'Lights' raft

raised £900

POLPERRO'S Christmas Lights committee were delighted to bring home a well deserved silver trophy to the village after winning the 'best dressed' category in the Great Cornish Raft Race at Looe. It was also pleasing to report that the team, although unplaced in the barrel race, had cut their paddling time in half to about 40 minutes as opposed to the hour and a half of the previous year!

The raft was sponsored by Bradford and Bingley Market Place Ltd, Barclays Bank Plc, Lenny's Tasty Bites, Carlton TV South West and Festive Lighting Co., and together with other donations on the day, a total of £900 was raised for the lights.

The cup and certificate are on display in the village and the committee are hoping for similar success at Polperro's own raft race on Saturday, August 18.

Nankersey

to sing

AS part of the Polperro Festival celebrations the Porthpyra Singers are presenting the Nankersey Male Voice Choir at the Methodist Chapel, on Sunday, June 17, at 7.30pm. The evening will be chaired by Tamsin Thomas of Radio Cornwall.

Tickets at the door are £3 and £2 for senior citizens and children under 14.

Cream teas

DELICIOUS cream teas are to be served in the Church hall this Sunday, June 17, in conjunction with the opening of St Martin's Manor Garden. All proceeds from the teas and a raffle will be for church funds. Helpers are still needed and should contact Jenefer Lawson Toms.

Hands up for

Summer School

LOOE Community School will be running its third Summer School this year having finalised funding from the DfEE to enhance students' learning in literacy and numeracy. In keeping with the previous two years the school hopes to produce a balance of fun and learning for 10 days at the beginning of the holidays.

If parents wish to know more about the Summer School they can contact Wendy Delf (head of English) or Mike Keveth (assistant head teacher) on 01503 262625.

Growing interest

in school chess

ONE of the fastest growing interests among pupils at Looe Community School is the game of chess. A new club took off in the spring term after a couple of pupils began playing in the school library with help from teaching assistant Mrs Angela Start.

The sessions snowballed with more and more youngsters wanting to join in, so head teacher Helga Turner made some funding available for the purchase of more chess sets.

It resulted in the school holding its own tournament as part of the UK Chess Challenge, with seven pupils - Ben Ackland, Sam Dobson, Bradley Edwards, Tom Heale, Daniel Marshall, Kevin Walker and Ross Wilkie - qualifying to take part in the County Megafinal, including teams from all over the South West, which took place in May at Torpoint School.

The school champion emerged as Daniel Marshall who scored a maximum of 21 points over seven rounds and has been awarded a shield and a baseball cap.

The school was delighted when Bradley Edwards qualified from the Torpoint tournament to gain a place at the National Gigafinal, to be held at the Sheffield Octagon Centre on July 15. If he qualifies again he will go on to play in The Terafinals at the Alexander Palace in London during August, with the chance to win £1,000.

More than 20 pupils are members of the club and 16 are presently taking part in the school's summer challenge tournament. 'We are keen to promote the game at all levels' said Mrs Start, 'it has proved to be very popular'.

The new interest has also received support from Looe Valley Rotary club which has presented the school with two new chess sets.

Harbour

viewpoint

ANY member of the community who has a point for discussion at the next full meeting of Looe Harbour Commissioners, on Friday, June 29, is asked to put their question on paper, to be delivered to the Harbour Office before 5pm on Thursday, June 28.

Maxine and John

find some megrins

FISH landings over the past two weeks have been up and down in accordance with the weather, some strong breezes posing a problem to the smaller boats in the fleet. However, a rare sight on the market on Friday last, was the appearance of megrins (smallish flat fish), brought in by Maxine's Pride and the John Wesley who were fishing down to the west.

Figures for week Friday June 1 - Thursday June 7 (weights in kilos): Fri - lemons 1200, plaice 200, whiting 800, monk 120, megrims 150, pollack 100, turbot 150, cod 100, squid; Mon - lemons 600, plaice 150, cod 120, pollack 140, whiting 600, squid 50; Tues - lemons 250, plaice 50, turbot 180, whiting 100; Weds - squid 60, lemons 1000, whiting 1200, plaice 150, monk 70; Thurs - poor no fishing.

Week Monday June 11 - Thurs June 14 - Mon - lemons 750, whiting 300, monk 80, plaice 150, conger 80, pollack 300, cod 100, turbot 160; Weds - squid 100, lemons 1000, plaice 250, whiting 400, conger 110, monktails 70, pollack 100, cod 100, red mullet 140, turbot 90.