Drift 36

The shape NOW

of

Depictions of the ordinary, richly drawn, bring to life the objects we see before us

We have once again been voted Cornwall’s Best Estate Agency!

Despite the housing market remaining challenging, we have experienced a very busy winter period, with many sales being agreed across Cornwall. We are now in need of properties across the county to satisfy demand.

Whether you are just starting to consider a sale in 2024 or if you are on the market and unhappy with your agents approach, please contact us for a confidential discussion.

A JOURNAL FOR THE DISCERNING

Drift drift noun

1. the act of driving something along the flow or the velocity of the current of a river or ocean stream verb

to become driven or carried along, as by a current of water, wind, or air to move or float smoothly and e ortlessly

We invite you to continue your lifestyle voyage online. Find inspiring stories and uncover more luxury content on nstagram dri cornwall Join our e clusi e e ournal community at dri cornwall co uk to recei e recipes re iews and insider knowledge of some of Cornwall’s most lo ed lu ury destinations

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A JOURNAL FOR THE DISCERNING

On the cover

‘Dream ool’, annah Luxton, oil on linen canvas. annah’s work will be featured as part of a new show, he hape of Now at Velarde, ingsbridge. As featured from page . velarde.co.uk

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© All rights reserved. Material may not be re-produced without the permission of Engine House Media Ltd. While rift will take every care to help readers with reports on properties and features, neither Engine House Media Ltd nor its contributors can accept any liability for reader dissatisfaction arising from editorial features, editorial or advertising featured in these pages. Engine House Media Ltd strongly advises viewing any property prior to purchasing or considerations over any financial decisions. ngine House Media reserves the right to accept or reject any article or material supplied for publication or to edit such material prior to publication. Engine House Media Ltd cannot take responsibility for loss or damage of supplied materials. The opinions expressed or advice given in the publication are the views of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of

Engine House Media Ltd. It is suggested that further advice is taken over any actions resulting from reading any part of this magazine.

Engine House Media Ltd is a multi-platform media business with a passion for everything Cornish. Visit www.enginehousemedia. co.uk to find out more. ur mission is to create AD WA I media opportunities marrying together consumers with the fabulous businesses across ornwall. ur publishing and marketing teams are specialists in creating print and online communications, devised to achieve a range of marketing objectives. With over 20 years of marketing, brand management and maga ine experience we develop effective communications that deliver your message in a credible and creative way. We operate across all media channels, including: print, online and video.

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Foreword

Beyond its tangible manifestations, the South West also embodies a way of life characterised by a deep reverence for nature, a profound connection to the land, and a celebration of community and heritage. It is this holistic approach to living that infuses artistic endeavour in the region, resulting in creations that are not only visually striking but also imbued with a sense of soulful authenticity. hotographer eter ohn Fellows ) finds himself seeking out those moments when all elements align and he can be fully immersed and engaged in his surroundings. Creations of a culinary kind are the order of the day at The Pig at ombe ). onnections here come direct from the earth, where ingredients are cultivated for the kitchen. he seasons define the menu and there is an unfailing verity in how produce is sourced.

osie arbottle’s ) connection with place is derived from her proximity to the expanses of Dartmoor and informs her artistic practice of telling nature’s untold stories on canvas. mma effryes ) finds her subject matter at the water’s edge, where sea meets land. Her time spent in the Cornish wilds connects her as if part of the fabric of the very landscape she explores. Author Sophie ierce ) finds herself swimming into the sublime, seeking authenticity of self from the joy of immersion. That which surrounds us inspires creativity, ingenuity and boundless imagination. It ignites our senses, awakens curiosity and leaves us with a renewed appreciation for the timeless allure of a unique lifestyle. Welcome to the world of F Journal, where artistry knows no bounds and every creation is a masterpiece waiting to be discovered.

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FORSALE FORSALE

A Selection of some of our properties for sale

Similar properties required. Buyers waiting.

The Directors of Jackson-Stops invite you to accept an offer of a free market appraisal of your property.

If you would like to arrange a private and discreet marketing consultation please call us today.

Stithians OIEO £1,350,000

Helford Passage £1,800,000

Pentire

Feock

Beautifully Chic Barn Conversion with Impeccable Style

The Linhay | Engollan | Nr Porthcothan £875,000 Guide

This beautifully chic and flawlessly styled single storey barn conversion with an attractive stone façade has been impeccably renovated to offer a touch of luxury Cornish living. The Linhay offers four spacious bedrooms, four bathrooms and a wonderful open plan living, dining and kitchen space with a vaulted and beamed ceiling and elegant colour pallet. Located within the small, peaceful hamlet of Engollan just 1.7 miles from the picturesque Cornish cove of Porthcothan Bay and less than 2.5 miles from magnificent Mawgan Porth, Jackie Stanley welcome The Linhay to the market for the first time in almost 20 years.

Spinnaker Drive | St Mawes | Guide Price £1,695,000

Commanding harbour, river and countryside views , take this opportunity to own a state-of-the-art home in St Mawes. The accommodation comprises five bedrooms, two with en suites and dressing rooms, and another that’s equipped to serve as a home study or media room. Outside, a private enclosed garden is a joy to spend time in, featuring Cornish stone walling, and the optional extras of a pergoda for outdoor dining and outdoor hot tub.

At a glance

17 UNDERSTANDING LIGHT

Through the lens of Peter John Fellows

28 THE SHAPE OF NOW

An exceptional line up at Velarde

40 JOURNEY THROUGH TIME AND TERROIR

A testament to timeless charm and culinary excellence

49 A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

An exploration of creative instincts

58 LUXURY HOMES

At the pinnacle of the Cornish market

67 FESTIVAL FEAST

Celebrating spring with Rupert Cooper

75 NATURAL COMPANIONS

A creative catalogue of the natural world

84 CREATIVE INFLUENCE

Emma Jeffryes’ own west Cornwall

95 A LOGIC YOU CAN’T RATIONALISE

Into the world of Nina Royle

105 SWIMMING INTO THE SUBLIME

Sophie Pierce’s guide to wild waters

115 TREADING LIGHTLY

Connecting home and earth with ARCO2

122 EVENTIDE

A final word from Laura Truckle

Understanding

LIGHT

WORDS BY ROSIE CATTRELL

Often drawn to the water, contemporary landscape photographer Peter John Fellows finds himself seeking out those magic moments.

For an artist known and admired for his coastal scenes, contemporary landscape lens exponent Peter John Fellows was born in 1955 in the rural village of Dosthill, Staffordshire. Fellows’ relationship with his rural habitat led to his interest in photography during his formative years, as he explains: “At the age of five, the gift of an Agfa compact camera from my German Grandfather proved to be the catalyst for a passion for photography.

The ‘magic’ of that event remains undiminished from those early years.”

After spending several years pursuing a career in interior design, Fellows

found that he couldn’t ignore the pull of his passion and made his way back to photography. “Whilst almost exclusively a solitary pursuit,” he explains, “photography allows me to fully immerse and engage with my surroundings. There are always photographic challenges and opportunities.”

Large, dramatic open bodies of water seem to be a default setting for Fellows, with a particular fondness for coastalfringed landscapes.

“Opportunities arise when all the key elements (light, subject, composition) appear almost as a ‘gift’,” he continues, “but on far more occasions, investigation and patience are required for the final reward. An understanding of light

TOP ‘Roseglow’ Kynance Cove, The Lizard

ABOVE Dawn, Kynance Cove, The Lizard

‘Shards’ Jangye Ryn, Gunwalloe

is fundamental.” Fellows’ background in surface and interior design has a strong bearing on his imagery and provided a welcome legacy in his creation of photographic art. Lines, pattern, texture and graphic composition are pervading themes.

“I’m not one for blinding my audience with the technical, I hope my images speak for themselves, but needless to say, superior optics are required to achieve the ultimate result. I am often asked ‘how do you see?’, for which I have no simple answer. We all have our own individual vision; photography allows me to share my personal view of our surroundings. Life is full of surprises; this is also the joy of photography as it is often wholly unpredictable. I remember with fondness both

the excitement and apprehension of returning from long trips, loaded with rolls of film to process, hoping that my efforts had been rewarded, that some of my memories had been captured safely.”

Fellows’ work features in private collections worldwide, and in corporate collections in the UK and on the Continent. Works on offer are exclusively limited edition, with bespoke framing available. His work has also been made available worldwide with renowned publisher te Neues Verlag of Germany. All images © Peter John Fellows 2024.

peter_john_fellows

pjf_mono

mail@pjfphoto.com

‘Floodtide’ Kynance Cove, The Lizard

‘Hot Tide’ The Towans, Gwithian

TOP ‘Low Tide’ Helford River

ABOVE

‘Sea Milk’ Kynance Cove, The Lizard

TOP Priest’s Cove, Cape Cornwall

ABOVE

‘Split’ Jangye Ryn, Gunwalloe

peter_john_fellows pjf_mono

The shape NOW of

WORDS BY MERCEDES SMITH

Devon’s new Velarde gallery is impacting art in the South West with its exceptional schedule of exhibitions.

