Hungry For Cornwall

Cherry

By skinner_jennifer

Mon, 13 Jul 2020
  • 2321 reads
18 comments
 

Sweet memories of 1960s,

taste of strawberries

topped with nuts and

Cornish ice-cream,

tracing teenage years

those passages of time,

mouth watering pasties

in gleaming shop windows,

 

but! We did one better

sitting wrapped in towels

on sandy beaches,

tucking into gran's

homemade

Tiddly Oggie

that tasted so good,

 

eyeing ocean's rising

dancing waves,

staying clear of rocks

we surf bathed,

each looming breaker

bucking us forward

under bright sunshine.

 

Another day we hiked

up and down coastal paths,

grassy calm camouflaged

busy insects going about

their business,

 

butterflies cavorted

wild flowers,

in contrast to those

humming bees,

enthusiastic for some nectar

elementary to their needs.

 

Then as evening drifted

perched on harbour wall,

craving sea air breezes...

licking salt and vinegar fingers,

simple childhood aromas of freshly

caught battered cod with chips,

eaten out of newspaper while

gulls squawk and squeak

diving in but missing out on the feast.

 

Certificate U
Poem
Poems
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by Hades502 on

Hello Jenny, I quite dig it. Reminiscent of past days?

GGHades502

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

When you're young memories often seem so linked up with food experiences, and the food memories bring back so much of the activities and scenes of the summer! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Those youthful memories are crisp, aromatic, sun filled moments we can walk through at will. I loved walking through these sweet days -- Reminiscence is a beauty all its own. Thank you for sharing, it made me remember a few moments of my youth too.smiley  

Penny4athought

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This is lovely Jenny - but what is tiddy oggie??? (whatever it is it sounds wonderful!)

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

What a well remembered, happy poem!

So many bits stand out, reminding me of childhood holidays. Although as we were in a caravan we didn't have home made tiddly oggies (had to look this up - though still not sure of the recipe, if it is apple or all potato, or pork...) remember well how when you are wrapped up in a towel on the beach food really does "taste so good" as though flavour becomes as intense as the colours in the bright sunshine.

"each looming breaker

bucking us forward

under bright sunshine."

really like this bit, the long oo sound in looming made me think of the slow rise of the wave, and all the "b" sounds like bouncing on water

"up and down coastal paths" made me remember how hilly it was

"grassy calm camouflaged" is MAGIC, I like the similar sound of calm and camouflage, how the insects are hidden in the quiet. Is really clever

"cavorted" is the PERFECT word for butterflies :0)

"Then as evening drifted

perched on harbour wall,"

This is wonderful, the "v" and "f" sounds soft, like the air after a hot day, but also have a sense of movement, which made me think of breezes, then they came right after. And "perched" was just right too, a bit precarious, not sitting which is safe.

I really enjoyed this poem!!!

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Thank you for reading GGHades502, Hey, I'm so glad you dig this memory. We spent so many summers in Cornwall staying with a family and enjloying days at the beach. They were happy days.

Appreciate the feedback and thanks again.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Rhiannon,

I couldnt resist this weeks I P. It felt good recalling Cornish memories. We stayed with this family most summers who lived in Cambourne. The older lady who lived at the house everyone called her gran, I never did find out her real name, but she would always be found in the kitchen cooking up some food. The dining table would be heaving with homemade cakes and pies of every description, she was amazing.

LIke you say childhood memories always make you think of food, the two seem to go hand in hand. Thank you for reading and letting me know your thoughts.

Jenny..

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Penny,

I'm so glad you liked walking through my memories and it's great that I could stir your own recollections. I think I was lucky to have spent many Summer holidays staying with this family, living in a big rambling house and going to the beach most days. We spent many happy moments surf bathing, catching waves and swimming in this huge rock formation called devils pool, when the tide came in it would fill up and we would have our own private pool, because not many people knew about it, adventures times indeed.

I appreciate you stopping by to not only read but leave a comment too.

