St Ives Cornwall - Song Writing Competition

Romeo and Juliet - The Island St Ives - Summer 2009.

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Bands and song writers of all styles are invited to submit entries to a song writing competition set up to choose music for St Ives Community Play production of Romeo and Juliet.

This is currently in rehearsal and will be performed outdoors on The Island in August and September. The winners will be invited to play live as part of the show and will have the opportunity to make a video of their songs on location using the set.

Director Sarah Lincoln says:
“This is a community production which aims to work with as many creative partners as possible. Using original, contemporary music fits well with the themes of the play, and if possible we’d like the winning band or musician to play live in the party scene. This is a great opportunity for a young band to take their music to a new audience.”

The winning songs will be ‘written in’ by a professional composer who will work with the winners to create phrasing and what is known in the industry as ‘syncing’ the music to integrate it with the peformance.

Songs should be submitted on CD to - The Crow Rooms, Tregenna Hill, St Ives, Cornwall by 12th June. Finalists will be announced by 19th June and invited to play at a live gig at the Crow Rooms on 10th July, where the two winners will be announced.

Guidance and advice on the themes and styles of the songs, plus the full competition details and rules can be found on their website:

St Ives Community Play - Music Competition

Here's a link to the script for the party scene:
Romeo and Juliet Act I Scene V

Council Election - Greens Almost Win

St Ives Cornwall - Election Results 2009

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Results from yesterdays Cornwall Council vote for St Ives North have just been announced.

Green Party candidate Tim Andrewes came within a whisker of winning the seat - just 2% behind Tory winner Joan Tanner.

Disappointing but still an amazing result for Tim and the Greens in my view.

Sitting councillor - Liberal Democrat Andrew Mitchell - got just 17% of the vote. A resounding verdict on the "One Cornwall" project and the fact that these "democrats" didn't see fit to allow us a vote on the issue. Well we've voted now.

A decent vote for Independent Mark Noall - only 2% behind Mitchell.

NuLabour were pretty much wiped out, finishing in last place well behind UKIP.

Full results- source Cornwall Council website:

• Joan Tanner - Conservative - 378 votes - 28%
• Tim Andrewes - Green Party - 354 votes - 26%
• Andrew Mitchell - Liberal Democrat - 235 votes - 17%
• Mark Noall - Independent - 203 votes - 15%
• William Guppy - UKIP - 157 - Votes - 11%
• Matt Hurst - Labour - 45 votes - 3%

Another Tory win in St Ives South, with Greens again in a solid second place, but not quite as close:

• Joan Symons - Conservative - 536 votes - 42%
• Ron Tulley - Green Party - 336 votes - 26%
• Richard Ryan - Liberal Democrat - 183 votes - 14%
• Paul Jackson - UKIP- 147 votes - 12%
• Timothy Pullen - Labour - 75 votes - 6%

Cardboard Bay also went to the Tories - but that's normal for "God's Waiting Room" constituencies anyway.

The overall result for Cornwall looks like a hung council with the Tories the largest party.

Full results for the county are here:
Cornwall Council - Election Results

Don't wait till Friday - always visit St Ives Cornwall Blog for the latest news!

St Ives Cornwall - Weather Forecast

St Ives Cornwall - Weather Forecast

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St Ives Times and Echo - our local newspaper - has a wonderful weekly feature that I look forward to every Friday - Last Week's Weather.

All very interesting - but it occurred to me that weather forecast would be more useful to readers.

So to demonstrate that St Ives Cornwall Blog aims to meet the needs of its followers here's one - it should update automatically via the BBC Met. Office feed so bookmark it if you want to see the latest.

If you want even more up to date information check out the St Ives Coast Watch Weather Station - which provides a live feed from their lookout on The Island:

St Ives Coast Watch - Weather Station

I've been looking for some more good and reliable weather feeds to embed in my OneStIves website - so if you know of any let me know.

