Newlyn Gallery and Exchange Gallery
July 2007 - Newlyn Gallery must have come into some money recently. Not only has it built a new caf� and bookshop extension to the original Passmore Edwards building on the eastern fringe of Newlyn, it has also acquired a brand new gallery in the heart of Penzance, the Exchange Gallery just off the town's attractive Chapel Street. We can't claim that our taste in art matches theirs but we do admire the new buildings and we imagine that the caf�s will prove a big attraction. We took a look at both places when we went to Penlee House for their marvellous Stanhope Forbes exhibition, definitely our taste. The exhibiton in Newlyn Gallery was quite beyond our comprehension; that in the Exchange Gallery, called Social Systems, was comprehensible but hardly our thing.
Newlyn Gallery's new caf� extension
Penzance's new Exchange Gallery
Photographs
More in Museums & Galleries
North Cornwall Museum at Camelford
Unusually, North Cornwall Museum in Camelford is privately owned. Entirely appropriately for a museum that is concerned with the countryside and its trades and skills, the buiilding it occupies was originally the workshop of a maker of horse-drawn coaches and wagons. The museum's many wide ranging collections are surprisingly comprehensive and well displayed and explained. The period covered is very roughly the first half of the 20th century. I visited for the first time in September 2007 and greatly enjoyed my visit.
Penlee House in Penzance - Home of the Newlyn School
Built in 1865, and standing in a pleasant small park near the centre of Penzance, not far from Morrab Gardens and the seafront, Penlee House was completely refurbished in 1997. It contains West Cornwall's largest art collection, primarily the local Newlyn School of the late 19th century. Expect to see slightly romantic views of working fishermen and locals on the beach and around the harbour. Amongst the leading lights of the Newlyn School exhibited here are Stanhope Forbes, its best known name, Frank Bramley, Norman Garstin, Thomas Cooper Gotch, Walter Langley, 'Lamorna' Birch and Henry Scott Tuke. We particularly enjoy the gallery's regular special exhibitions, covering differing aspects of the Newlyn School's work. There is also a museum, founded in 1839; this covers 6000 years of Cornish history, archaeology and commerce, and has displays of fine art and the decorative arts. Also in Penzance and adjoining Newlyn you will find differing galleries at the Penzance Arts Club (may be closed now), the Exchange Gallery and the ultra contemporary Newlyn Gallery; the latter tends to put on shows which are well beyond our comprehension. More Newlyn School Paintings are found at Falmouth Art Gallery and the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro.
Poldark Mine at Trenear near Wendron
The history of this site as an industrial museum began in 1972 when Peter Young, intending to buy a wardrobe at auction, instead somehow bought Wendron Forge! Here he set up his collection of steam engines. Then, excavating into the hillside, he discovered the workings of abandoned Wheal Roots mine, which he opened to the public. With the success of the Poldark TV series the name of the site was changed from Wendron Forge to Poldark Mine. The present mining enthusiast owners took over in 1999. The history of mining here goes back a long way. Find a massive granite rock in the main car park and you will be looking at the famous Wendron mortar stone, where tin ore was ground before 1200BC. Look in the museum and you will see a copy of John Trenere's 1493 lease from the Duchy of Cornwall; outside is his original wheelpit. Force of circumstance - private ownership, no public funding (ever) and the need to pump vast volumes of water - means that this is an odd site. On the one hand, a genuine mine (good underground tour), wonderful machinery, a superb museum and helpful, knowledgeable staff. On the other hand, thanks to the need to keep up cashflow, there is an assortment of craft shops, shops and entertainments to bring in the the general public. But it's worth it for the real stuff. Caf� and ample parking.