Learning wot makes 4 btr travel writing...

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Beautiful, my GPS expired at Exeter, so had to do the final bit on my own. Had a pretty reasonable journey on the way down, especially considering I had been sent pretty close to Glastonbury! Got stuck for ages on the road not that far from the Eden Project, but eventually found my way to Penzance and down a narrow, potted track - impressive looking building! Managed to park, and made way inside to be greeted by enthusiastic Jon Laurie, our trainer for the weekend with Travellers' Tales… people were either photographers or writers, and I was looking for writing ideas! Found my room, and unpacked, nose adjusting to the rather musty smell! Went for a walk round the headland, and looked out to Sea, across to Lizard Point. In for a lovely first meal, with more idea of what we’d be doing in the morning, then settled down for a photo show by Jonathan Warbourton-Lee, who was running the photography strand.

The first full day, the first task - observe the cove for half-hour, then write about it for 45 minutes. I’ve never done anything like this before - more used to focusing on people, rather than place. My first piece did not get good feedback, but it all improved from there. I realised that maybe having read some travel writing might have been a good idea, but have read very little! For the afternoon we headed into Mousehole, completing three different tasks (make notes for a traditional Cornish town; write a full-short piece on something which triggers a childhood memory; find a character to make notes on). We headed back past St Michael’s Mount, and a quick pub stop, before heading back for another great meal, after which Jon and Jonathan looked through some photography portfolios, passing comment on what would make a good (travel) photograph - really interesting.

Full day two: We were set our assignment, for which we would need to read out a piece on the final day, to go into St Ives, do some research on a topic which would have some saleability. I decided that, as I always find this fascinating, I would look at what would make for a good souvenir of the area, and what else was for sale. It was a good opportunity to go into lots of shops, poke around, have a look what was for sale, and have a chat to some of the shop-keepers (some of whom clearly thought I was doing some kind of spy survey!). Had to try some of it of course, so a couple of cubes of fudge, and an ice-cream, plus I picked up a few postcards, and some biscuits to share with Karen when I got back to Winchester! When we got back at the end of a full day, took Bruce Chatwin’s ‘In Patagonia’ down to the beach, which I’d borrowed from Jon. Didn’t get far though as ended up having a chat to other members of the group, before heading in for another good meal, then in for the Cornish storyteller, who was… interesting!

Day three: the photographers set out on another assignment, whilst we set to writing. Just about completed in time, and actually quite happy with my piece this time, see it below:


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Finding a Souvenir in St Ives

“Cornwall is by tradition the home of the artist and the craftsman” notes a newspaper article as the Sloop Craft Market opens in the 1960s. By reputation, St Ives is one of the highlights of Cornwall, an ancient fishing village characterised by narrow lanes and alleyways, beautiful beaches, home to an internationally important arts community. In the Sloop craftsmen work behind large picture windows set in Cornish stone, producing woodwork, jewellery, rugs, and stained glass art. Is this the kind of souvenir I want, or what else can I find in St Ives?

The site of the Sloop could have become a ‘Gifte Shoppe Arcade’, full of ‘souvenirs and any old local stuff’. Any number of such gift shops encircles the Harbour, with beach gear piled up outside. Tourists group themselves around the postcards hanging outside: “Right, everyone freeze”, “Wave” laughs an elderly gentleman to his companion sat below in a wheelchair; “St Eeves” mutters a French man to his wife as they decide which postcards to send home to “ma mere”. “Keep looking, there’s loads of shops” says a mother to her daughter; “They might have one in here” says the women to her partner. A young girl, dressed in Barbie-pink tugs at her mother’s arm: “Look at this Mummy, the shell; look at this massive shell, look, Mummy, look, look at this massive shell”.

Midpoint, in Fudge Kyst, the owners, surrounded by children’s drawings of seagulls, and verses to Nana and Grandad, pass the time of day with the tourists. When asked, ‘what’s particularly Cornish?’ he replies “oh, you won’t find much Cornish here, what’s not made in Cornwall is what sells”, drawing my attention to the yellow boxes of fudge on which “only the postcard ever changes”, as “it’s what people buy”. The brisk trade ongoing in Kelly’s local ice cream, and fudge “traditionally handmade by ourselves”, especially Clotted Cream flavour, indicates otherwise.