In the pretty town of Kingsbridge in the South Hams, a short stroll from the town centre brings you to Velarde, a striking new gallery with an all-glass view through the building to an elegant sculpture garden beyond. Velarde is Devon’s newest art gallery, a customdesigned, custom-built space for the exhibition of British and international art. It opened to the public in July 2023 with its flagship first show, A Passionate Nature, which included work by Italian painter Alessandro Twombly, British photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten and internationally recognised sculptor Peter andall age nvestment in fine art venues like this are infrequent in the South

West, so the buzz around Velarde’s opening was substantial amongst collectors and amongst artists for whom the scale and scope of the space o ers huge possibilities

The gallery includes a 1,400 square foot exhibition area, hosting five e hibitions a year, designed to exhibit Devon’s brightest and most promising talent alongside exceptional painting, sculpture, photography and contemporary craft from across the UK and Europe. Velarde is part of a new trend for the establishment of major rural art venues which aim to support contemporary art outside urban art centres like London. It is also the culmination of a lifelong dream

LEFT

‘The Secret’, bronze, Antonio Lopez Reche

INSET Velarde, Kingsbridge

ABOVE

‘Vessel V’, acrylic and pencil on linen, Susan Laughton

for its owners, Matt and Fi Velarde. Both are professional artists themselves: Matt is a fine art photographer, while Fi is a painter and printmaker. “Matt and I have always had a shared passion for art,” says Fi “and that is why we embarked on this project. We wanted to open a really inspiring, exciting and thought-provoking gallery that would bring the best in fine art to Devon and connect people with new and established talent. Art is so important and can be so uplifting, and we’ve always felt that contributing to the art scene in this way would be incredibly rewarding for us.”

Having searched Kingsbridge for the perfect location, att and Fi finally ac uired Fore Street, a near derelict three story building which they partially demolished and rebuilt over the following months he entire project, which involved the commissioning of award-winning South Devon architects Andrew Lethbridge Associates, and construction team KM Developments South est, represents a significant investment in the local economy, and significant faith in the future of Kingsbridge as a destination for the arts hen att and first started exploring the South Hams we fell in love with Kingsbridge,” says Fi. “It is a beautiful

town – one of the few remaining towns with a truly wonderful selection of independent shops – and it has some outstanding restaurants and spectacular countryside. Our vision for the gallery was much smaller in scale at first, but it gained momentum, like a snowball rolling down a mountain, with so many changes along the way. Getting the gallery built and launched has been challenging in the current economic climate, but it has also been incredibly exciting, and we have had such great support from the people of Kingsbridge, and that has really meant a lot to us. Now the gallery is in full swing we are committed to our vision of giving artists an incredible platform for their work right here in South Devon. Kingsbridge attracts lots of wonderful visitors, but we would like Velarde to be a destination in itself, and if it brings more people into Kingsbridge and the South Hams, that’s great.” Matt agrees, saying “We want Velarde to become a hub of contemporary art in the South West, to be a catalyst for expanding the arts here in evon, and we hope to make a significant contribution to expanding the South West as a centre for British art. We have a wonderfully friendly and welcoming team here at Velarde, an exciting programme of shows in the planning and an incredible list of artists.”

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Their list of exhibiting artists so far has been varied and intriguing ising and significant ritish artists such as ue illiams ’ ourt, avid ardy, insley yrne, ack a ett and arrie ean oldsmith have been on show, as well as established and highly influential artists such as painter areth dwards , tapestry maker o arker, and sculptors atricia olk and ichard erry nternational names have included wedish ceramicist unilla aria kesson and erman born mi ed media artist anna en oornkaat, while works of contemporary craft have included e citing new names such as akahashi c il, usanna auer and hannon legg From rd arch to th ay this year elarde presents The Shape of Now, a collection of works by women artists in paint, wood, plaster and clay that e press ideas through dot, line, circle and simplicity of form t includes paintings by ollock rasner Foundation ward winning artist elen ooth, who uses a simple language of dots

and muted colour to e plore the molecular wonder of the atmospheric world

howing alongside her is evon based artist illy utton, of the oyal ociety of culptors he works with locally felled timber, carving e uisite, pared down forms that e press the sculptural possibilities of trees, birds, animals and the human figure usan aughton’s background as an architectural technician is reflected in the almost mathematical approach to line used in her paintings Her restrained and elegant work reflects remembered impressions of rural and urban landscapes, painted in acrylic on wood, or canvases primed with plaster ising young artist annah u ton’s work is inspired by nimism, the th century omantic concept that attributes living souls to inanimate ob ects and natural phenomena he uses single pigment oil colours, often grinding her own semi precious colours from minerals such

‘ ellow ot’, oil on canvas, elen ooth

TOP orks by talian artist lessandro wombly ABOVE

‘ ound seedpod and small round seeds’, aroline harp

Rachel Hoile Photography

as Malachite and Lapis Lazuli, painting on unprimed linen to signify ideas of a supreme ‘nothingness’ and using simplified shapes and lines to express features of the material universe.

Finally, works of contemporary craft in this show are provided by ceramicist Jane Sheppard. Through a process of hand coiling, smoke firing and burnishing, she creates vessels that reflect humanity’s long history of hand shaping the earth, using resist techniques to add primitive surface details such as dots and circles. This show is just the next in an ambitious programme of exhibitions that has grown from the passions of one couple with a real love for the South Hams, and for contemporary

art. “I think the South West is a place where people truly appreciate unique and beautiful things,” says Fi, “perhaps because we live in such a unique and beautiful place. Our aim at Velarde Gallery is to enhance that.” “Every day,” says Matt, “myself, Fi and our team are welcoming new visitors, meeting great new artists, and challenging not just ourselves but each other as the gallery develops. It has been an exciting ride so far, that will, I hope, continue long into the future.”

See The Shape of Now from 23rd March to 18th May at Velarde, 86 Fore Street, Kingsbridge TQ7 1PP velarde.co.uk

Sculpture and print by Peter Randall-Page RA, with ceramics by Rosa Wiland Holmes, part of Velarde’s opening Passionate Nature exhibition

Journey through TERROIR time and

WORDS BY HANNAH TAPPING

Nestled amidst Devon’s rolling hills, The Pig at Combe stands as a testament to timeless charm and culinary excellence.

The Pig at Combe dates back to Eizabethan times, and this historic establishment is not just a hotel; it’s a living testament to centuries of tradition, a place where the past whispers through the landscape and every corner tells a story. From the moment guests arrive, they are enveloped in an atmosphere of rustic elegance that is as captivating as it is welcoming. Surrounded by lush gardens, an Arabian stud farm, and vast acres of arable land, The Pig at Combe exudes an aura of sophistication and tranquillity, inviting visitors to step back in time and indulge in the simple pleasures of life.

Each hotel that makes up part of The Pig group is chosen for its historic building, and while all are different in their own right, there’s always a feeling that you know you’re in a Pig. Each room within the hotel

is a sanctuary in itself, a unique blend of comfort and character that reflects the individuality of its surroundings. Whether nestled in a cosy nook with exposed beams or basking in the panoramic views from a spacious suite, guests are treated to an experience that is both luxurious and authentic, a true escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

At the heart of The Pig at Combe, as with every Pig, lies its culinary offering. Its kitchen garden is a veritable oasis of abundance meticulously tended by a dedicated team of gardeners. Here, amidst the Devon sun and its fertile soil, seasonal produce thrives, shaping the menu in ways that celebrate the rich tapestry of flavours the region has to offer. From heirloom apples to freshly harvested greens, every dish tells a story of terroir and tradition, a tribute to the land and its bounty. Nothing is forced here.

The Pig at Combe has an unwavering commitment to sustainability and zero-waste practices. With a focus on organic garden practices and local sourcing, the hotel strives to minimise its ecological footprint while maximizing flavour. From composting kitchen scraps to pickling surplus produce, every effort is made to honour the ethos of responsible stewardship, ensuring each meal served is not just delicious, but also environmentally conscious. The dedication to sustainability extends beyond the kitchen to the bar, where seasonal ingredients find their way into artisanal cocktails crafted with care. Even the eclectic tableware reflects The Pig’s ethos, with mismatched plates and vintage cutlery adding to the charm of the dining here.

The culinary experience is one of simplicity and excellence, with a menu rooted in classic British fare and inspired by the rhythm of the seasons. The kitchen garden forms the basis of the ‘25-mile menu’ and whatever can’t be grown or reared here is sourced locally. Whether indulging in a succulent pork chop sourced from the hotel’s own pigs or savouring a vibrant salad made with freshly picked greens, guests are treated to a feast for the senses that delights the palate and nourishes the soul. The ethos of eating here is simple; three or four good things on plate that taste delicious. The quality of the produce is so good that there is no need for unnecessary additions.

