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THOUSANDS thronged the piers, stumbled in and out
of fishing boats, oohd and aahd at baby lobsters and stared wide eyed
into the mouths of dead monk fish while at the same time hunting the
bulging market stalls.
Newlyn
celebrated the Cornish fish industry this bank holiday with its annual
festival chaired by Mike Collier MBE, of the Maritime and Coastguard
Agency.
Amazing
displays of locally caught lobsters and crabs, fish auctions, pilchard
tastings and spider crab master classes, lifeguard and diver demos,
helicopter displays, scale-model boats, craft stalls and net mending
and pot making kept the crowds entertained for the day – some pretty
decent weather was an added bonus.
The
Newlyn Fish Festival, which began in 1991 to raise the profile of the
local fishing industry and boost the image and work of the Fishermen's
Mission, attracts more than 20,000 visitors each year. At the opening
ceremony, vice chair of the National Council for the Fishermen'
Mission, David Harris, said his organisation appreciated the work that
was being done in Newlyn.
"Just
walking along, I can't help noticing the fewer number of boats here in
Newlyn than there used to be just a few years ago, but the role of the
Mission remains unchanged," he said.
"Christian help is in there, with its sleeves rolled up, helping in whatever way it can."
Adventure sailor Pete Goss, who built the 37ft Cornish lugger Spirit of Mystery
to recreate the Newlyn to Melbourne voyage of seven Cornishmen
undertaken more than 150 years ago, said he was honoured to declare the
festival open.
He
said: "On the November 18, 1854, just across the road in The Star pub
at Newlyn, seven Cornishmen, with a few pints under their belts, were
brave enough to start and finish this amazing project.
"We have to celebrate what those seven Cornishmen did, because it was amazing.
"I
think people should understand the depth of skills that has come out of
this little community here and it's all based on fishing.
"How wonderful to have an event like the fish festival, and to support it," he said.
Pete will be setting sail from Newlyn in October.
The 1,200 mile voyage will be undertaken with his 14-year-old son, Eliot, his brother, Andy, and brother-in-law, Mark Maidment.
And the one thing he can't sail without? Good food and a dram of Talisker under the midnight stars.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN
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