Cornish Study Days
Interested in exploring the culture and history of Cornwall? Then come along to the Rescorla Centre in 2024, which will be launching a new education programme of study workshops in association with the University of Exeter’s Institute of Cornish Studies and the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. Subjects covered include the Cornish language, folklore, history, literature and music with individual sessions providing a useful insight that can lead to further study opportunities in the future. The workshop sessions will be led by experienced teachers and course participants will receive a certificate from the Institute of Cornish Studies. Participants would also be welcome to attend the research and music sessions held at Rescorla in the morning and evening respectively on the third Saturday of each month to make it a stimulating day in the study and celebration of Cornish culture.
17 February 2024
Daphne Du Maurier and a Sense of Place
The first session with Tracy Pithie will look at literature with a focus on how Du Maurier creates a sense of place in three of her novels: Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and Frenchman’s Creek. In all three cases the landscape and coast of Cornwall play important roles – often reflecting and enhancing the moods of the characters. By exploring this aspect of her writing, we will hopefully develop an even greater understanding and love of her novels.
Tracy Pithie was a full-time teacher in primary schools for 25 years and became familiar with mid-Cornwall after living in the area for 5 years. Her long-term love of Fowey led to a greater appreciation of the novels of Daphne Du Maurier. She set up the book club at the Rescorla Centre where we have read a few Du Maurier novels.
16 March 2024
Knitting the Gansey
Emily Cunningham will talk about the history of knitting in Cornwall. This will include the practical everyday side of knitting (e.g. types of garments made, how they are constructed). The latter half of the session will teach some basic stitches and invite attendees to produce a small square of knitting that can be used collaboratively to produce a Rescorla heritage blanket.
Emily Cunningham is a MPhil/PhD student at the University of Exeter’s Institute of Cornish Studies with a BA in History and English. She is currently researching Everyday Cornish relationships to the landscape in the 19th century. Emily’s workshop will draw on her personal passion for historical homemaking and textiles.
20 April 2024
Food in Cornish History
By studying the relationship between food and cultural identity we can obtain greater insight into local and national histories. Garry Tregidga looks at the cultural associations of everyday products like the pasty and saffron cake to explore both wider themes in Cornish history and the different ways of studying the past.
Garry Tregidga was awarded a PhD in the 1990s on the subject of regional political history. He subsequently became Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies and founder of Cornish Story. His research interests include oral history, music and the Celtic Revival in Cornwall in the nineteenth century.
18 May 2024
A Cornish Bestiary
From “Pen Glas”, the horse skull hobby horse of West Penwith and the dragons of Helston’s Hal An Tow to Padstow’s “Obby Oss” and the “Beast of Bodmin” Cornwall is rich in mystical beasts. Dr Merv Davey will show that these beasts are part of Cornish Guize Dance tradition and have been well documented since the 19th century but what are their origins, meanings, and significance?
Merv Davey completed a PhD with the Institute of Cornish Studies researching folk song dance and identity in Cornwall and has written a range of articles and books on Cornish folk tradition. He continues his research as an Associate of the Institute and a member of the Cornish National Music Archive team.
15 June 2024
Cornish Identity – what it is and what it does
There is a lot of talk these days about ‘Cornish Identity’ but different people mean different things by the phrase. Richard Pearce’s session will look at how place identity operates in our minds and affects our behaviour, and sees several different ways in which we may claim Cornish identity.
Dr Richard Pearce comes from a historically Cornish family. He has worked in international schools and has done research and written on how children adjust their cultural identity on moving to a new country. This has useful applications in Cornwall, where people have migrated inward and outward over many years.
20 July 2024
Cornwall and the British Documentary Film Movement
Film can be a useful way of studying both external and internal representations of Cornwall. Bob Keys will introduce us to the work of the Documentary Film Movement in relation to Cornwall during the middle decades of the twentieth century, Participants will be introduced to old film on media platforms and shown how to do their own commentaries.
Bob Keys is an Associate of the Institute of Cornish Studies and Film & Folklore Director of Cornish Story. In recent decades he has been applying his earlier Russian research on those topics to the Cornish experience. He lives in his native South East Cornwall and was formerly Head of History at the University College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth.
17 August 2024
History of the Cornish Language 1600-2000
In this session Kim Hopewell and Diana Trudgeon will be looking at the demise and the revival of the Cornish language starting in 1600 with William Scawen up to the present day.
Kim Hopewell and Diana Trudgeon have been studying the Cornish language since 2017 and having passed four examinations in the language were invited to become bards of Gorsedh Kernow in 2023. They put on events in various places around Cornwall to help promote the language.
21 September 2024
Cornish Traditional Costume
Join Alison Davey as she takes us through the story of traditional costume in Cornwall and its depiction in a variety of visual settings including paintings, early photographs, and carvings.