Central to its culinary philosophy is the concept of “plot-to-plate” dining,

where ingredients sourced from the hotel’s kitchen garden take centre stage. Working in tandem with the head chef, the gardeners meticulously plan and cultivate produce tailored to the seasons, ensuring that each dish reflects the freshness and flavour of the surrounding landscape. With a menu that evolves with the changing seasons, guests can expect a culinary journey that celebrates the bounty of Devon’s countryside.

Head Chef Rob and Head Gardener Pete, work very closely together on a daily basis, with produce from the garden determining what will appear on the daily changing menu. “I like to let Pete do his job,” says Rob, “and grow the best vegetables, salad and fruits that he can. This is where I draw my inspiration rather than pre-planning dishes.” Pete adds: “Rob is very clever at being able to respond to what we have harvested. It may be that something has bolted and needs to be picked and used within the next eight days. Mother Nature doesn’t drip feed us. Take our berries, for example, they’re here for just two weeks so Rob needs to be able to work on the fly. Thankfully, he’s very adept at fermenting and making rubs, pickles and preserves for use in less fruitful times with the benefit that the resulting jars, packed with produce, make a great addition to the dining room decoration.”

“My kitchen garden team are currently removing everything that’s been growing over winter, using up the the cabbages

ABOVE

TOP

Braised Buckhouse Farm hoggett shoulder for two (left), Lyme Bay hand-dived scallops with cauliflower purée (right)

The restaurant

ABOVE

The Georgian Kitchen, an eclectic private dining space RIGHT

The kitchen garden

ABOVE

Growing is at the heart of The Pig at Combe

and kales that have been growing in the polytunnels. Spring planting will start soon and will include lots of quick growing salads leaves and radishes and then will come the fresh broad beans and the vibrant beetroot varieties. For me, this is one of the most exciting times of year, when you can smell spring in the air and new shoots and seedlings are starting to appear.”

“Apart from incredible flavour, what sets our food apart,” explains Rob, “is that we know exactly where it all comes from. We can give you a postcode, we can give the longitude and latitude of exactly where it’s grown and we’ll have met the person that grew it. When we serve fish, the menu will include the name of the boat that landed it. The same with the meat; the farm will be named and it’s likely just a couple of miles down the road.” While, the kitchen garden here isn’t certified as organic, that is what Pete and his team practice: “We can’t be putting anything nasty on the soil as it will end up on the plate. We don’t use fertilisers or herbicides, preferring biological control instead, introducing predatory insects to address the balance.”

and connect with the land in meaningful ways. A stroll through the orchards reveals a treasure trove of fruit trees. Venture a little further for an after-dinner stroll, and you’ll find the hotel’s small drove of pigs, an apiary from which they produce their own honey, ducks, chicken, quail and a few sheep. It’s all about that zero-mile sourcing and helps with understanding the ethos of what is happening here. For those seeking a deeper understanding of the hotel’s plot-to-plate approach, guided garden tours offer insight into the meticulous care and attention that goes into every ingredient sourced and each dish freshly prepared.

As the seasons ebb and flow, The Pig remains a beacon of culinary innovation and rural hospitality, redefining the art of dining in Devon’s bucolic landscape. With a nod to tradition and an eye toward the future, it continues to captivate guests with its blend of timeless charm and modern sophistication. Whether that be a leisurely meal in the garden or basking in the beauty of the countryside, guests are sure to find solace and delight in this idyllic retreat, where every moment is a celebration of the land and the rich tapestry of flavour it provides.

Guests are invited to immerse themselves in the beauty of The Pig’s surroundings

thepighotel.com

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A catalystCHANGE for

WORDS BY HANNAH TAPPING

n a world that often pushes us towards predefined paths, osie Harbottle’s artistic journey stands out as a testament to the power of following our creative instincts.

Talking to Rosie, it’s clear that her artistic trajectory has been a dynamic interplay of self-discovery, exploration, and embracing the unexpected. Originally from the north east, Rosie’s family moved to Devon when she was 13. Having started at Anglia Ruskin University studying graphic design, a chance visit to the illustration studios there made Rosie think again: “I saw this incredibly creative space with paintings and paint everywhere and I thought, that’s what I need to be doing. At the same time, I sadly broke up with my long-term boyfriend; both of these events were a catalyst for change and I decided to move to Plymouth University to join their illustration course. It was the best thing I

could have done and I didn’t look back. The course was brilliant and Ashley, my tutor, was excellent, teaching me that consistency was the key. There are a lot of degree courses where students have to be very much self-motivated and I don’t think that would have been for me. The fact that we had to be in the studio all the time instilled a consistent work ethic in me, one that has gone on to inform my practice.”

Graduating in 2011, Rosie went to work at Paper & Cloth in Northampton: “I was creating surface pattern designs for clothing, cards and stationery; it was my dream job and an incredible opportunity. During my time there, I learned a huge amount about the commercial design industry and gained valuable computer technology skills, but I

TOP LEFT ‘Flowering Begonia’

TOP RIGHT ‘Sun’s Eye’

ABOVE ‘Last of the Cosmos’

TOP ‘Autumn is ere’, detail left) ‘Autumn is ere’ right)

ABOVE

‘ ink Fritillary’ and ‘ rocus’ left) ‘ osmos study’ right)

MIDDLE ‘Making Daisy Chains’

‘Last

ABOVE ‘Dahlias’ and ‘Foxgloves’ from the triptych ‘Summer in Bloom’

just wasn’t loving the land-locked lifestyle. I was so torn, but my heart just wasn’t in Northampton.” While Rosie had a great career, she realised that her lifestyle in Devon was so intertwined with who she was as a person, that she moved back ‘home’ to be closer to her beloved sea.

“I did actually think it was possibly career-suicide. While I was excited at a new opportunity, I had left an amazing job to be self employed at a time when there wasn’t the advantage of social media platforms to promote my work – it was a different climate to the one we see today. Luckily my family was really supportive; my dad sat me down and told me “now it’s time for you”. So, I worked, worked and worked to create a portfolio and then reached out to lots of different studios, winning as many small projects as I could which helped me to develop my practice. Then came another period of change. The pandemic hit and suddenly lots of my projects came to an unexpected standstill.”

pastels, a medium I hadn’t used since school. I began to experiment with colour just to see where it took me and, with Dartmoor on my doorstep, I was suddenly surrounded by vast expanses of nature. Prior to the pandemic I had travelled quite a lot and loved exploring far-flung places which had informed my work with lots of tropical elements. Being unable to travel meant that I really started to take in my immediate surroundings and I felt the urge to paint the natural world that I saw before me. This time also gave me a new-found appreciation for the beauty of the South West. I felt guilty that this was a horrible time for many and that mine was a really different experience. It gave me the time that I needed to pause and really explore what I wanted from my work.”

Having an enforced pause meant that Rosie could finally dedicate some time to her own creativity: “I just started playing with oil

Taking inspiration from folk art, Rosie’s work has colour at its heart. In pursuit of the perfect palette, she now works predominantly in oil pastel and acrylic on canvas. Naive brushstrokes combine with decorative detail to tell untold stories of nature in both micro and macro form.

rosieharbottle.com

NATURE Nestled within

Situated on Cornwall’s north coast, this property offers the perfect lend of tran uillity and con enience

Bargesi, in the coastal parish of St Agnes, is the epitome of an architectural masterpiece, having been crafted to the highest standard with meticulous attention to detail Fusing its alifornian pavilion style with cutting edge design and coastal influences, the home cohesively connects to nature both inside and out from the inclusion of natural materials to the freshwater swimming ponds

pon entering the property, you are immediately struck by its breathtaking form and striking visual allure he e pansive double height open plan kitchen and dining space is flooded with natural light which continues out into the landscaped garden and fire pit beyond descent into the sunken lounge creates an immersive e perience where you can rela and en oy the visual delight of waterfalls from the comfort of your sofa omplete with four en suite bedrooms that harmoniously blend ease and style, plus an additional study or fifth bedroom, this is the perfect property for a family looking to immerse themselves within nature and lu ury

BARGESI Guide price: £2.25M

JACKSON-STOPS 01872 261160

cornwall@jackson-stops.co.uk

jackson-stops.co.uk

IT ALL Away from

An alluring and secluded miniestate with historic references as far back as the Domesday Book.

This property between Falmouth and Truro enjoys an idyllic setting on the edge of Ponsanooth. The grounds are simply stunning, in fact, it is the setting and level of privacy that make Cosawes Barton so special. It’s unsurprising that the site has been so popular as a wedding venue, nor that the three included holiday lets (in addition to the expansive main residence) have been so successful, achieving a 5 Star Gold Award status.

