Childhood holiday memories
Having just read an article entitled ‘Nostalgia tourism’ which reveals that 90% of us Brits would rather use our holiday time to re-live the images that we have of our childhood or a city which holds some sentimental hold on us rather than exploring somewhere new gave me time to think back to my childhood holidays and indeed when a few years back when I decided to take my nostalgic trip and introduce my daughters to the delights of Cornwall.
Holidaying in Cornwall in the late 60’s
My childhood holiday memories have to start with the excitement of waking at 3am in the morning when it was still dark and the rest of the street was sleeping.
At that time there was no motorway connection from the South to the West so the journey was long and we needed to get started early to avoid the traffic.
Our suit cases would go on the roof rack of our Volkswagen beetle. There was not just myself and parents going on holiday but also my grandfather and grandmother, Tina the poodle and a gerbil of whom who’s name I forget as I had many gerbils as pets over the years! Anyone who knows how big or how small a Volkswagen Beetle is will know that it was by no mean feat that every year to fit in four adults, one child and two animals!!
Our destination was Mevagissey and our home for the week in May would be a quaint old fishermen’s cottage on the pathway overlooking the harbour.
As soon as we could hear the noise from the seagulls I knew that we had arrived. The harbour Master permitted us to park our car in the harbour area. This was generally forbidden but as there was no road outside the cottage and with 2 elderly passengers we were exempt from such regulations.
The sights and sounds of the harbour were enticing; The fishing trawlers would return in the mornings and unload their catch ready to be sold. We would also embark on a fishing trip but on a much smaller scale. We would take trip on Tom’s fishing boat and with a spinner and line we were ready to catch our dinner! Mackerel! Once we made such a grand catch that we bestowed much of our mackerel to an elderly resident and her many cats. There were many a whiskers being washed that night!
We would also hire our own boat from behind the aquarim where there was a slipway….But as I remember these boats always seemed to break down and we ended up waving frantically to get rescued and towed back in before we ended up drifting of to France!
As we were holidaying in May we would witness a May Day celebration to mark the coming of spring and the passing of winter. Its origins are thought to be in pagan times. We would walk to the fair ground where there was always an old fashioned roundabout with colourful horses and their manes flowing. From here we would join the pocession and head to the village to the tunes of a brass band and the Floral dance!
Next to the 15th century Fountain Inn in the village there was a small shop that sold and baked on the premises the most delicious cornish pasties. Once it closed there was nowhere else that could compare to the pasties that were made there.
I have so many childhood memories of Mevagissey and Cornwall. The smuglers museum in Polperro, the famous House on Props, Cornish ice cream!! Sitting on the harbour side at Mevagissey eating chips from newspaper!! Eating fish and chips from newspaper was not forbidden at that time…To all you non believers, yes we did eat fish N chips from newspaper and to no ill effect. Before you say UGH! Can I say that in all honesty it’s the only way to eat fish N chips.
Charlestown was and I am pleased to say still is one of the most fascinating places on the Cornish coast and is still a working port and a small amount of china clay is still exported in an average of 30-40 ships a year.
My Nostalgic return to Mevagissey was not a disappointing experience but I have to say that nothing can recapture childhood memories and much had changed which was sad. I am however happy to report that some things still remained the same, the weather and the small fishing boat that we rented still broke down.
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