Car event to draw crowds

MOUNT Edgcumbe Country Park near Torpoint will be expecting large numbers of visitors for the second Sunday running this weekend.

People flocked to the park on Sunday to enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the World Class 1 Offshore Powerboat Championship race in Plymouth Sound.

The higher parts of the park, especially near Maker Church, offered good views of the powerboats roaring across the water at speeds of up to 150mph.

This Sunday (August 5) the annual Vintage, Classic and American Car Event, which is always a big attraction, is due to be held in the park on the Rame Peninsula.

The Friends of Mount Edgcumbe Country Park are organising the event which is staged in conjunction with their summer fayre.

This year will see the seventh annual event which will feature displays of hundreds of cars, stalls, auto jumble, car boot sales, roundabouts and children's entertainment, face painting, a spit roast, the City of Plymouth Concert Band, the Rame Jazz Club and line dancing.

Spectators are admitted free to the event, though car parking costs £2.

Proceeds will go to the Mount Edgcumbe Hospice at St Austell and to the Friends who help support the country park. The event will run from 11am until 5pm.

Morris dancers due at pub

THE Wreckers Morris dance group will be completing a trio of performances on the Rame Peninsula this summer.

Formed last autumn, the side has had a busy summer of dance bookings and is becoming well-known for the quality and variety of its pub music sessions and other performances.

Earlier this year, the St Dominic-based group performed at the Black Prince Flower Boat Procession at Millbrook and Cawsand.

The group is a mixed side of men and women who perform Border morris. With a dozen or more singers and musicians amongst the 40 members, pub sessions are nothing if not lively.

"We are surprised ourselves how well the side has come together and landlords keep inviting us back so we must be doing something right," said Wreckers bagman Paul White.

Wreckers Morris will be performing at the Edgcumbe Arms at Cremyll on Thursday, August 9, at 8pm and at the Mount Edgcumbe House Flower Festival on Saturday, September 1, at 2pm.

Classes in the summer holidays

A GROUP of youngsters will be going to school in Torpoint for two weeks during their summer holidays.

The 11-year-olds will be attending Torpoint School between August 13 and 24 to take part in a Summer Literacy School.

The extra lessons are being held to help the children, who have just left primary school, to improve their standards of reading and writing.

Torpoint School is among 22 secondary schools in Cornwall that are taking part in this year's programme of literacy and numeracy schools. Each school offers places for up to 30 pupils.

"The aim of the summer schools is to raise standards of literacy and numeracy among pupils who did not reach Level 4 in their English and Maths SATS," said Ian Richards, summer schools co-ordinator.

"Last year's summer schools proved a great success, with teachers reporting improvements in spelling and reading, and maths skills, and, overall, a marked increase in the children's self-esteem, self-confidence and motivation."

Schools taking part are given up to £10,000 of funding to provide staff and resources, with each school developing its own programme, usually based on a theme.

"The summer schools are not intended to be totally classroom-based and the schools try to involve a wide range of people from the local community to help deliver their programmes," said Ian.