The main house is supremely charming. Facing into the grounds and away from the cottages, it also provides a great deal of privacy for the owners. Generous living spaces, a large sociable kitchen and four bedrooms (including a master en suite) provide plenty of room to spread out, with vaulted ceilings, original features including beamed ceilings and a fireplace, and beautiful interior touches that celebrate their rural Cornish locale.

COSAWES BARTON

Guide price: £2.95M

ROHRS & ROWE 01872 306360

info@rohrsandrowe.co.uk rohrsandrowe.co.uk

MODERNITY Made for

Heated by air source and powered by solar, this brand new detached house lies just moments from Trevone Bay.

Accessed via electric gates with a video entry system, as you step from the driveway and across the threshold this home continues to impress, fitted with air-source heating, solar PV and battery storage, under oor heating, air conditioning, electric velux blinds and more. Three of the bedrooms feature en suites, with the master enjoying a built-in wardrobe. Downstairs, a beautiful bespoke kitchen and walnut staircase with elegant glass balustrading are as decorative as they are functional. The kitchen features Quartz and granite worktops, plus a Quooker hot tap, ceramic hob, two dishwashers, as well as a pantry, perfect for those who like to stay stocked up with ingredients for all eventualities.

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Festival FEAST

WORDS BY HANNAH TAPPING | IMAGES BY MAT ARNEY

A seasonal menu to celebrate spring, designed for the Porthleven Food Festival by Chef Rupert Cooper of Philleigh Way Cookery School and Cove Café.

Whipped Feta & Goat’s Cheese with Roasted Grapes and Beetroot, Pomegranate Molasses, served with Dukkah and Crostini

SERVES 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

Bunch of beetroot

Small bunch purple or black grapes

100g pack of feta cheese,

Small round of goat’s cheese

1 clove garlic

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Start by peeling and chopping the beets into halves or quarters. Then drizzle with oil, season, and add the herbs to a tray or parcel of tin foil. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until they will take a knife.

Put the feta, goat’s cheese and garlic into a food processor with a generous amount of black pepper. Then blitz with a drizzle of olive oil. Taste and season to liking.

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

1tbsp of dukkah

Bread for toasting (a few slices of a small baguette)

1tbsp balsamic vinegar

Thyme

Rosemary

Toast your bread.

Once the beets have cooked, heat a frying pan and add the beets to colour up generously, add the molasses and remove from the heat.

Serve the beets hot or cold on a bed of the whipped feta. Drizzle with balsamic and a sprinkling of dukkah.

A great sharing starter!

Braised Smoked Shoulder of Beef on a bed of Polenta with a Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce, Green Dressing and Walnut Pangrattato

SERVES 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

For the beef:

1kg of whole chuck

Salt

Pepper

Glass of red wine

200ml beef stock

METHOD

For the sauce:

Tin of good quality

chopped tomatoes

2 red onions

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Cooking liquor from beef

You don’t have to smoke the beef, but if you want to give it an extra level, do so! Use a couple of handfuls of charcoal and two large pieces of wood and then indirectly smoke the chuck beef (so the beef isn’t sat directly over the heat), for 1-2 hours in a barbecue with the lid down. Don’t worry if it isn’t cooked… this is all about flavour

Then, roughly chop the onions and garlic. Heat a large casserole dish with some vegetable oil and brown the beef all over, then add the onions/garlic. Begin to sweat down. fter minutes, add the tomato paste, red wine and cook for 2 minutes.

Finally add the chopped tomatoes and beef stock. Season. Then place some baking paper over the top, then the lid of the casserole dish. Place in the oven at 150°C for 2-3 hours. heck after hours to see if tender or needs some liquid adding.

For the Green dressing:

Handful each of coriander and parsley

1 tbsp lilliput capers

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

4 tbsp olive oil

For the Green Pangrattato: Small handful of walnuts

Breadcrumbs

2 cloves garlic

Mixed herbs

3-4 tbsp olive oil

Whilst that is cooking make the green dressing and pangrattato.

To make the pangrattato, blitz the ingredients together in a food processor to make a crumb mixture, then toast lightly in a dry frying pan or spread on a baking tray in the oven until golden brown.

To make the green dressing, chop the herbs together and combine in a bowl with the capers and olive oil.

20 minutes before you want to serve the beef, add 1 cup of polenta to a large saucepan, with 4 cups of water along with a chicken stock cube, and then whisk over a medium heat until thickened. Season and then add parmesan and butter, whisking it in. Add more water if you require a looser consistency. Serve the beef and sauce on top of the rich polenta, and dress with the green sauce. Enjoy.

SERVES 4-6

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake with Roast Apple and Whipped Ricotta

INGREDIENTS:

For The Cake:

Bunch of rhubarb (8 stems)

250g butter

250g sugar

g self raising flour

1tsp baking powder

METHOD

1tsp mixed spice

6 balls stem ginger (blitzed into a paste)

1 small tsp vanilla essence

2 tbsp any dark spirit (rum, cognac, whisky etc)

For the apples:

2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into wedges

For the apples, melt the butter in a pan then add the sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add the apple wedges and fry until golden.

To make the cream, whip the ingredients together in a bowl until light and creamy. Taste and adjust if necessary.

For the cake, in a loaf tin or loose bottom cake tin, grease and line with baking paper. Then cut the rhubarb into di erent shapes and sizes, lay onto a baking tray and sprinkle with sugar. Roast at 180°c for 10 minutes.

Beat the butter and sugars together until light and creamy, then add in the eggs and vanilla and beat further. Then sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold in until it’s all combined. Add the spices, orange zest, rum and ginger paste.

Take out the roasted rhubarb.

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

For the whipped ricotta:

150g Ricotta

3 tbsp sugar

Small tsp vanilla

Orange zest (optional)

In the lined cake tin, place the rhubarb in a pattern of your choice in the bottom of the tin. Then put the rest of the ginger pieces all over the arranged rhubarb pieces, keeping the lovely rhubarb juices.

Pour the cake batter over the rhubarb, and spread to the edges with a spatula. Bake the cake for 30-40 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if it is cooked, it should come out clean. If it doesn’t, bake for another couple of minutes until it is cooked through.

Flip out the cake onto a cooling rack, drizzle over some of the lovely rhubarb juices and once fully cooled put on a cake stand. Serve with the ricotta and apples.

To book tickets for Rupert’s Friday and Saturday Feast Nights at the Porthleven Food Festival 26th and 27th April 2024, visit www.tickets.porthlevenfoodfestival.com

Natural COMPANIONS

WORDS BY LUCY STUDLEY

How a serendipitous friendship led to a creative cataloguing of Cornwall’s astonishing biodiversity.

Based in a wildly beautiful part of West Cornwall, like many of her peers artist Penny Rumble takes the natural world as her subject matter. Best known for her immersive seascapes which plunge the viewer into the churning waters of the Atlantic, Penny’s visceral connection with the rough-hewn protuberance of rock that is Penwith is plain to see. However, in her latest exhibition it’s a kaleidoscope of smaller details which are brought into focus one by one, as Penny draws on her zoologist training and companionship with fellow naturalist Dave Flumm to explore the captivating flora and fauna of the place she calls home

Penny’s academic studies and early career as a zoologist taught her to observe nature closely, a foundation which now underpins her work as a painter. For example, while her seascapes are influenced by a rich lineage of abstract painters, there’s also a closely observed figurative element to them. An avid sea swimmer, Penny has had ample opportunity to observe the natural behaviour of waves and tides, the play of wind across the water’s surface, and the mesmeric e ect of ever-changing coastal light. On the thickly painted surfaces of her evocative canvases, the analytic and creative interpretations of these e periences come together

TOP ‘Helford A River Flows Through’

The Choughs Were Here Yesterday’

his first hand e perience of cold water pursuits was shared in Swimming Mount’s Bay an uplifting convergence of coastal exploration, nature, and art, which tells the story of an aquatic journey of eight and a half miles undertaken in 15 swims. Each swim is helpfully documented, with detailed information of entry and exit points so that the reader can follow each stroke and breath should they wish. It’s a uniquely engaging format, which Penny has returned to in her latest travelogue of the natural world. Her background and eye for scientific detail has been brought to bear in a collection of work for a major exhibition this spring, coinciding with the release of a new book. The result of a serendipitous meeting of minds, Walking with Dave charts forays around ornwall undertaken by Penny and her friend and fellow naturalist Dave Flumm. All the original paintings and sketches from the collection will be available to see at the exhibition, which takes place at Penny’s rural studio near en ance

s an artist, ’d walked the cli s of Cornwall many times in search of inspiration and stunning scenery,” explains Penny. “I considered myself relatively knowledgeable and engaged with the natural world. But when I happened to fall into conversation with Dave, I realised I was just scratching the surface. Along with

our respective spouses we embarked on a year of walking Cornwall’s richest wildlife spots, and a kaleidoscope of amazing diversity including some really rare species revealed itself

