Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day.......

Photo courtesy of DrecklyFish

Looking out into the bay past Penlee Point it's hard to believe the Met office have issued this weather warning for the weekend:

Issued at - 29 Jan 2014, 12:20 Valid from - 01 Feb 2014, 06:00 Valid to - 02 Feb 2014, 06:00

Winds will increase on Saturday, with gusts widely to around 50-60 mph, and perhaps to around 70 mph in exposed parts of the north. Additionally large waves could overtop coastlines. The public should be aware of these hazards.

The public is advised to take extra care, further information and advice can be found here:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/links.html

You know you are the son of a fisherman when.........

A few signs that you were brought up in a 1970's Scottish fishing village and your dad was a trawler man.

You know when the back o Sunday is.

You thought all dads had a nap on Sunday afternoon when you went to Sunday school.
If you ever went on a fishing trip you were renamed - Jonah.

You thought that laughing at people being sea sick was the right thing to do. 

You thought all Dad's only came home at the weekend. 

You never looked forward to dad coming home as every time you were bad your mum would say "Wait till your father gets home!" 

The TV always got switched over in the middle of your favourite programme to watch the weather forecast.

Working on the boat in the harbour always involved a trip to the dole office. 

You thought the natural smell in all garages was that of curing herring.

A "fry" was not just a way to cook. 

Something being boiled alive on the stove was to be looked forward to. 

You though that anytime a dad called home from work it was compulsory to say "over" at the end of your sentence. 

You are good at geography because you needed a map of the whole of the UK to check out all the places your dad was working. 

You thought the volume always went up automatically when the fishing forecast came on the radio. 

You thought the "Isle of Man" was like Santa's Grotto because when dad went there he always came back with presents. 

You have worn a Fair Isle Gansey and thought it was cool.

You thought that the VW Dormobile Van was the fastest thing on the road bar non. 

You always have to donate to the RNLI every time you see one of those little lifeboats collecting tins. 

Your kitchen drawer always had a lone messer knife in it.

You are scarred by the memory of drinking tea with condensed milk it.

You have the ability clean your plate with a piece of bread or potato so you can use the same bowl to eat all three courses.

You thought a trip on a boat was a necessary biblical induction for all ministers everywhere when taking on a new church.
Billy Ritchie.org

"the mackerel quota for hand lining fishermen will not be reduced this year"

WEST Cornwall MP Andrew George has welcomed an assurance from Fisheries Minister George Eustice that the mackerel quota for hand lining fishermen will not be reduced this year. Mr George has campaigned to keep the quota protected every year since Scottish fishermen “threatened to squeeze the Cornish industry out of existence” 16 years ago.

​ Newlyn mackerel handliners

Now Mr Eustice, also Camborne MP, has confirmed the 2014 quota will remain at its historic level of 1,750 tonnes - approximately one hundredth of the quota large pelagic Scottish vessels catch each year. Mr George said: “It is essential that we keep this industry alive. This is natural justice. We shouldn't let those who do the right thing for the marine environment be bullied by the big boys who can siphon mackerel shoals with massive and powerful ocean going ships.

“I have has consistently pressed successive Defra Ministers to ensure that they defend the historic arrangements when negotiating the allocation for Cornish and South West mackerel handliners.

“The Government has again faced increased pressure this year from the Scottish Government to reduce the handliner allocation and to place the surplus into the UK pot. “This would result in most of it being redistributed to Scottish fishermen. “Mackerel handling is one of the most low impact fishing methods there is.”

A Scottish purse seiner can take as much mackerel in a week as the whole Cornish mackerel handline fleet would take in a year but the market value of handline caught fish is much higher.

In a letter to Mr George, Mr Eustice said: “…recognising the important contribution that the inshore fleet makes to coastal communities… Defra continue to defend the historic arrangements… and why I exercised my prerogative as UK Fisheries Minister to maintain the 1,750 tonne allocation.”