September Festival Preview - Open Studios

Video By Anna Chen

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St Ives September Festival Preview - Open Studios.

Wednesday 16th, Saturday 19th, Sunday 20th

and Wednesday 23rd September 2009.

This is one of the highlights of the festival for many people.
A chance to see a variety of St Ives artists at work and visit studios not often open to the public.

Many of these are in the historic Porthmeor Studios complex, where some of the great names in St Ives worked. These include Patrick Heron, Ben Nicholson, Brian Pearce, Julius Olsson and Borlase Smart. The studios are still in use today and many will be open. The complex is also home to St Ives School Of Painting - their programme of classes will be previewed in another blog post.

Other studios around town will be open as well. The programme is not yet confirmed for this year but in 2008 these included Sally MacCabe, Jo McIntosh, Naomi Frears, Sandra Blow, Izumi Omori and many more. I'll add a complete list for this year in due course when its published.

You can also view my festival calendar here for details of other events:

St Ives September Festival Calendar

St Ives Cornwall - St Andrews Street Bistro

St Ives Cornwall - St Andrews Street Bistro

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We had a great meal this weekend at St Andrews Street Bistro.

I've always liked the atmosphere here - its relaxed and friendly.

So my first venture into restaurant reviewing in the style of AA Gill but without the long preamble.

The menu is short, focussed and a little bit different from what you'll find elsewhere in St Ives.

I had freshly made fishcakes to start - really tasty, plenty of fish not just the potato cake you get in some places and with a lovely simple lemon dressed green salad. Jo had the rillette of duck which she equally enjoyed.

For the main I had goat curry - not something you find on many menus here. Absolutely great - spicy but not too hot, with a hot salsa and a sweet chutney to balance the dish out. Jo had roasted pork belly - slow cooked to render out most of the fat, leaving a delicious and tender cut - she loved that as well.

Desserts were chocolate cheescake and lemon tart - which we couldn't quite finish we were so stuffed. Great meal, friendly service and reasonably priced.

The other good thing here is the space - a big light and airy room spread over two levels - formerly a pilchard works. Original and interesting art (for sale) on the walls and a nice feel that you don't get in many of the sterile, minimalist "white wall" places that have sprung up in St Ives recently. Check out the video above to get a feel for it.

Children are welcome and there is a separate menu for them.

The place is tucked away in St Andrews Street - walk down to St Ives Parish Church, then just turn right past the war memorial and parish rooms.

Reservations and more info:

01736 797074

St Ives Cornwall - Ayr Field

Ayr Field Day 2008 - Video by Eia Films

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Ayr Field is a  green space located centrally in St Ives above Porthmeor Beach.

It is managed by a community group - all volunteers - who regularly work to improve and maintain the site. If you want to help please do get in touch.

There are plantings of trees and flowers, plus a childrens play area.

They've got two events coming up that I wanted to help publicise.

On Saturday 6th June 2009:

Help to create a butterfly garden - make your own wildflower seed tray and butterfly to take home. Tea, coffee and cakes available in the scout hut. All welcome. Free entry.

On Sunday 5th July 2009:

Ayr Field Day - a full day of free fun for all the family in the heart of St Ives.

Affordable BBQ, activities for children, strolling performers, community stalls, music and much more. Free entry.

This is a great community enterprise so please do go along to support it.

For more information call 01736 799412 or visit their website:

Ayr Field Website

St Ives Cornwall - Farmers Market

St Ives Farmers Market. Video by Eia Films.

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St Ives Farmers Market is held at The Backpackers (opposite The Sheaf of Wheat) every Thursday from 9.30am - 2.00pm.

The idea is to make fresh local produce available, reduce food miles and keep money circulating in the local economy.

What's available depends on the season and who is trading on a particular day - but normally includes fresh vegetables, bread, cakes, Cornish cheeses, locally made chocolate and vegetarian foods.

Well worth a visit.

I'm setting up a website for them. Its not quite finished but take a look:

St Ives Farmers Market Website