“I thought to myself,” Penny recalls, “here’s another journey of exploration I can take people on through my painting, in a similar way to wimming ounts ay n an age of sensory overload, Penny’s books are a wonderful panacea. A Darwinesque slow travel guide to one of the wildest parts of the UK, with some endearing little cartoons of your tour guides (Dave and Gerda, Penny and Simon, or ‘the fab four’) thrown in, they’re an invitation to explore, discover, and reengage with the natural world

Penny took her camera and sketch books on these regular rambles, which included expeditions around Porthleven and the Lizard, along the Helford River, and into the depths of West Penwith to wildly beautiful places such as Kenidjack, Porthgwarra and Nanquidno. The book gives grid references for handy parking spots, so readers can follow in Penny and her companion’s footsteps, knowing which natural specimens to look out for as they walk. This treasure trove of natural history is truly eye-opening. Discover how the Pink Flowered Centaury got its name, and where to look out for

TOP ‘Helford Autumn Shadows’

‘Porthleven Winter Approached’

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TOP ‘ hree ine rees’ left , ‘ an uidno ay’ right

ABOVE

‘ Nanjizel Custodian’

MIDDLE

‘Kenidjack Wester Promise’

ABOVE ‘Resurgence’

the rare Black Mining Bee. Spot Charles de aulle in his bath once seen, never unseen and learn how to discern Fungus nats from other flying pests ome of the rarest birds to visit or reside in the ritish sles were seen and catalogued, including an sprey, reenshank, olden lover, reat kua, and of course, the ornish hough ingfishers, oodpeckers, Jays and Nuthatches all make colourful cameos esting Fulmars were recorded at Kenidjack but don’t get too close – these seabirds defend their nests by spitting a foul-smelling oily liquid at anything they consider a threat

Alongside the sketches and photos, the 30 oil paintings in this collection reverberate with energy. Penny clearly e periences a pure, almost childlike joy in her newfound depth of knowledge, translated onto the canvas in playful e uberance urbulent seas aren’t entirely neglected, with the awesome power of the tlantic on display at endeen and orthleven for e ample, but Penny also turns her hand to sedate stretches and pretty creeks of the Helford iver with great success

ma esty, that almost regal procession towards the open sea hough the sub ect matter is di erent, the tonal shifts, rich surface te ture, and sense of drama of these large canvases is uintessentially enny

All of the material – including maps and reference books will be included in the e hibition at enny’s own studio this spring, with sketches, paintings and limited-edition copies of the book for sale. eeing the works in situ in my home studio deep in the Cornish countryside gives a conte t you simply wouldn’t get from a gallery show, she e plains Penny and husband imon’s lovingly renovated ornish farm dwelling is also home to the couple’s anti ue business, and the juxtaposition of the oil paintings with the carefully curated pieces of furniture –all with their own stories to tell is inspired e’re very much in the wild west here, surrounded by rugged moorland and little pockets of ancient woodland, but the ourney itself isn’t a trek, enny assures

he meandering flow of a river, under overhanging boughs and tree roots e posed by the tide, was something new for me, e plains enny t’s a di erent kind of

Penny’s studio is just ten minutes’ drive west on the A30 from Penzance and will be open from th April to st April am pm All are welcome

pennyrum le com

Creative INFLUENCE

WORDS BY MERCEDES SMITH

nspired y the eautiful coastline around St es ay Emma Jeffryes’ distincti e paintings e press the eauty and itality of the west Cornwall coast

In her work, spring flowers, bright umbrellas and da ling waters are framed against the simple shapes of sky, sea and sand mma’s talent with colour and the lively characterisation of people and places have made her work among the most recognised and best loved in ornwall

er new collection, which is on show at ew raftsman allery throughout pril, combines key creative influences from the last few years into one definitive collection for s always, t ves and the surrounding ocean feature strongly, beginning with mma’s first artwork of this year, titled ‘ anuary ea’, painted en plein air on orthmeor each on a bitter anuary day, as well as ‘ ea ate own’, inspired by the view from the ate t ves caf mma’s ongoing studies of the outh est oast ath, which she has been walking in sections and painting over the past few years, also form part of this collection, taking in awkes oint and other spectacular views of the ornish coast

ast ugust mma spent a week in residence in a waterside apartment in Falmouth in order to paint the Falmouth all hips egatta adly, this world famous event was cancelled at the last minute due to the arrival of torm etty, and so the works mma made there, from a little terrace ust above the sea, depict the lives of Falmouth’s sea going folk, from swimmers and paddle boarders, to fishing boats, sailing yachts and huge military ships, along with all hips anchored patiently in the harbour during unusually stormy conditions ll these works continue mma’s lifelong study of our powerful connection with the sea, and how this in turn has a ected the nature of ornwall’s coastline

See Emma’s By the Sea exhibition from 30th March to 26th April at New Cra sman allery ore Street St es Cornwall T E

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LEFT ‘ ennor ills’

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ABOVE

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ABOVE

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A logic RATIONALISE you can’t

WORDS BY MARTIN HOLMAN

“Images are ethereal things,” says artist Nina Royle. “They need to be anchored by materials.”

Visiting Pompeii, Nina Royle remembers marvelling at the buildings and domestic interiors buried by lava during the eruption in 79AD of Mount Vesuvius. Successive excavations from the eighteenth onwards progressively revealed their luxurious decoration, including frescoes, since restored and moved to Naples and Rome, depicting luscious gardens filled with plants and birds. Royle was struck by “something so evergreen about the ancient paintings, a liveliness that felt so ‘now’. That is what painting can do: speak through centuries and retain its vitality.”

That memory seems especially appropriate as this artist installs her one-person exhibition at Kestle Barton, the award-winning arts and holiday venue near the banks of Frenchman’s Creek. The

tall, spacious gallery gives directly onto the garden and beyond to an orchard, a nuttery and a wildflower meadow. Like plants and trees, words and images have their histories of growth and adaptation. Royle is interested in origins. “I love looking up the etymology of words, to get to their roots. I like to see how their meanings, their composition even, have continued through time, handled and reshaped by use. Images have the same background; paintings are born out of other paintings… motifs have etymologies.” The opportunity to show at this bucolic location on the Lizard occurs as a new development reaches fruition in her work. She has recently been incorporating patterning into her imagery, an element with its own historical sources. “My thoughts go back to the intricate growth imagery meticulously painted into the margins of medieval manuscripts,” Royle says.

PREVIOUS

‘Catching Apples’, 2023 (detail), egg emulsion and oil on a shaped wood panel with gesso, 42 x 32 cms. Photograph by Nick Cooney

Nina Royle in her studio at CAST, Helston, 2022. Photograph by Annie Handscomb 96

ABOVE

TOP LEFT

‘And so, the Magpies Multiply’, 2023, egg tempera and egg emulsion on shaped wood panel with gesso, 42 x 32 cm.

Photograph by Nick Cooney

‘Necklaces like Weather Systems’, 2023, egg tempera, 24 carat gold leaf on shaped wood panel and gesso, 24 x 19 cm.

Photograph by Nick Cooney

TOP RIGHT

‘In A Depth Of Thought’, 2022, oil on a shaped wood panel with gesso, 42 x 32 cm

Attracted to their sustained vibrancy after centuries, largely by virtue of the materials used to make them, she also responded to their stylised design. ecoration often involves the repetition of certain features that renders it abstract and potentially quite disruptive when other parts of an image have recognisable details. Patterns alter the pace of looking and thinking “In a figurative painting, pattern offers a place where the eye can go to rest.” Her painting ‘In the ervice of Reflections’ ( ) explores this curious pictorial balance. Most of the surface consists of flowers painted into a loose composition (a motif borrowed from an exhibit seen in a museum), in which colour does not stand out but appears pale, as if faded by time and exposure. More emphatic is an area shaped like a keyhole that sits in ambiguous relationship with surrounding pattern. Perhaps it forms the lock of a door, although nothing about the surface suggests it. If it is a papered wall, for instance, why would it need an opening like this?

More radically, the keyhole can simply be a vessel to hold a separate image, framing another space where two people are visible. One is easy to recognise as a young woman dressed in similar blue attire to the second figure whose footing seems a little higher. Presumably also female, that identity cannot be confirmed because the perimeter of this painting within a painting obscures the view. Keyholes seldom reveal the full picture; it is not their function. The reason

they are looked through is invariably furtive curiosity.

