In the pre-war seasons Penzance and Newlyn were fierce local rivals. The amalgamation came in 1946 when it was resolved "at least nine of the committee should be resident west of the Mennaye and nine should be resident east of the Mennaye".

The first match was against Guy's Hospital at the Mennaye Field in September 1945. As a boy I paid sixpence to go in and watched the game from the Newlyn end.

A local dentist Peter Gartrell - ex-Guy's - led the Pirates and Ben Batten, a Newlyn man and schoolteacher, was his vice-captain. Though the Pirates included some guest players, Guy's were comfortable winners running in five tries, the Pirates responding with a penalty.

The sun shone and there were 3,000 spectators, adults paying a shilling at the gate and limited seating cost one shilling and sixpence.

It is curious how certain things stand out in memory: that golden afternoon it was Canon Arthur Williams of St Mary's Church dedicating the new club's flag.

A major figure in the successful establishment of the Pirates was Rex Carr who held the secretaryship from 1945 to 1953, and then went on to represent Cornwall on the Rugby Union committee.

A first-class administrator, a man of vision with a deep love of rugger, as he called it. As befits a prep school headmaster, Rex was an excellent speaker and had a spell as president of Cornwall. There was a hint of Winston Churchill about him.

Mavis Lawry was another key character in establishing the club, a lady of considerable charm and commitment, she was club president from 1945 until 1966.

Her late husband, Dr R C Lawry, had been president of the Cornwall RFU for 23 years, a family steeped in the game. He had played for Guy's in his student days.

Perhaps the spirit of those early years was summed up by a successful Pirates captain and scrum-half, "Tinker" Taylor. "Our pride," he said, "was based on the kind of rugby we played ??? enjoy the game to the full??? team rugby where every man took his part, the true open game of running rugby. We were a band of brothers."

"Tinker," a devout Roman Catholic, who won the Military Cross in the Second World War, captained the Pirates in their historic victory over Cardiff - 5-0 - in April 1950, before a crowd of 5,000.

A year later there were two Pirates in the England XV that played Scotland: John Kendall-Carpenter captaining the side and John "Ginger" Williams in the centre.

A third Cornishman, Vic Roberts, of Penryn, was at wing-forward.

No account of those early Penzance & Newlyn days can fail to mention journalist Norman White of The Cornishman who produced columns of publicity for the club in both the local and national press.

Norman, considering he wore thick spectacles and had poor sight, wrote remarkably good match reports.

I am especially grateful to him because he gave me some of my very first sports reporting opportunities - and can still see him in winter, wearing his long scarf, sitting in the front row of the grandstand alongside Rex Carr.

Whenever I drive along Alexandra Road and pass the Mennaye Field, memories stir. How could it be otherwise?

What was it Sir J M Barrie said? "God gave us memories that we might have roses in December."

article copyright THE CORNISHMAN 

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