Walter Langley Painting Finds a Permanent Home In Cornwall

 

Penlee House Gallery & Museum has successfully raised £65,000 to purchase an important painting by a leading artist of the Newlyn School, Walter Langley (1852 – 1922). The picture, called ‘Cornish Fisherfolk’, was painted in 1908, and exhibited at the Royal Academy. The work was acquired thanks to the support of the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and The Friends of Penlee House.

A rustic alley scene with three adults and a child. A woman with a basket walks by another sitting with a child, while a man in a cap observes nearby. For the past fourteen years, the painting has been on loan from Waverley Borough Council. Now it will form part of the permanent public collection of Newlyn School paintings at Penlee House, less than a mile from where it was originally painted.

The name ‘Newlyn School’ was given to the colony of artists who settled in the fishing village from the 1880s onwards, attracted by the clear, even light and dedicated to painting the honest, hard-working lives of the people who lived there. Coming from a poor, working-class background himself, Birmingham-born artist Walter Langley was interested in portraying scenes of everyday life in a small fishing village, highlighting the hardships and tragedies that were commonplace during that period.

Penlee Curator Katie Herbert says, “We are especially grateful to all those who have helped us to raise the funds to secure the painting for Penlee’s collections, namely the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund, the Friends of Penlee House and the many individuals who responded to our appeal by donating online, by post and through donation boxes within the Gallery.

We are grateful to Waverley Borough Council for their considered decision to offer the painting through a private treaty sale, rather than releasing it to the uncertainties of auction.

She added “Penlee House has become home to the second most important collection of Walter Langley’s work, after Birmingham Museums Trust. It is fitting that Langley, regarded as the pioneer of the Newlyn School, should be well-represented here at Penlee House”.

The painting is currently on display at Penlee House Gallery & Museum as part of the Newlyn School selection in Gallery 5.

Mizzly end to the week in Newlyn

 

A young, bedraggled black-back gull optimistically waits for breakfast to be served...

this is one fish that won't be thrown his way for sure, prime inshore red mullet...

male ray showing its claspers which helps in the procreation process

Jeremy will have been much relieved to find that the octopus population hasn't discovered his source of lobsters when he deployed his first pots...

boxed bothicks and gurnard ready for crab bait...

quality monk tails...

and a solitary ling...

another fender rolls off the production line...

the last consignment of the wrought iron needed to restore the original railings over in the Old Harbour have arrived...

where the Barnabas is looking very authentic with her new look, courtesy of black anti-fouling that the CMT have sourced. Historic England have now updated their listing as a result of all the restoration work that has been carried out to date. 

News from Newlyn Harbour commissioners.

 

Strategic approaches to catalysing the next phase of development at Newlyn Harbour was the focus of the Newlyn Pier & Harbour Commissioners’ (NP&HC) March meeting.

“With the announcement of the application process for the government’s new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, which aims to enable fishing businesses and coastal communities from across the UK to benefit from £360m of investment, we are now preparing bids for projects that aim not only to increase but maximise the useable space within the Port of Newlyn during the next two to five years,” explained Chair of Newlyn Pier & Harbour Commissioners, Paul Durkin. “Whether by increasing the number of pontoons within the harbour or reclaiming land from the wider estate, this is our opportunity to adapt to the needs of a modern fleet and fishing industry, and secure the future sustainability of Newlyn Harbour.”

NP&HC is also working with Tower Group to develop a bid to the third round of The Crown Estate’s Supply Chain Accelerator, the £50 million fund that provides early stage development funding to create investment-ready offshore wind projects.



The Newlyn Marine Skills & Resource Centre that will provide a much-needed centre of excellence for developing maritime expertise in Cornwall is now almost complete despite the exceptionally wet weather that slowed progress during the winter months.

“Mid-April is the likely timeframe for the building to be handed over to us by the contractors, R M Developments, at which point, our tenants, Seafood Cornwall Training (SCT), and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs agencies, the Marine Management Organisation and Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, will fit-out their facilities and SCT will prepare to welcome its first trainees,” said Harbour Master and CEO, Jonathan Poynter.

“The Centre has received £1.75 million from the government’s Town Deal programme and we were delighted to welcome members of the Penzance Town Deal Board and Cornwall Council, who successfully bid for a Town Deal worth £21.5 million to support a range of projects that will contribute to the regeneration of Penzance and Newlyn, for an early preview ahead of the official opening that will take place this summer.”