Already Royle has established a compelling and conceivably unsettling atmosphere around this work, in spite of the evident beauty of its appearance. The woman on the left of the cameo scene is holding an object as if for the benefit of the other. Their une ual positions imply a difference in status between them – but that is also speculation, as is the theory that a ritual is being spied upon. Looking at that object between them reveals a face. Another painting, perhaps? Checking again with the title suggests a mirror - introducing yet another type of space into the picture. But whose reflection is seen

Royle is confounding the viewer’s expectations with a painting that at first seems ba ingly inscrutable. After all, one expectation is that an image is a representation of the known world – of flowers, for instance, people and places maybe not as it appears today, but to offer a rendition of events that the mind can ‘read’ into an explanation of its existence. But painting, like every art form, can have parallel existences independent from its onlooker. The artist is the route by which all manner of transformations of materials and thought take place. Another of Royle’s paintings anticipates that possibility: in pring hoots its Lock’ ( ), a rectangle of grey is lodged in a much more colourful painting with loosely shaped, fluid strokes

LEFT pring hoots its Lock’, (repainted with grey intervention, 2022)

of variegated areas of greens, pink, yellow and plum. The grey blocks the view, rather in the manner of a palm thrust forward to halt an oncomer’s advance. Is it a mirror on a wall that has lost the ability to reflect

Nonetheless, some coiling paintwork is still faintly visible through this unexpected obstacle; rather like a cataract in the eye, it occludes the view rather than conceals it. Yet from its bottom edge the snaking shape appears as if caught in the slipstream of the mounted archer then noticed in the righthand corner, about to release a parting shot as it races out of the picture. “Viewers can slow their looking down and go on their own thought journeys.” With that horse and rider, another train of thought emerges. The outline drawing and composition look familiar but not as contemporary as the tone and brushwork of the painting. In fact, an older source comes to mind – a small sculpture of a Scythian horse archer, possibly female, that dates from the

5th century BC and now in an overseas museum collection. Why Royle chose this figure is as open to guesswork as the relationship between the diverse elements making up In the ervice of Reflections’.

Aspects of past and present intertwine in other ways. Cornish by birth, Royle grew up in ewlyn and, after a Foundation year in Falmouth, studied at the lade in London. She lives in Penwith and has a studio at CAST in Helston, so she has long been aware of the cultural heritage of the region. Strongly alert visually, she has responded to man-made images found locally as they come to resonate with her interests. Recently, the depiction in the Church of Saint Breaca at Breage, a mermaid looking into the mirror she is holding, has entered her work. In the Middle Ages, when the wall paintings were new, the image symbolised sinful vanity and temptation, especially in fisher communities familiar with deaths at sea.

Representations of women are common in Royle’s paintings. ften, they have a likeness to the artist herself, as if she wants to enter the imaginative space and be active within it. Her choice of self-portrayal is not expressly ideological although, like many women artists, she examines the roles in her work that society and art have assigned women in history. The mermaid is an example. et this personal identification with her compositions has a further and more abstract purpose. By engaging with the body, almost regardless of gender, she brings a source of being and feeling into

ina Royle with ntitled’ (bronze mirror with mermaid), 2022 (front view), chased and patinated sheet bronze, x cm. Photography by Annie Handscomb

her painting. Her own image is the one she knows best – although the viewer does not need to know who the figure is.

In fact, not knowing suits the obscurity that Royle prefers to ready understanding. That conviction contributed to a new direction in the lockdown period when she began making mirrors rather than merely depicting them. One example is ‘Untitled’ (bronze mirror with mermaid) ( ) its generic mirror shape was cut from a sheet of bronze, patinated in a solution with vinegar and heated with a blowtorch. That process provides colour and brings out the pattern that is hammered onto the front side to sink the design into the metal. Until glass began to be used in the first century A , the earliest mirrors were made in a similar fashion. Indeed, Royle’s new creation has the look of an artefact from about that time, a confusion she actually does not seek, although she acknowledges that the shape still used for this item stretches a long way back in time without major change. Instead, important to her was to pursue the mermaid image and its association with human vanity, inflated pride in one’s ability or appearance. Bronze mirrors reflect poorly and tarnish quickly if not polished; to make and maintain them requires intensive labour.

In some cultures, painting the figure is discouraged as no human can imitate God’s creation. That thought emerges when looking at these objects, as does their utility that comes from being handled and cared for. Royle examines that fraught boundary

between image, handling and touch, and how the presentation of art often actively denies those features. The anomaly partly accounts for the distinctive format of her smaller paintings. Rather than being flat and rectangular with canvas, hers are hard and slightly cushion-like objects with curved edges. The paint sits on a layer of gesso, a ground that is built up in thin coats on a wood panel. Like the mirrors, their making involves labour; about six layers are applied and then sanded to an ivory-like finish. The panels resemble tablets, such as documents which were once written on and handed around. The word survives to describe today ubiquitous electronic devices, portals to a multitude of actions, that are operated through touch and portability.

Thus her work accumulates multiple associations, of which none is definitive yet all are relevant. The variety of materials she uses shifts the focus from imagery and what it signifies to how the object is made – whether a painting or mirror or some other form. In that setting, the image falls

ABOVE

TOP LEFT

‘The Miracle of Tears’, 2022, oil and egg tempera on shaped wood panel with gesso

TOP RIGHT

‘Dear Deity...’, 2022 oil and 24 carat gold on shaped wood panel with gesso, 24 x 20 cm

In the ervice of Reflections’, 2023, egg tempera on shaped wood panel with gesso, 42 x 32 cm.

Photograph by Nick Cooney

into place as one among several elements to consider in a surprisingly complex encounter. “Life is that tension between whole and part. While I’m working in the studio, I’m also thinking about cooking, my teaching at Falmouth, many other things. Paintings evolve slowly and that can also be the experience for the viewer.”

Those elements are not static; like symbols, they travel between uses. For instance, the mirror shape prompted the keyhole frame in the painting with two figures. The polished bronze of the mirrors suggested to her incorporating a metallic surface in another painting, ‘Still life: Necklaces like Weather Systems’ (2023). The handle-like loop on top of the scallop interior frame incorporates a layer of gold leaf. With her interest in words, Royle composed a text about the mermaid in Breage and printed it on silk dyed to the colour of hibiscus “so the lines would be read in a more sensuous way.”

A practitioner of Shiatsu, the holistic therapy that originated in Japan concerned with releasing energy flows in the body through touch, Royle is aware of the sensual properties of colour. At one time pigments were bought in pharmacies because of their connection with medicine, knowledge that informs her approach to making. “As with the body, there is a ‘hot spot’ in painting – the right place for a particular colour or shape.”

Indeed, paint is emphasised for its materiality. In the last year, she has started to use tempera, a technique most associated with Italian Renaissance panel painting that has a marked physical dimension. Pigments are ground into powder and bound into a water-soluble emulsion with egg yolk. The

combination is applied in thin layers with fine brushes, allowing precise linear detail. Painting is done slowly, requiring “more poise,” she adds, “and more stops.” Tempera also creates jewel-like colours on gesso, so that light seems to come out of them.

She has not abandoned oil paint. Throughout her career Royle has made bold, gestural work facilitated by the medium. “I like its wildness, although I struggle with it sometimes because it can be unruly and hard to control.” Tempera and oil can appear in the same painting, invoking the different moods and paces in Catching Apples (2023). “Why do I paint?” Her question is rhetorical. “Just as a way of thinking. I ask myself how can I make an image come together but also fall apart.” Royle’s work is fundamentally about existence, a complex condition in which not everything can be grasped.

The exhibition Nina Royle: And so, the magpies multiply takes place at Kestle Barton from 23rd March to 9th June 2024. www.kestlebarton.co.uk. All images © Nina Royle.

ninaroyle.co.uk

INSET

Installation view, ‘From Tongues and Mirrors in Mercury’, solo exhibition at Kingsgate Project pace, London,

SwimmingSUBLIME the into

WORDS BY SOPHIE PIERCE

Sophie Pierce, co-author of a new guide to Exmoor and North Devon’s best walks with swims, shares the joy of immersing into the West Country’s wild waters

It is a beautifully hot day and the tide is in at Watermouth Bay, near Ilfracombe. The sea is flat, tur uoise and incredibly inviting as we climb down a set of little ancient steps that someone carved into the rock in years past. We plunge into the crystal-clear water and swim out along the rocky walls of the bay, to a little islet called Sexton’s Burrow. There we find a secret lagoon, where we float in the uiet blue stillness.

Experiences like these are why I love swimming in the great outdoors. Somehow, in the water, I feel as though I’ve crossed over into another, otherworldly dimension. It is a metaphysical experience: the boundaries of my body seem to dissolve and, released from the pull of gravity, I am weightless, paused in time and space, absorbing the colours, textures and sounds. It is the perfect antidote to the stress and noise of the modern world. In the summer, with a snorkel, the experience is even more magical, as an alluring underwater world of brightly coloured seaweeds, rocks, anemones, and fish opens up below. And the wonderful thing is that this is all to be

experienced in the incredible landscapes of the West Country – no need to go abroad.

