope that people will be more sensible
and work out that we have put steps into the
church for a purpose – there are signs that walkers and their children may
be looking for ski slopes in the wrong part of the world …
We want to raise
money for an additional interpretation board in the body of the church, in
which we will also plant a collection box. So any spare change is welcome.
As
for the Oratory, we now have the money lined up for the feasibility work,
and Dick Cole and his crew will be working on that in the coming months.
This work we hope will pave the way for approvals by the statutory bodies
which have responsibility for preserving the area. We are on track with our
schedule. The photograph shows what it looked like during the last
excavation. Perhaps we should dress up for the part for the next excavation!
We are now
beginning to put together a package of fundraising measures for the Trust’s
matching funding for the excavation. We have an ambitious target of £50,000.
Perhaps this is completely unrealistic, but we need to try. Funds are
getting harder to access as there is great sucking noise across the UK as
money is hovered up for the Olympics. So if you have any ideas for corporate
sponsors who could make significant donations, or if you have friends around
the world who can make small donations, please let us know. We have a
separate bank account for donations, and we raise money separately for our
very low running costs, so every penny donated to the Oratory Fund will
finance the additional shovel full of sand.
We raise money for
our running costs by selling various items which you can see on the website.
If you don’t have a computer or email, you can also write to Eileen Carter
at Rosenwynn, Chapel Hill,Bolingey, Perranporth, TR6 0DQ.
And thanks again
for all of you who are supporting us.
Perran
Penrose
Chairman
