CORNISH SCENE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3176, 30 September 1942, Page 5

CORNISH SCENE

QUAINT PLACES IN WEST VISIT BY WAIHI BOY LINKS WITH NEW ZEALAND Cornish residents of Waihi will be interested in the following extracts from a letter received by Mrs V. S. Pascoe from her son Stan, who is a trainee in the Royal Navy under Scheme “B”, N.Z.D. The letter describes a ten-day visit to relatives in Cornwall. St. Ives and St. Just The writer says: “I was able to see most of the western part of Cornwall, and one interesting place was St. Ives, which is a very old fishing and, I suppose, in days gone by, smuggling, village. I visited the place where grand-dad (Mr B. Pascoe, senr.) was born, and the church at St. Just in the choir of which he sang seventy-odd years ago. I was also able to see over one of the local tin mines, which I thought similar to our gold mine. While I was there it was Midsummer Day and the local churches held processions for the children. I participated, and we fin-

ished up singing hymns in the village square to the music of a pianoaccordeon played by a Salvation Army lady. The local band had disbanded owing to the war.

Countryside and Coast

“The Cornish countryside reminds me of New 'Zealand except for the little dumpy hills which differ from our ranges. The coast is very Tugged, mostly cliffs, but there are a few good, but* small, beaches. The people are mostly hospitable, and it is surprising the number who have been to New Zealand, or . who have friends or relatives there. Numbers of people came up to me and started a conversation on the strength of my being a New Zealander. It was strange to find distant relatives in many of the small towns round Penzance, and I found their speech quaint and hard to follow.

Ex-Waihi Resident Met

“I was agreeably surprised to meet a well-known ex-Waihi resident, Mr Tom Williams, who was at one’ time superintendent of the St. John Ambulance Division in Waihi. He wished to be remembered to his old friends. During my stay I was able to spend quite a time contemplating Land’s 'End, which is the nearest point to New Zealand in England.”