There is also the pure joy of exploration, which takes you back to a child-like wonder at finding new places and being lost in the journey. The swim described above is just one of many in my new book, Wild Swimming Walks Exmoor and North Devon, which I’ve written with Matt Newbury. This is our fifth book we’ve also written guides to Cornwall, Dartmoor, Torbay, and Dorset. We’ve been writing together for over a decade, and have known eachother much longer than that. We first became friends because of our shared interest in outdoor swimming, which back then was still rather a niche activity. If you were spotted having a dip during the winter months for example, the usual response was “are you mad ” whereas now it seems everyone’s doing it: visit any local beach at any time of year and you will find a band of ryrobeclad enthusiasts taking to the water with gusto and eating large uantities of cake afterwards. wimming outdoors is not just a mystical, sensual experience, but is also

one where people form strong bonds, and feel a sense of community and togetherness. Matt and I have had many adventures, from the sublime to the ridiculous, researching the guides. We have a little saying: “We do the research so you don’t have to!” We’ve got stuck in bogs, come up against blocked footpaths, and endured challenging British weather. There was one occasion on Dartmoor for example, when we went to check out what, on the map, looked like a fabulous moorland lake. However, when we got there, it turned out to be rather stagnant, with a dead sheep floating in it. We had a similar incident down in West Penwith in Cornwall, when a promising pond turned out to be more of a sticky mud bath. But all the research trips, even the ones that go wrong, are hugely enjoyable we love exploring, finding new places, and generally sharing the joy of a grand day out with a life-enhancing swim.

Wild Swimming Walks Exmoor and North Devon, like all our books, contains an introduction with all the fascinating history, stories, geography, geology, and wildlife of the area, as well as practical information about things like local tides and sea conditions. This coast, for example, has some of the biggest tides in the world we explain how this affects swim planning. Then there are 28 circular walks, each with bodies of water to swim in, covering a large area of Exmoor and North Devon. Each chapter contains everything you need for your day out: maps, directions, photos and of course useful information including places to stop and eat, public transport,

and grid references and locations. Coastal walks range from Hartland in the west, to Heddon’s Mouth in the East. Inland, there are walks with dips along many of our great rivers including the Exe, the Torridge, the Taw, Horner Water, Badgworthy Water, the Culm and the East Lyn.

The landscapes in this part of the world are unbelievably varied. From the famous hanging waterfalls near Hartland, to the expansive Taw Torridge estuary, to the dappled woods along the River Torridge, and the hogsback cliffs near ombe artin, there are so many breathtaking places to explore. And by swimming, as well as walking, the experience is somehow magnified, enlarged, intensified. We wanted to share one of our walks, and have selected the one I describe at the beginning of this article. This is a relatively short one, of around three miles, but it takes in the most stunning views, including one of the most famous in North Devon, the view down to Broadsands from the cliffs. This beach is often dubbed “Little Thailand” because it looks like a scene from somewhere in south-east Asia, with the azure sea forming a beautiful curve, with conical rocks in the foreground and background framing the scene.

Sophie Pierce is the co-author, with Matt Newbury, of Wild Swimming Walks Exmoor & North Devon, which is available from Wild Things Publishing (RRP £14.99) Readers can receive 25% off and free P&P with coupon code DRIFT24

wildthingspublishing.com

Watermouth and Broadsands Circular

Ashort but at times challenging walk to one of the most photographed beaches in Devon, with adventurous swims around two tiny tidal islands. Take swim shoes to protect your feet the walk is best done around high tide.

The walk starts in Watermouth Harbour (1), an attractive -shaped bay flanked either side by long arms of rock. It forms a perfect pool for swimmers when the tide is in. Philip Gosse described it in his 1853 book A Naturalist’s Rambles on the Devonshire Coast as “a very romantic creek, being walled in as it were by high precipitous rocks, especially at the very mouth, one side of which is formed by a conical hill, gay with blooming furze.”

The walk is best done two hours either side of high water for optimum swimming, although you can get in at all states of the tide you just have more options at high. You can swim straight from the harbour, but we prefer to walk along to the end of the northern arm of the cove, near its mouth. The route takes you past an unusual building called the Round Tower, about which very little is known. Historic England says it is “probably a look-out associated with Watermouth Castle”, a 19th-century country house just behind the harbour. On old maps it is marked as a ‘pleasure house’, so we prefer to think it was built by the castle owners as an upmarket beach hut where they could take tea (or something stronger) and warm up after an invigorating dip.

At the end of the headland, just past the Round Tower, a small fishermen’s path on the left (2) leads through blackthorn bushes down to the shore, where there is an old set of steps carved into the rocks. At high water, you can swim directly off these steps. It’s the perfect launching point for an adventurous swim around the islet of Sexton’s Burrow at the mouth of the harbour, the ‘conical hill’ mentioned by Gosse. Of course, it goes without saying that you need calm, still conditions, as there are a lot of rocks do not attempt this route in surf and swell.

From the steps, turn right, swimming towards the open sea. On the right, you’ll soon pass a channel between the islet and the shore. Keep going and bear right around the seaward side of Sexton’s Burrow, where you will soon find a really beautiful lagoon you can swim into on your right. At this point you have two options: you can either swim to the inner end of the lagoon and get out on the rocks to clamber to the channel on the other side, or you can swim back out of the lagoon and carry on around

Sexton’s Burrow and then bear right into the channel. Either way, once in the channel you can swim back to the steps. This makes a wonderful mini-adventure, with the satisfaction you get from swimming around an island, however small! On a calm day, with a still sea, it is an absolutely beautiful experience, as the cliffs tower above you and the sea teems with seaweed and fish below.

If you don’t fancy the circuit around the islet, it is still really good fun to swim into the channel that separates it from the mainland (and which empties out at low tide). Or for another challenge, you could swim across to the beach on the other side. Today, pretty much the only activity you’ll see in the harbour is boating, but in the past it was busy with both fishermen and smugglers. Rumour has it that there used to be a smugglers’ tunnel leading inland from the beach, which has since been blocked up. In ictorian times, fishermen would string nets across the harbour to catch grey mullet, with reports of two hundredweight of fish being taken on one tide alone. ow it is purely a place of recreation.

After your swim, retrace your steps back to the harbour. In the distance, you will see the fairytale vision of Watermouth Castle, which overlooks the sea. With its crenellations and turrets, it gives a romantic feel to this very pretty part of the coast. It was built in 1825 in the Gothic style by the Basset family, who owned it and the nearby village of Berrynarbor for well over a century. It is now a theme park and tourist attraction which, at the time of writing, had just been sold for the first time in nearly 50 years. The new owners, the Escapade Group, plan to keep it as a holiday resort.

The walk continues for a very short distance on the main road before turning off to the left (3), and ascending through a campsite. If you walk to the seaward edge of the field, you will be rewarded with superb views both up and down the coast, and to the left, you will see the main campsite complex. There is a set of caves which used to be a public attraction in ictorian times people would pay a few pence to go and visit them. Sadly this is no longer possible, unless you

take a boat into the cove or are staying at the campsite.

As you ascend through the camping field, the coast path bears right. Keep a look out for a spectacular viewpoint at the top, with a bench so you can relax and take it in. It looks down over Broadsands Beach, our next swim spot, called by some the ‘Is it really in England?’ beach, and by others ‘Little Thailand’. When the sun is shining (and even when it’s not), it could be a scene in Vietnam or some other part of southeast Asia the sea is a wonderful shade of green and forms a beautiful curve against the beach, with conical rocks in both the foreground and the distance framing the scene. You’ll be itching to get down there, but there’s a bit more walking to do first. ou follow the route for a short way along the coast path, before starting the steep descent to Broadsands (5). There are over 200 steps down, but the views of the sea through the trees are magical. Once down on the beach, you’ll want to rest and then swim, and there is a veritable maze of caves and channels to explore.

On the right-hand side is Hamator Rock, which becomes an island at high tide, and you can swim right around it via the channel that separates it from the main shoreline. It is also fun to swim south-east along the coast towards Combe Martin, from where there are wonderful views across to Wild Pear Beach on the other side of the bay. In the other direction, on the left-hand side of the beach, there are numerous caves that you can swim or climb up to, depending on the state of the tide. It really is an enchanting place.

Less enchanting is the climb back up to the coast path. The steps are steep, and you will feel every single one. It was while we were about halfway up that we decided this would be our last wild swimming walks guide. This climb was the last straw!

Once at the top, retrace your steps for a short distance, but do not return to the coast path (unless you want to go back the way you came). Instead, follow the

route downhill along a wide driveway. This used to be the old coast road, but in the 1920s it became badly eroded and fell out of use. You pass a campsite called Napps, which occupies an area which was once extensively uarried, for limestone in particular. In the early 1900s some miners broke into a natural pothole, which they discovered led into an extensive system of caves and tunnels, containing large clusters of rare aragonite crystal stalactites. Although mining stopped in 1912, specimens from the cave were sold to visiting tourists for some years after.

