I have been lucky enough to encounter the positive eco-guru Rob Hopkins twice in the last few months. His new book, titled How to Fall in Love with the Future is out on June 17th, and I’m eagerly looking forward to reading it. So this article is dedicated to the work of Rob, and those […]
How to be a community player
We are so lucky in our area of Cornwall to have such vibrant communities. For me, being a part of the community is one of the greatest joys of living in a village. Being part of a community can lead to wonderful experiences, from playing at being a shop-keeper in the community shop, or pasty […]
How to identify wild flowers in early summer
It’s that time of year when the hedges are abundant with beautiful flowers. We recommend the best way of really enjoying the bounty is to take a walk along the many tiny country lanes and footpaths. You may be familiar with many of these flowers, but hopefully this short guide will help you name ones […]
How to build an empire part 7 – A new look for the station building
Completing the kitchen, bathroom and passage felt like a miraculous achievement. After this work began on the outside on the car park side. Dave stripped off the old render and exposed the killas stone beneath (a metamorphic sedimentary rock), with brick arches around the windows. It looked lovely so we had no end of people […]
How to build an empire part 6 – making plans for Lizzy
As a child I had never been shy of working; I rogued for wild oats, picked stones from fields, shovelled grain into dryers, edited the local parish magazine, and even had a paid column (parish council news) for the Cornish Times. I’d done voluntary work in a school for children with additional needs, which I […]
The Best of St Germans and the Rame Peninsula
At the mouth of the Tamar, on one side scored with beautiful beaches and quaint fishing villages, on the other deep river valleys and the rolling countryside the Rame Peninsula is a gem in the Cornish crown. Slightly off the beaten track, it offers the discerning traveller exceptional natural beauty unsullied by crowds. Like the […]
How to build an empire – part 5 – the bathroom and passage
After finishing the kitchen in early 1993, we moved on to the bathroom and passage, which at the time were in the space formerly occupied by the ladies powder room and ladies toilet cubicle. We continued to live in our boarded up bedroom. Finishing our main living area meant we had somewhere to entertain. However […]
How to stay sane in a crazy world
How do we stay sane despite the craziness that is sweeping the world? For myself I try to maintain that there’s really no point worrying about things I have no control over. If the news is bad, then I stop looking at it. In today’s connected world this is sometimes easier said than done! At […]
How to build an empire part 4 – The canopy and stoves
One of our biggest problems in the early days was how to restore the canopy. St Germans station is very unusual in that we have what is called a flying freehold over the station platform. This means that we have the right to have and maintain our canopy over railway land. This was deeply unpopular […]
Passengers – A new travel crew hit the rails
A year after we moved into St Germans station, in April 1993, a new Care in the Community act was passed. This involved the closure of many hospitals that had been the home of people with mental health illnesses. Part of the reason for closure was that there was concern that these hospitals caused the […]