27 Apr Monday & Tuesday
The first Monday of our festival would have involved a tour of the Knightor Vineyard. Knightor is located just above St Austell Bay but has vineyards near Portscatho. They produce premium quality English still and sparkling wines. The tour lasts about an hour and shows how the wines are produced. There would of course be the chance to taste the delicious wines. There would have been a craft session in the afternoon, showing the ancient skills of spinning and weaving, as they are promoted through the Guilds in Cornwall. Jane Hampton would have spun various types of fibre (wool, alpaca and silk as well as plant fibres) into yarn. The fibres and yarns would have been dyed naturally, and she would have explained some natural dye sources. Jane would have used a table loom to demonstrate plain weave and shown samples of other woven cloth. The day would have rounded off with a performance from Janet Russell at St Mawes’ Bohella Bar. You can hear her sing here.
TUESDAY’S EVENTS were to include a guided morning walk from Tregony around Cornelly and St Cuby Churches and an evening talk and demonstration from Holly Young. Christine Edwards and Joanne Mattingly would have led the visit to two churches to find Cornwall’s smallest church tower, an armorial pulpit, 18th century embroidery and a gentry family’s history, a 6th century inscribed stone, two Royal coats of Arms, unusual carving in wood and stone, with a walk through Tregony from the bridge to the church in search of a castle, a prison, a lost church and priory, a market place, fine buildings and relics of its political past. A Milliner’s Tale, Holly Young‘s talk, would have traced her journey into the hat trade and told us much about hat history. She would also have mused on how we wear hats today.
