June remembers

her brother

MRS June Rawlings of Liskeard recently had a memorable and moving experience when she was able to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Gloucester, by the Germans, during the Second World War.

Her brother Leslie Daniels, from North Hill, aged 22, was among those lost when the ship went down. Over 700 sailors out of the 800 crew perished. There were only 85 survivors.

Together with her husband Charles, and daughter Pamela Barrett, they were in a party of 49 from the Fighting G Club, who travelled to the Greek island of Kithira. From there they were picked up by HMS Northumberland who took them to the exact spot where HMS Gloucester lies, and during an emotional service, relatives, including June, were able to cast wreaths into the sea. 'I felt very priviledged to be there' she said, 'and I shed 60 years of tears'.

The survivors from the sinking were picked up by the Germans who thought they were their own men, and on finding out they were British they were help captive in a house in Kapsali bay without any food or water.

But a 15 year old local boy, Nickos Sotirches, and two friends, smuggled food to them for three days, undoubtedly saving their lives, and then sought permission from their captors to allow the islanders to feed them for ten days, before they were moved on.

Nickos is now 75 and was presented with a medal of gratitude for his bravery, and a plaque was unveiled on the house in which the men had been imprisoned. There are now only 14 survivors - the men are all in their 80s - but only six survivors were able to take part in the reunion.

The Rawlings family say they will never forget the experience, nor the kindness of the crew of HMS Northumberland, and the islanders who gave them a wonderful reception. While there, they were delighted to catch up with David Billing of Liskeard, who is a crew member on Northumberland.

Chance to dowse for hidden well

A CHANCE to find a buried well - and look at new interpretative boards for the historic Trethevy Quoit - is available to all on August 18.

The Quoit, an internationally important monument in the parish of St Cleer, lacked any interpretation boards or parking spaces, until Caradon countryside officer, Martin Eddy, approached St Cleer's parish Millennium group to help with the project, with David Bradshaw of Trethevy Manor donating the land. The Project group obtained a grant from the Key Fund of £10,300 for 90% of the cost. The rest came from Caradon council, the Cornwall Heritage Trust, the Millennium group which is now St Cleer Project Group, and St Cleer parish council. The total cost so far is £11,632. Thanks have also gone to Kivells.

The scheme, which also includes five parking spaces, was hit initially by the foot and mouth scare, and then came to a halt because of suspected asbestos. This fear proved to be unfounded , but there still remains a lot of rubble to remove. There is also a buried well on the site that has been capped previously, and which is to be restored. On August 18, from 2pm, people will be able to dowse to find the exact position of the well, and to win a plaque or a painting by Jo Marsh if their X marks the spot. The well will be found when topsoil is taken away.

The interpretative boards are in Cornish, Dutch, French, German and English.

Chair of the St Cleer parish projects group, Maureen Emuss, said: 'The Darite village hall group, who have many local residents whose income has been affected by the foot and mouth outbreak, wish to make it a much larger celebration with a locally produced ram roast, and the dowsing sessions.'

St Cleer Gardening club are providing a seat in memory of Maisie Baynes, a founder member.

Mrs Emuss added: 'The Projects group have applied to Caradon Emergency foot and mouth fund for a grant to help with the costs of staging this larger event to help the farming, business and tourist industry on Bodmin Moor recover from the effects of foot and mouth.'

Artist in residence

LISKEARD Arts Action have arranged for an artist in residence, Jenny Martin, to work in the kitchen at the old junior school site in Varley Lane, Liskeard.

Building work to develop the Liskerett community centre on the site has begun, and is expected to last until December 2001. Throughout this time Jenny will be using the old kitchen as a studio in which to produce her work.

People are invited to visit the studio, meet the artist and view the work, and also find out more about the Liskerett Centre project, at an open evening on Saturday August 25 from 7-9pm.

The studio will also be open to the public as part of Open Studios (South West) 2001, on the weekends August 25-26, September l-2, September 8-9 and September 15-16, from 11am to 5pm, and at other times by arrangement. There is no charge.

Open art

exhibition

AN open art exhibition with 'Bodmin Moor' as the theme has been running in Liskeard's Stuart House since August 13.

The exhibition, which can be seen until tomorrow (August 18) at 4pm has been open from l0am-4pm daily, with admission free.