Alison Davey developed an interest in traditional costume alongside her research into Cornish dance traditions. She was a founder member of the dance team Cam Kernewek, and one of the organisers of Lowender Peran. Alison regularly provides costume workshops for schools and collaborated with Cornwall Heritage Trust to provide an online costume educational resource.
For further details and to register for the course at Rescorla please email
G.H.Tregidga@exeter.ac.uk
17 February 2024
Daphne Du Maurier and a Sense of Place
The first session with Tracy Pithie will look at literature with a focus on how Du Maurier creates a sense of place in three of her novels: Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and Frenchman’s Creek. In all three cases the landscape and coast of Cornwall play important roles – often reflecting and enhancing the moods of the characters. By exploring this aspect of her writing, we will hopefully develop an even greater understanding and love of her novels.
Tracy Pithie was a full-time teacher in primary schools for 25 years and became familiar with mid-Cornwall after living in the area for 5 years. Her long-term love of Fowey led to a greater appreciation of the novels of Daphne Du Maurier. She set up the book club at the Rescorla Centre where we have read a few Du Maurier novels.
16 March 2024
Knitting the Gansey
Emily Cunningham will talk about the history of knitting in Cornwall. This will include the practical everyday side of knitting (e.g. types of garments made, how they are constructed). The latter half of the session will teach some basic stitches and invite attendees to produce a small square of knitting that can be used collaboratively to produce a Rescorla heritage blanket.
Emily Cunningham is a MPhil/PhD student at the University of Exeter’s Institute of Cornish Studies with a BA in History and English. She is currently researching Everyday Cornish relationships to the landscape in the 19th century. Emily’s workshop will draw on her personal passion for historical homemaking and textiles.
20 April 2024
Food in Cornish History
By studying the relationship between food and cultural identity we can obtain greater insight into local and national histories. Garry Tregidga looks at the cultural associations of everyday products like the pasty and saffron cake to explore both wider themes in Cornish history and the different ways of studying the past.
Garry Tregidga was awarded a PhD in the 1990s on the subject of regional political history. He subsequently became Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies and founder of Cornish Story. His research interests include oral history, music and the Celtic Revival in Cornwall in the nineteenth century.
18 May 2024
A Cornish Bestiary
From “Pen Glas”, the horse skull hobby horse of West Penwith and the dragons of Helston’s Hal An Tow to Padstow’s “Obby Oss” and the “Beast of Bodmin” Cornwall is rich in mystical beasts. Dr Merv Davey will show that these beasts are part of Cornish Guize Dance tradition and have been well documented since the 19th century but what are their origins, meanings, and significance?
Merv Davey completed a PhD with the Institute of Cornish Studies researching folk song dance and identity in Cornwall and has written a range of articles and books on Cornish folk tradition. He continues his research as an Associate of the Institute and a member of the Cornish National Music Archive team.
15 June 2024
Cornish Identity – what it is and what it does
There is a lot of talk these days about ‘Cornish Identity’ but different people mean different things by the phrase. Richard Pearce’s session will look at how place identity operates in our minds and affects our behaviour, and sees several different ways in which we may claim Cornish identity.
Dr Richard Pearce comes from a historically Cornish family. He has worked in international schools and has done research and written on how children adjust their cultural identity on moving to a new country. This has useful applications in Cornwall, where people have migrated inward and outward over many years.
20 July 2024
Cornwall and the British Documentary Film Movement
Film can be a useful way of studying both external and internal representations of Cornwall. Bob Keys will introduce us to the work of the Documentary Film Movement in relation to Cornwall during the middle decades of the twentieth century, Participants will be introduced to old film on media platforms and shown how to do their own commentaries.
Bob Keys is an Associate of the Institute of Cornish Studies and Film & Folklore Director of Cornish Story. In recent decades he has been applying his earlier Russian research on those topics to the Cornish experience. He lives in his native South East Cornwall and was formerly Head of History at the University College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth.
17 August 2024
History of the Cornish Language 1600-2000
In this session Kim Hopewell and Diana Trudgeon will be looking at the demise and the revival of the Cornish language starting in 1600 with William Scawen up to the present day.
Kim Hopewell and Diana Trudgeon have been studying the Cornish language since 2017 and having passed four examinations in the language were invited to become bards of Gorsedh Kernow in 2023. They put on events in various places around Cornwall to help promote the language.
21 September 2024
Cornish Traditional Costume
Join Alison Davey as she takes us through the story of traditional costume in Cornwall and its depiction in a variety of visual settings including paintings, early photographs, and carvings.
Alison Davey developed an interest in traditional costume alongside her research into Cornish dance traditions. She was a founder member of the dance team Cam Kernewek, and one of the organisers of Lowender Peran. Alison regularly provides costume workshops for schools and collaborated with Cornwall Heritage Trust to provide an online costume educational resource.
For further details and to register for the course at Rescorla please email
G.H.Tregidga@exeter.ac.uk