From strategic long-term aims to secure investment that delivers growth to short-term goals to complete maintenance works, the Harbour Commissioners are committed to the continuous renewal and future development of the Newlyn Harbour Estate.

In terms of an operational update, new wooden fenders are being installed and coping repairs to the market quayside are ongoing. Heating oil and fuel specialist, Heltor, is on course to establish a fuel tank at the end of Mary Williams Pier, work to modernise the water supply system continues and the recent landslip at Sandy Cove, caused by recent storms, is being investigated. Waiting lists for moorings on the pontoon are full and will be closed until further notice.

TMS Maritime has concluded its one-off operation to carry aggregates and other materials from South Pier but Kraken Marine Services will now routinely run cargo out of Newlyn.

The restoration of the Old Quay, which aims to revitalise the historic heart of Newlyn with renewed moorings and facilities for heritage and other vessels, is reaching its final stages and its transformation is almost complete, thanks to funding from Historic England and the hard work of Harbour Commissioner, Nick Howell, a loyal band of volunteers and local contractors.

“Whilst the continuing octopus bloom, brought about by unusually warm sea and air temperatures, has resulted in declining catch rates for brown crabs, European lobsters and king scallops, the prevalence of this new species in UK waters has provided an opportunity for the larger vessels in the fishing fleet to adapt,” added Jonathan Poynter. “We welcome the annual return of the Scottish prawn fleet this month too.”

NP&HC Board meetings take place on the first Friday of alternate months.

For further information about Newlyn Harbour, please visit newlynharbour.com

Cloudless sky but not the warmest start to the week.

A mysterious hole appeared overnight in Newlyn, police are looking into it...

take a whole bunch of plastic trays to fill the hole...

and cover...

it's bottom scrubbing time...

and a chilly, dull, grey but dry start to the week...

always on the lookout for a free breakfast...

halibut on the market?..

a sure sign there's a Scottish prawn boat landed over the weekend......

black bream...

and weavers...

there was plenty of inshore fish on Monday's market floor...

inscruitible smiles on these members of the shark family...

auction maestro Steve checks off the auction tallies...

the suckers are a give away...

amd this is one of the main sources of nourishment...

for the Mediterranean octopus invasion...

which shows no sign of any let up just yet...

calm enough this morning...

as the Ocean Pride heads for the gaps...

as skipper Alan Dwan steers the Kelly of Ladram away to sea past an inbound punt...

the black-hand gang are in town...

as a Spanish Flag of Convenience long liner, Monte Mazanteu makes another of her obligatory landings in the UK

Where there's a hole.

Work on the new Seafood Cornwall raining Centre building continues...

now that's one big soakaway, well below sea level...

with the sardine season now over its that time of year qwhen the net comes off the boat for an end-of-season overhaul, 10mm mesh takes painstaking mending too...

Fridau morning sees a very quiet market which was washed down and looking very quiet...

with nothing more than a handful of inshore boxes...

on the auction this morning...

one box washer, drowned in soap suds...

the sounds of Spring ring in the air this morning to the sound of chipping hammers aboard the New Venture...

and the sea safari trip boat Mermaid breaks cover...

Newlyn is expecting the first of the Scottish prawn boats later today - expect to see the Faithful Star around highwater, the Ocean Vision  and Revival will arrive over the weekend with the Vision V close on their tails!

 

There's never a quiet moment in Newlyn

Out with the old, in with the new, another big fender takes shape...

the morning's catch bound to a plate near you...

always a smile with these guys aboard the netter Ajax...

two more visitors...

lucky young James with his new punt, imagine having the benefit of over 150 years of fishing experience on hand to best advise you just when you need it!..

gear time aboard the two biggest Stevenson beamers...

paint up time on the slip...

watched by some of the local shag population airing their wings...

time to paint in the waterline...

on the Karen N, one of the Nowell's fleet...

restoration work is making the Old Quay look very spruce these days...

even the streets of Newlyn have a strong connection with artists...

won't be long before SCT move into their siny new home further down the Strand...

where the fishermen of the future will learn new skills like net making and setting...

while you are in Newlyn, a table at the Tolcarne Inn enjoying Michelin Star quality fish dishes...

while watching the boats come in, is a must! Catch Happy Hour from 5-6pm every evening!