There's no stopping the sardine boats from Newlyn.

Great to see the sardine fleet in action this afternoon making the most of a short interval between bouts of poor weather...

the full extent of the Pelagic Marksman's ring net can be seen surrounding her just of the back of Mousehole island - hopefully the gig rowers will spot the net on the surface...

while closer inshore the Lyonesse begins the process of hauling in her net using the net hauler over her stern...

slowly closing or 'pursing' (another name for ring netting) the net...

with a catch bigger than she can hold young Will has called up the Vesta to share in the catch - such is the brotherly love between fishermen...

today was day one of the Newlyn Concept Plan exhibition - a steady stream visited so it's all go tomorrow - the exhibition closes around 3:30pm tomorrow,

 

Newlyn Harbour Exhibition open!

Nick Howell from the Newlyn Harbour AdvisoryBoard on Radio Cornwall's breakfast programme to Justin Leigh this morning explains the work and thinking that has gone into putting together the concept plans exhibition . 

After a wild and stormy night the sun came out and set the scene for the Newlyn Harbour concept plans exhibition...

in the fish market, a steady stream of stakeholders from fishermen, fish merchants, engineers, commissioners, local residents and the general public studied six sets of pans for the harbour...

accompanied by some photographs exemplifying previous Sandy Cove developments and of course the continuing rise in the height of seawater at high tide, which with climate change in full swing can only get worse...

other hot issues are potential solutions to the current parking problems the harbour and harbour residents face...

the need for deepwater berths as modern vessels grow in size and need greater safer depth of water beneath them when in port...

here chair of the harbour commissioners Rob Wing and Advisory Board chair discuss the concept plans in detail with local fleet owner Steven Nowell. The exhibition will be open until 3pm tomorrow (Wednesday).

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Seasonal Greetings One and All

Spare a thought for our Filipino crews..

These are the scenes of utter devastation in the Philipines after Typhoon Odette with devastating winds over 150mph ripped through the islands and killed around 400 people and displaced 750,000 after destroying countless homes.

Over the next few days spare a thought for the dozens of Filipino fishermen like Charlie above who now crew almost all of the fleet over 18m in Newlyn. Check out his Youtube channel to see something of his life in Newlyn aboard the gill netter, Amanda of Ladram.

Charly and his pals crew the new Amanda of Ladram.

Most of them are spending Christmas on the boats they work, some with families directly affected by typhoon Rai. Ten years ago there were no foreign crew working on Newlyn boats; now almost all the boats in the fleet rely totally on crew mainly from the Philippines but also Ghana, Sri Lanka, Latvia and Lithuania.

So, if you are visiting Newlyn and Mousehole to see the Christmas Lights give the guys a wave and a smile - they are a long way from home 

Shelterbox, a charity based in Helston, Cornwall has an appeal running - pass the word!

Their teams at ShelterBox have supported people many times in the Philippines – and we will again. They have an in-country office and emergency shelter aid stored locally. Please donate today to help families rebuild after Typhoon Rai. Your donation will provide shelter and other essential items for families affected by this terrible disaster. Any additional funds raised over what is needed will go towards our wider work, providing shelter to families who need it after disaster.

With the shortest day of the year over, summer is on its way!

 

First light this morning sees Tom keeping his ever-watchful eye over the fleet...

almost all are now safely tied up in port...

though the crabbers and netters will look to put in a few days between Christmas and New Year's Eve to keep supplies going...

as light floods the harbour the sky almost resembles the aurora borealis...

as the sun rises...

the hues intensify...

above the horizon.

Newlyn Harbour and Penlee lifeboat crew pay tribute to Andrew Munson.

In unusually quiet harbour, the RNLI ensign lowered to half-mast...

Penlee lifeboat crew past and present honour the passing of ex-harbourmaster and Penlee Lifeboat Operations manager Andrew Munson...

Then, fate seemingly intervened so that as he made his final journey down and up the Mary Williams pier...

Radio 4 began broadcasting the drama-documentary, 'Solomon Browne...

the cortège then passed the fish market before pausing briefly in front of the harbourmaster's office which he occupied for over 30 years.

Newlyn Harbour Concept Plans Exhibition Dec 28th-29th

 

Newlyn Harbour's Advisory Board will be holding an exhibition in the Fish Market on December the 28th and 29th.

There will be a public display of the latest concept plans to ensure the commercial and environmental future of the harbour inside the fish market.

Members of the Board will be on hand to explain the concept plans which are based on feedback and ideas from harbour users taken over the last two years.

The plans can also be viewed on the Harbour website here - scroll down to the Notice Board.

Please enter the fish market from the car park end.