Read more: http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Cornwall-MPs-confirm-secure-mackerel-quota-year/story-20512357-detail/story.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz2rmhtwOSl

Those that Got Away: the Story of Newlyn’s Migrants

‘Those that Got Away: the Story of Newlyn’s Migrants’ Saturday 15 February 2014 10.00-3.00 at Trinity Centre, Newlyn.

The next open Day on Saturday 15 February 2014 10.00-3.00 tells the story of Newlyn's migrants. Some men left to make their fortune and did not get back, leaving behind grieving women and children; others were more successful and were joined by their families to make a better life in the new world; some returned much richer and named their homes after foreign places.

One such man was Joseph Johns Hichens (1866-1924) who built a double fronted granite house called Kenilworth on Buccas Pass, the new road between Newlyn Bridge and Jack Lane. (The photo shows JJ Hichens in later life playing the first wood on Penlee Bowling Green).

The house was named after a place in South Africa called Kenilworth, where Joseph Johns Hichens worked as a young man. As a boy, Joseph lived at Penguin House on St Peters Hill. He came from a long line of fishermen, being the second son of William Hichens, who was master and net owner of the fishing boat Dove. His middle name 'Johns' was his mother's maiden name.

He married Edith Richards from Chapel St in 1889 and some time after the birth of their second son, he joined the diamond rush to South Africa, alongside many other cousin Jacks and Jennies from Cornwall, and became tangled up in the Second Boer War.

He was at the diamond-mining town of Kimberley when it was besieged by the Boers from October 14, 1899 to February 15, 1900. There were at least three men from Newlyn in Kimberley during the siege. Joseph Hichens must have been fairly influential in Kimberley because he managed to send a post office telegram from Kimberley to local fish salesman, BJ Ridge, giving news that self, Harding and Wells had survived the Kimberley siege.

When Joseph returned to Newlyn he was full of the lucrative spoils of his South African adventure and this must have been used to purchase a substantial part of Chirgwin's Orchard, on both sides of the newly built Buccas Pass. He was engaged in a number of property deals leading in November 1905 to submitting plans for the substantial 8-room granite house in Buccas Pass. Hichens named it Kenilworth as a memorial to Cecil Rhodes who was instrumental in organizing the defence of Kimberley and during the long siege had opened his own house, named Kenilworth to his countrymen.

Do come and find out more about JJ Hichens and the many other Newlyners who sought their fortunes abroad.

The Newlyn Archive web site has been updated and now has links to all the documents on file.

New maximum individual wave height recorded off Ireland from a weather buoy last Sunday

The M4 weather buoy, located off the Northwest coast, recorded a new maximum individual wave height of 23.4 metres at 15.00 on Sunday 26thJanuary 2014 during the weekend storm. This figure easily surpasses the previous record of 20.4 metres at the same location in December 2011.

The M4 buoy is one of a new generation of weather buoys with the ability to measure maximum wave height as well as the more usual Significant Wave Height.

The Significant Wave Height is defined as the average height of the highest one-third of the waves and that is what our forecasts of wave height refer to. In general, the highest wave of all will be about twice the Significant Wave Height.

There was also a record for maximum significant wave height for the M4 buoy of 15.3m at the same time, with the previous record being 14.7m. The all-time record for Significant Wave Height still rests with the M6 buoy of 17.2m.

See the full story here.

Rockall was definitely not the place to be at the weekend!

Frankie's fish and chips!

A short video by local filmmakers JJ Jamieson and Dave Donaldson with a backing track – Frankie’s reel – composed by JJ and Peter Gear. 

Frankie’s Fish & Chips has been crowned the second best in the country. We were the runner-up in the top chippy award at the National Fish & Chip Awards sponsored by Seafish on Wednesday 22nd January in London. As winner of the Scottish regional award, we competed against nine other fish and chip shops from around the country. Eventual winner of the Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award was the Quayside in Whitby, North Yorkshire. 

