Latest news with #Bodmin
BBC News
15 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Woman admits shining laser at police helicopter in Bodmin
A woman from Bodmin has pleaded guilty to shining a laser at a police helicopter while it was on a search mission.A justice of the peace in Bodmin Magistrates Court gave Kim Upton, 54, of Hillside Park a conditional discharge and told her she had "acted recklessly and stupidly".The court heard a laser had been pointed to the sky seven times around midnight on an evening in August while police officers in the aircraft were searching for a high-risk missing person using thermal imaging told the police she had not deliberately targeted the helicopter but had been using the green laser to light her garden for her dog. The magistrates said Upton's actions could have led to the helicopter crashing if the pilot had been blinded by the laser court heard she had not intended to distract the helicopter and her actions were not was handed a 12-month conditional discharge which means she can be sentenced for this first offence if she was found to commit another crime in the next year.
Irish Post
4 days ago
- Irish Post
Tall stories and tall ships in delightfully offbeat Cornwall
THE thing about Cornwall is its offbeat options. It doesn't take long to find secluded beaches, hidden coves and remote cliffs. Legends too — and from the very top drawer of mythology. Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor is the home of Excalibur – although one has to qualify the word legend here. The Bodmin story is all about magical powers being transferred to King Arthur. Legend has now been downgraded to unexpectedly arriving at the office with custard doughnuts for everybody. But laidback Cornwall is happy enough with that. Tall stories and tall ships form a wonderful alchemy, along with history, geological happenstance, popular culture, and cuisine. They seem to have thought of everything. And that includes the ancient port of Falmouth. Most British towns today come with a motto: 'York; so good they named it once', type of thing. Falmouth's kicker is: 'The spirit of the sea'. Although succinct and accurate, it's not the whole story. There's a boho buzz going on here too, and a burgeoning culinary scene. Falmouth in Cornwall has been at the centre of maritime affairs for centuries The sea, of course, is an ever-present backdrop — the town has been at the centre of maritime affairs since navigation began. Its deep natural harbour made it strategically important, particularly from the 17th century onwards. The town grew rapidly after the construction of Pendennis Castle by Henry VIII in the 1540s, which defended the estuary. By the 1680s, Falmouth had become a key packet station handling mail ships between Britain and its empire. The town flourished during the Napoleonic Wars — which helped reshape not just Falmouth, but the whole of Europe, toppling monarchies, and spurring nationalism. And in an 1805 newsfeed, the latest goings-on at Trafalgar arrived via the schooner Pickle. The good news? 'England won'. The bad? 'Nelson's as dead as the proverbial dodo'. You can visit the precise spot where this news was imparted. Pendennis Castle in Falmouth Ship happens, if you get my drift CHARLES Darwin's boat HMS Beagle docked here on the Fal River. Before landing at Falmouth, Darwin spent five years on board, puzzling over wildlife and fossils. The theory of natural selection was on its way. Darwin got paid just £180 for the publication of On The Origin of Species, but was lucky enough. A respected editor read it and urged Darwin to write a book about pigeons instead. 'Everyone is interested in pigeons,' he observed helpfully. Editors, eh? Our voyage round the harbour was on board Jonik, a 1930s motor cruiser with just room for eight passengers; a ticket for the boat also gets you inside the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Eclectic is way too small a word for this place. Tucked away in Cornwall's charming harbour town, the museum is a delight for landlubbers and sea dogs alike. With boats hanging from the rafters — there's even a periscope poking above the roof — it's part museum, part nautical playground. Kids can hoist sails or climb aboard rescue craft, grown-ups can daydream about owning a yacht, and everyone learns something without even realising it. From voyages of exploration to tales to Cornish smugglers, it's a journey through seafaring history that doesn't take itself too seriously. Spanning five floors and housing 15 galleries, the museum also has its Tidal Zone for underwater views of the harbour and a 100-foot Look Out Tower for panoramic views of the harbour. The museum is currently hosting an exhibition on surfing. SURF! exhibition explores the history and cultural impact of surfing in Cornwall From vintage wave-chasers to modern-day surf heroes, an epic new exhibition SURF! surveys the last 100 years of the sport in Cornwall. Set against the backdrop of 422 miles of Atlantic-washed coastline, this, ahem, immersive journey uncovers how surfing shaped the region – and how Cornwall shaped global surf culture in return. From the 1920s pioneers paddling out on wooden bellyboards, to today's world-class athletes carving clean lines at Fistral, SURF! has the complete lowdown. Of course, you don't need a museum to appreciate matters nautical in Falmouth. Any stroll through the town will give you glimpses of the water through the opes – passageways with stone steps between buildings leading down to the water's edge. You'll see just about every type of craft here – yawls, ketches, sloops, gigs, pleasure cruises and working boats dredging for wild Fal oysters. This year sailing week is from Friday, August 8th - Sunday, August 17th. All manner of nautical matters will be taking place both on the water and the quayside, as well as a carnival on Saturday, August 9th. We wandered through the town on a spring day. The streets had a jaunty seaside air, with Falmouth's trademark fluttering bunting and a few murmurations of tourists here and there. Star quality shelter OUR destination and shelter for two days was the Star and Garter, a gastropub within a historic town house on Falmouth's high street. Outside, it looks like a classic smuggler's inn; inside are a handful of beautifully appointed apartments looking out across the Fal River. Here, I said to myself, is a place I'd like to relax in once in a while, maybe three or four times a week. There's a seriously good restaurant at the back of the ground-floor pub. The