Many thanks.

Jenny.

 

 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi insert,

a tiddly oggie is another name for Cornish Pasties. When the men would go to work down the tin mines, the women would shout down to them Oggie, Oggie, Oggie, to let their husbands know lunch was on its way down. Hope that explains okay.

I'm glad you liked reading, and thank you so much for the cherries.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hello Di,

it always amazes me how so in tune you are with my poems. I'm not a hundred percent sure of the filling that goes into a pasty, but I do know potatoes and swede are part of the filling. I think gran used lamb, but I can't be sure, it was such a long time ago, I just remember loving her cooking. She did make a lot of stodgy food like lardy cake which I loved. Thankfully we were always on the go, so I never put on a lot of weight, but we did eat very well.

The family we stayed with lived in a huge rambling house. I recall they had a well at the back where there was underground water that was used before plumbing was installed in the house. The house was surrounded by woodland and fields that were owned by farmer Williams. We would often go up to the farm to help out and Susan my friend would go horse riding, but I was afraid of horses at the time.

All those wonderful descriptions you pointed out are exactly right and I couldn't have put it better myself. You even explained parts of the poem that I'd never thought about while writing, like the sound of oo in looming which never occured to me as I wrote, it just felt right.

Your study of my poems is always greatly appreciated and even lets me see my own work in a way I never thought of.

Many thanks always.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by drew_gummerson on

I enjoyed this and it reminded me of this book that's just come out about kids on holiday https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/11/british-summer-time-begins...

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi drew,

I read that piece you showed me in the guardian, I agree that holidays abroad never entered my mind in the 1960s, in fact I never had any ambition to go abroad until I was 18, A trip to Paris with a friend was my first introduction, it felt strange because I couldn't speak a word of french and had to rely on my friend to do all the talking. But after that holiday I began going abroad more.

My dad was a paint rep and during the 1960s he got to travel down to Cornwall a lot, which is how we came to stay with this family. They had two daughters and a son. Myself and the girls would spend many happy days either at the beach or the farm and never once worried about any of the dangers there are today. I'm glad I grew up when I did with those recollections, but feel sad that now there's nobody from that time to share those memories with. Which is why it's so nice that other readers on here can relate to what I'm writing.

I'm so happy you enjoyed and thank you for sharing the guardian piece and reading.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by drew_gummerson on

I thought the same. Parents I work with say how dangerous it is these days. I'm glad I grew up when I did, spending the whole summers outside. We've lost something. 

 

Submitted by drew_gummerson on

I thought the same. Parents I work with say how dangerous it is these days. I'm glad I grew up when I did, spending the whole summers outside. We've lost something. 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Glad you agree and thanks for coming back to let me know.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by celticman on

great stuff jenny, I grew up in the sixteies and seventies. but I gave up growing up a long time ago. This takes me back

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Jack, I'm so glad I could take you back. Weren't we lucky to be young back then? I do try not to be old, but it gets harder now I'm in my 60s, just haven't got the same energy. But hey! I'm happy and that's all that matters in the end, I think you'll agree. Most of my energy now goes into sitting down hobbies which is great in retirement and keeps me busy.

Thank you so much for stopping by, it's always nice to hear from you.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Wow! That's wonderful Trevor that I've inspired you to go back to Cornwall, I hope it lives up to your expectations. I remember the Schooner in, I think! There was a pub right on the harbour front where people congregated outside because it got so full inside, it was just along from a very popular ice-cream parlour where we would queue to get inside because it was the best ice-cream, don't know if it's still there.

Those hikes and cliff views were amazing, we would drink from the little underground streams that would pour out of the cliffs, the water tasted so pure.

It sounds like you were very adventurous back in the day with all that canoeing and cliff climbing, that's something I've never attempted.

I'm glad I could awaken your own memories and thank you so much for sharing with me, it's lovely to think others have happy memories of Cornwall too. 

Thank you so much for reading and sharing your own special recollections.

Jenny.