I bought an old booklet from a shop in Fowey in January and it appeared to have been written sometime around 1940-1950.
It is all about Lamorna in Cornwall but no author’s name is mentioned, although the photographer is named: Anthony Williams. The booklet was a Morrab Studio production in Penzance and then printed by Chudley in Exeter.
The images are really stunning and I have not only scanned them to show here but last week I attempted to take some images from similar positions that Mr Williams had assumed so many years ago.
Below are the before and after images which show so many changes to the Cove and also a poem I wrote about Lamorna last week whilst staying in Mousehole…
Pete Ray…
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| LAMORNA INN... |
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| LAMORNA WINK... |
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| THE STREAM FROM THE VALLEY... |
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| THE STREAM STILL RUSHES... |
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| PAST THE QUARRY COUNT HOUSE TOWARDS CARN DU... |
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| A SIMILAR VIEW... |
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| GRANITE QUARRY... |
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| THE QUARRY FACE TODAY... |
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| LOOKING DOWN ON THE COVE... |
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| SO MUCH MORE VEGETATION THESE DAYS... |
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| ACROSS THE COVE TOWARDS THE SUCCESSFUL QUARRY... |
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| A SIMILAR VIEW TODAY... |
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| THE HARBOUR WALL WAS BUILT FOR THE WEST QUARRY WHICH WASN'T CONSIDERED GOOD ENOUGH QUALITY GRANITE, DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF QUARTZ IN THE ROCK FACE... |
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| THE IRREPARABLY DAMAGED HARBOUR WALL TODAY... |
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| THE UNUSED QUARRY TODAY... |
Lamenting Lamorna
No pyramids were left behind here
By the quarrymen,
No tombs or hieroglyphs upon the cliff faces;
Yet some initials might have been surreptitiously scored,
Crafted in the hard stone,
The granite, austere and sheer:
The legacy a coarse, splintered partial cone…
No fishing vessels remain here
By the slipway,
No incoming cargo to be unloaded with haste;
Yet sections of the quay have been mercilessly smashed
By a persistent sea’s irrepressible harm,
The breakwater damaged by storm tides severe:
The legacy an ugly, broken harbour arm…
Pete Ray
March 2019
Lamorna Cove saddens and exhilarates.
Much of the harbour wall has been lost to the sea and will likely never be refurbished.
The fine granite of the east face can still be admired but the failed west face, due to the presence of quartz, is still notable for the fact the original harbour arm was constructed as a result of this face being a possible source of more quality granite…
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