NEWLYN: WISH YOU WERE HERE...

 Newlyn: Wish You Were Here…

Such endearing publicity,

An enhancement, an idyll.

Such a becoming, welcoming simplicity.

A quiet, neat haven.

Such an advertisement, an attraction,

An alluring, coveted sanctuary. 

Such a lustrous, sumptuous impression,

A sunset in daytime from an artist’s palette,

Wishing you were there in its sanctity…

Such enduring identity,

A statement, a spell.

Such a teeming, looming oddity.

A crowded, tight haven.

Such an advertisement, a distraction,

A compelling, working fishery.

Such an arduous, vexatious expression. 

A harbour for all time from the artist’s palette,

Wishing you were there in its industry…

Pete Ray

27th June 2022

After acquiring the coloured postcard above, I wanted to compare it with images taken by me recently and others which survive from the 19th century.

Strangely, the old image in black and white seems to have been the inspiration for a watercolour by Edward Hailey, from which the colour postcard was produced…

The Newlyn artists from the 19th century, such as Walter Langley from Birmingham, captured the delights of the harbour and a number of local folks as models too…

Newlyn often looks untidy and in need of some restoration but it really is a compelling place and it draws me back to walk its harbour walls every time I travel to Cornwall…

Love it there…