Further along, in Lower Deck, past the beachwear, general gifts, and £2.99 tropical fish moneyboxes (Made in China), a range of walking stick badges, key rings, pens, pencils, badge patches, and flags, are displayed around the counter. The young girl behind the till wrinkles up her nose as she says “It’s all tat really… but it all sells… it’s what people want”. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to get hold of baseball caps with ‘Cornwall’ written on them, although many people ask for these to prove that they’ve been to Cornwall.

Entering Ocean Grill, attracted by the vulgar seaside postcards, tripping over the baskets piled high with shells, the shop is a jumble of items: Cornish mugs, tea towels and calendars, magnets, Cornish piskies; models of ships, pirates… and cats, cuddly toys, sunhats, pens, a lucky Buddha, a British Mini. In shorts, check shirt and flip-flops the middle-aged manager tells me that the traditional Cornish seaside town is dying, as locals are priced out by Londoner’s moving to St Ives with change in their pockets. New residents, including retirees, want to take part in activities: the Tate and the Eden Project, waterside activities - Harbourfront store Dive St Ive offers dive lessons for the adventurous. Rather than buying ‘something else to stick on the shelf and gather dust’, time - and money - are spent in quality restaurants and art galleries.

Along the seafront, the Blue Harbour Gallery offers a range of limited edition prints, largely of local scenes, a piece of local art for £30-£100. “Oh, that’s lov-er-ly, isn’t it” says a woman in her sixties, recounting a tale of the genuine art she has bought in French Markets. “That was here last year” notes a tourist of retired age. Other galleries were not to be found on the Harbour. Heading into the back streets a different range of shops is on offer: surf shops with a range of Animal, Billabong, Quiksilver, Salomen, and Rip-Curl branded goods; signed copies of ‘Soggy to the Rescue’, a children’s book - set in St Ives - fills a bookshop window; opposite a woman peers into a window full of knick-knacks: “I don’t know what I’d ever do with it, but just look at the intricate detail on that”.

Clearing up at the end of the day in the seafront ‘Cornish Pasty Shop’, which sells over 400 traditional pasties a day in summer, the shopkeeper lent on her broom and stated that “it’s the law” to have a pasty, a cream tea and an ice cream when visiting a Cornish seaside town. People may visit Cornwall for the arts, crafts, and watersports, but there is still a place for a Cornish Pasty, whether traditional or chocolate (display model melted), and the finest of Brighton Rock, sold as ‘A Present from Cornwall’. For me, I’ll have a Kelly’s chocolate fudge ripple ice cream, and some clotted cream fudge.
(799 words)

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We all read our pieces out, and was interesting to see the difference a couple of days can make! After a few more exercises related to getting published, it was still light enough to go for a walk around the headland, and see some of the things I had observed from a distance up close! In the evening I had a good chat with Jon, about options for my RTW destination as possibilities for travel writing - only Vietnam really offers options, and would be better if I could find a chance to live with a Vietnamese family. However, the main purpose of my trip has other objectives, so maybe the travel writing would be a by-product, and I should concentrate on enjoying the experience, rather than trying to capture it for travel-writing, which involves keeping hefty notes in all situations. After another good meal, we all participated in putting some of the photographers photos into a ‘Wexas Traveller’ magazine layout, to make a photo story - found this really interesting - different sizes/juxtapositions of images make a big difference.

On the final morning, William Dalrymple, first known as author of In Xanadu arrived to give a masterclass on travel-writing, and possibilities for publication - amusing guy. He was also staying for a couple more days with others of the group, but I had chosen to only stay until just after lunch on this day. Before leaving those of us leaving had a chance for a chat with Jon, giving some feedback on the session, and then I got back into the car and headed off. Once back into a phone signal area, I picked up an ‘urgent’ message from i-to-i, but the number hadn’t picked up, so I sent them an email asking for more details and headed off for Devon, to catch up with another brother. (Note: this travelblog will not necessarily be written in a ‘travel writing’ style - going more for the ‘email’ style, and occasionally I may make an effort, but it’s quite different - I often start with the ‘carousel moment’ - bad - should start in the middle of the action, and stop being so abstract, but people-focus is good!)

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Photos

With Philippa
Respect - novel published, and many Neighbours episodes... amongst other things! Great fun person!