You reach the main coast road and turn right, passing the Sawmills pub (6). This building operated as a sawmill until 1933, and the waterwheel was used to supply electricity to nearby Watermouth Castle. It is now a handy place for a pitstop if you feel in need of refreshment. The walk continues down the road and back to the harbour, where you can have a last swim if you wish.

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Wild Swimming Walks Exmoor

Information and Directions

DISTANCE: 3 MILES

TIME: 3 HOURS

MAP: OS Explorer 139 Bideford, Ilfracombe & Barnstaple.

Start and end point: car park at Watermouth Harbour (SS 555 481, EX34 9SJ, What Words else.hologram.shift).

Public transport: The 301 bus between Combe Martin, Ilfracombe and Barnstaple calls at Watermouth Bay.

Swimming: Sexton’s Burrow (SS 551 484) and Broadsands Beach (SS 563 478), both best at high tide.

1 From Watermouth Harbour, looking at the sea, bear right across a footbridge over a stream, following the path as it turns left along the northern arm of the cove. Pass the Round Tower and continue until you reach the end and are looking over a channel to the islet of Sexton’s Burrow. Turn around and look back.

0.4 miles

2 ou will see a small path off to the right. Scramble down onto the rocks, from which you can climb down to the water or the beach (depending on the state of the tide). Stop here for a swim around Sexton’s Burrow, then retrace your steps to the harbour and walk up the road out of the harbour and through a gate to the main road.

0.5 miles

3 At the road, turn left, then shortly after the campsite entrance, left again on a footpath crossing a bridge over a river.

Refreshments: Storm in a Teacup is a lovely café on a boat in Watermouth Cove, which does particularly good cheese scones (07846 496069, EX34 9SJ). The Sawmills Inn/Freehouse is conveniently situated towards the end of the walk and serves pub grub like burgers and nachos (01271 883388, EX34 9SJ).

Easier access: At high water Watermouth Harbour is directly accessible from the car park. Unfortunately, Broadsands is only accessible via a long, steep staircase with over 200 steps.

Nearby swim spots: Combe Martin is a fun place for a dip, and Wild Pear Beach to the east of Combe Martin is a stunning, unspoilt bay only accessible on foot, with a very steep final descent.

Follow the path into the campsite and then bear right uphill. At the top, on the left, look for a great viewpoint down to Broadsands.

0.4 miles

4 ou reach a gate in a wall. Turn left here. 0.1 miles

5 Turn left down a path with a sign saying ‘Broadsands Beach’. Follow the steep steps all the way down to the beach. After a swim, take the steps back to the top and retrace your steps to point 4. Do not turn right through the gate (unless you want to go back as you came and avoid walking on the road) but carry on straight ahead, following the lane down the hill to the main road.

0.7 miles

6 At the main road, turn right and follow the path alongside the road all the way back to point 3 and down to the harbour.

0.7 miles

TreadingLIGHTLY

WORDS BY ROSIE CATTRELL

In a world where e ery effort counts towards lowering our car on impact A C helps us to reconnect with the earth through the ery walls of our home

n 1996, the Passivhaus Institute in Germany developed a set of building principles that would prove to be the gold standard in energy e ciency, translated to mean, uite literally, passive house. Created to rigorous energy e cient design standards so that they maintain an almost constant temperature, Passivhaus buildings are so well constructed, insulated and ventilated that they retain heat from the sun and the activities of their occupants, re uiring very little additional heating or cooling at all.

Reduction Impact Category at the CABE Built Environment Awards 2024. Each project is designed and constructed with the surrounding environment in mind, using natural and local materials coupled with the latest renewable technologies.

It is these evolving standards that the team at ARCO2 weave into their own principles as they work to tread lightly on the earth and bring sustainability into each house they create, having recently earned a win in the Carbon

One such Passivhausinspired project completed in 2023 is Keynvor. Overlooking the ebb and flow of the tide that washes the shore of Mawgan Porth, this dual but interconnected structure e emplifies this sustainable approach. “As with many of our builds that are close to the sea,” explains Director of ARCO2, Ian Armstrong, “a high level of insulation is necessary, so priority was given to wall thickness with recycled newspaper blown into the wall structure to a width of nearly 400mm.”

TOP Keynvor

An impressive view of Mawgan Porth

Earth tones and wooden textures

A high level of thermal insulation was specified, one that removes direct heat transfer between the outside and the controlled internal environment, resulting in a lower heat load to the internal spaces. By reducing the amount of temperature change the level of interstitial condensation risk was lowered. This has measurable positive benefits for the longevity of the property, as material degradation is lessened due to moisture generation and retention being reduced to a minimum.

efined by ro Harlem Bundtland as a “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, it seems sustainability has been woven into the walls of Keynvor, future proofing it for generations to come.

that dictate our choices,” Ian continues. “We would always seek out those that are sourced locally first he stone and cut timbers in the case of Keynvor were ac uired locally with more specialist materials imported from as near to the site as possible.”

Surrounded by the wild and wonderful Cornish weather, the exterior had to be carefully considered. The detailing, implemented by Nathan Davis, has been meticulously considered to make the floor to ceiling windows wind and water tight. This is imperative to the coastal location where winds can reach 90mph.

“The materials that are selected for our sustainable architecture designs to become tangible have a hierarchy of credentials

Keynvor has an air-source heat pump to provide the primary space and water heating re uirements he main use of the property will be during the summer months when a heat pump solution is most e cient What is particularly innovative is the capital investment into a single heating system for both properties. A carefully planned super-insulated heat loop pipework system had to be installed deep into the ground to reduce the heat losses to a minimum. Mechanical heat recovery and ventilation (MVHR) solutions are essential in maintaining a healthy living environment. They are a ‘must have’ to each and every ARCO2 sustainable architecture design. The location of the MVHR with a short pipework run to the outside is essential to gaining the best e ciencies in heat recovery.

A truly impressive achievement shared by James Huxley and Nathan Davis,

the end result was the culmination of a synthesis of energy and ideas by both partners. As Nathan acknowledges: “It’s the most enjoyable outcome to see the success of a well thought through design being physically realised.” Light and airy, timber panelling and micro cement floor tiling makes its way across the open-plan layout of the first floor, the main living space enjoying the awe-inspiring view of the ocean beyond. In a reverse layout, the bedrooms are located in the level below, and the interior design of the home, created by Nicola O’Mara, serves to mirror the beauty of the location and the uni ue architecture of Keynvor, weaving through interconnected spaces.

“Virtual reality (VR) simulations allowed us to work out the positions for the windows to maximise the sea view and orchestrate the cast of natural light within the building,”

James explains. “It also facilitated seamless and e cient on site construction with o site modelling prior to the start of the build.” A green roof, achieved by the planting of sedum, was implemented to minimise the impact of the foreground building on the site line and to integrate with the view of the headland beyond.

Understandably, the clients were delighted with the end result, overwhelmed by the uality and comfort provided by Keynvor. Financially future proof, and with low energy demands designed upon Passivhaus principles, this ARCO2 home can cater for this family’s needs as well as future generations, coupled with the ability to support multigenerational living, all wrapped up in a sustainable, well-considered design bundle.”

arco co uk

TOP Utilising every inch of space

Eventide

WORDS BY LAURA TRUCKLE

Established in 2011 by Cornish Fire Fighter, Tim Cocks, Active Plus delivered employment courses to multiple groups. His goal was to have the courses delivered by wounded, injured and sick (WIS) military veterans, themselves unemployed and suffering from ill health. With funding from the National Lottery, Active Plus worked across Cornish communities with people experiencing loneliness and isolation. Through this project, it was demonstrated that the negative effects of loneliness and isolation were also felt within the Veteran community and this exacerbated issues around employment and negative effects on mental health.

Over the next few years, Active Plus’ success of developing WIS veterans to support people in local communities resulted in European and Lottery funding, helping us to target those furthest from employment. Active Plus was one of the smallest organisations nationally to be awarded this funding, and enjoyed one of the highest success rates! By the time the European funding had come to an end, Active Plus had helped thousands of unemployed and lonely people, plus several hundred veterans.

groups including young people, unemployed individuals, those who are economically inactive, as well as older, lonely and isolated people. All projects are delivered by veterans, many of whom have seen active service and suffer from PTSD or physical injuries.

Nobody learns to be an incredible team player or high performing leader by sitting through Powerpoint presentations or online courses. Leadership, motivation, teamwork and resilience need more than that. That’s why all our courses are designed and delivered by military veterans. They use what they’ve learned in the forces to deliver actioncentred team training, so far having helped over 7,000 people. It’s all centred on unlocking and fulfilling the potential that we all have inside us, just waiting to be realised.

The new opportunities include delivering projects all across Cornwall, helping

Laura Truckle is the new Managing Director of Active Plus. A young and proud Cornish woman, Laura is leading a team of veterans of which 90% have some health issues. She has overseen the demise of European funding and created new opportunities within the county in order for Active Plus to continue its innovative work. activeplus.org.uk

Peter Blyth

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