predictable nautical décor route of bits of boats everywhere has been eschewed in favour of leathery chairs, dark wood, candlelight, and mesmerising views across the harbour. If you have the great good fortune to be staying there, you only have to stumble up the stairs, after a memorably good dinner and cocktails, to your quarters – either the first-floor Starboard rooms, the second-floor Penthouse or the Crow's Nest in the attic. All have a kitchen, sofas and armchairs, views of the harbour and binoculars. There are also flat-screen tellies — I'm not sure if another type of television is available these days. But I suppose if you wanted one of those old televisions — huge box affairs with buttons saying odd things like 'vertical hold', the staff here are so helpful they'd probably see if they could get you one. The Star and Garter is a microcosm of Falmouth itself. It's a great place for dining, drinking, gazing at the sea, being happy. We'd go there as soon as possible, if we were you. Travel details Star and Garter, 52 High Street, Falmouth Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3QY For booking Jonik: Further information: See More: Cornwall, Travel
BBC News
23-05-2025
- BBC News
Bleed control kit rollout plan for Cornish schools
A charity set up to remember a man murdered in a stabbing outside a Bodmin nightclub is supporting a plan to install bleed control kits in every Cornish Initiative for Knifecrime Education in Society (Mikes Trust) said the work being carried out by another charity, Front Line Emergency Equipment Trust (Fleet), as well as Duchy Defibrillators and Bleed Control Cornwall was "impressive".The charity was set up after Michael Riddiough-Allen, 32, was killed by Jake Hill, 25, outside Eclipse Nightclub in are now bleed kits containing bandages, tourniquets and gloves in 270 defibrillator cabinets around the county. Next, is to distribute kits to all schools and colleges. Hill also injured four others with a serrated hunting knife he had hidden in a nearby hedge after the venue Riddiough-Allen intervened in a bid to prevent Hill from injuring others but suffered a fatal wound to his abdomen and died at the was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 Riddiough-Allen's family has set up Mikes Trust to educate young people about knife crime. Speaking in Bodmin, where a final bleed control kit was being installed in a Duchy Defibrillators cabinet, Mr Riddiough-Allen's father, Kevin Allen, said his son had "died trying to make a difference so we also try to make a difference".He said while Mr Riddiough-Allen's injuries were so severe even "fully immediate, fully prepared medical intervention" would not have saved him, others could be helped by bleed control kits."On that night, the first person to be stabbed without doubt would have died had there not been a quick response from one of the Eclipse nightclub door staff who immediately put pressure on the wound. "So it really shows how critical those first few minutes can be and how something like these bleed kits can make a difference,' he said. Duchy Defibrillators, Bleed Control Cornwall and Fleet said their collaboration was equipping residents and visitors with the tools needed to respond effectively to all sorts of bleeding emergencies, not just Fuszard, from Bleed Control Cornwall, said every piece of of the kit could be used by "somebody that's not done any kind of first aid training at all"."Any member of the public, any bystander, should not be afraid to use what's in there on somebody who has got a catastrophic bleed," he by Fleet, general manager Christian Brown said they hoped to rollout the kits into the defibrillator cabinets in Cornish schools over the summer."We have a group of willing volunteers who run the London Marathon every year and we raised enough this year to fund kits for every school and college in the county," he said.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
New exam centre for home-schooled children in Cornwall
A new dedicated private exam centre being set up in Cornwall is set to make it easier for home-educated children to complete their new centre is called Kowel Gwenen, Cornish for The Hive, and it is being set up in Bodmin by teacher Chrissie Berry to provide more support to families navigating Council said about 2,500 children were currently home-educated in local authority said it was "great news" that the provision available to home-schooling parents and their children was improving. 'Anxious and stressful' Chrissie Berry, director of the centre, said previously the closest private exam centre had been in said: "The nearest main centre for students who are in Cornwall is actually Taunton, but for a lot of the young people who are home-educated or don't go to school for whatever reason, that's actually a really anxious and stressful situation."I mean, I think everybody can remember doing their GCSEs, or their exams, how anxious that is for everybody anyway."Tristan's 15-year-old daughter experiences anxiety and is tutored in English and Maths. She will be among the first teenagers to sit GCSEs at the centre next said: "For us, and probably with a lot of other parents, the challenge is trying not to change it too much, so we're in an environment where our daughter is happy."She knows the people, which is a big part of it as well for us. To have the exam centre here would be amazing." A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: "The council has worked hard over recent years to encourage and promote organisations like this to develop provision to support these children and families so they can gain qualifications if they choose to do so."Local authorities do not refer or provide home education provision; this is the legal responsibility of parents/carers. "At the point that parents/carers advise us that they intend to electively home educate, we make them aware of their responsibilities and share information about a range of provision available to them across Cornwall."
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Seven fire engines dealing with house fire in Bodmin
A fire has been reported at a house in Cornwall with seven fire engines attending the scene. According to Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, the blaze started at a property in the St Tudy area of Bodmin some time before 11:45 BST on Tuesday. Crews from Bodmin, Delabole, St Austell, Padstow, Liskeard and St Austell have attended. A spokesperson for the fire service advised nearby residents to keep doors and windows closed.