“It’s a tremendous honour for us to have been recognised as the best in Scotland and second best in the UK,” said Frankie’s manager John Gold, who together with owner Valerie Johnson gave a presentation to 12 judges on Tuesday 21st January at the Lancaster London Hotel. 

“This gives us a great platform to promote ourselves and the fish and chip shop trade in general,” said Mrs Johnson. “We are delighted.” “Several of the judges commented that the standard of entrants this year was higher than it has ever been,” said Mr Gold. “So to have risen to where we have among our outstanding peers in the trade gives us great satisfaction. 

“Frankie’s is just over five years old and all the staff have worked extremely hard to ensure our produce and customer service is as good as it can be. “In fact, our staff are our most important asset, so I’m delighted for the recognition this gives them.” This latest success at the awards, hosted by celebrity chef Jean Christophe Novelli, follows four major awards at the same event last year. Staff member Carlyn Kearney was named Drywite National Young Fish Frier of the Year and Frankie’s picked up the Staff Training & Development Award, the From Field to Frier Award and the Amanda Seafoods Challenge Award.

When the Breton Parliament burned - 20 years ago

Twenty years ago the fishermen of Brittany were in dispute - protests, marches, port blockades and endless meetings were all eventually eclipsed when the Breton Parliament buildings were raised to the ground in a huge fire. The mayor of Renne, commenting on the fishermens' actions was moved to say, "I think the boys have gone a bit too far this time"

It was the night of 4 to 5 February 1994, after a day of clashes between fishermen and enforcement, Rennes attend unbelievers, dumbfounded, at the burning of the Parliament of Brittany. The building, symbol of the city and jewel of Breton heritage is devoured by the flames.

The night of the burning of the Parliament of Brittany  Archives Ouest-France

This Friday, February 4, 1994, Edouard Balladur, the then Prime Minister, to sign the contract for Rennes Plan State Region. Fishermen themselves are there also to be heard. There are thousands to shout their anger and dismay. For months, fish prices are at their lowest.

In the streets of Rennes, fishermen are more than 5000 and clashes with police violence are rare. Hundreds of flares are initiated by the protesters, the police retort to tear gas.

180 firefighters deployed

By late afternoon, calm has returned, fishermen have left the capital of Brittany. But at 0:30, firemen are called " Parliament is on fire! "

A total of 180 firefighters were deployed there to overcome the disaster.To water the fire, the water is drawn from the Vilaine. In shock, hundreds of Rennais massed on Parliament Square. They have no voice, sometimes in tears.

The story of the night of 4 to 5 February 1994 with sound archives  Céline Guetaz (01'45'') 

Sound Archives INA

Mayor of Rennes, Edmond Hervé, and the Minister of Justice, Pierre Méhaignerie also attend the " catastrophe ". 

Edmond Hervé  Archives Ouest-France

Back to the event with Edmond Hervé   (01'20'')

In 1994, Béatrice Perrot is 26 years old. Daughter of one of the caretakers of Parliament, she visits her mother that on February 4. She lived a day of very high voltage before being awakened at night. Then there is thick smoke in the corridors of Parliament where she will guide the first firefighters.

The testimony of the daughter of the concierge   (01'45'')

"It was raining embers 150 meters"

Lieutenant Colonel Hervé Rival is a firefighter, he is now retired. There are 20, 4 February 1994, he was on duty. Called in the night to take command of the mobile station at the foot of parliament, he said that day and that night the fight against the flames.

The testimony of a firefighter   (01'00'')

The fire investigation was launched the same day. A lengthy investigation, which ultimately led to a general non-place, but it has fueled many fantasies.

Judge Van Ruymbeke (file photo)  MAXPPP / Thomas Padilla

The office of Judge Van Ruymbeke was destroyed by fire. The judge investigating the affairs of secret funding of political party. 

Story courtesy of France Bleu: