GUNNISLAKE, the second largest village in Cornwall, is steeped in history as long as the hill to which it clings.

The hill leads down to the 15th Century New Bridge, the ancient gateway to Cornwall.

Before the Tamar Bridge was opened in 1961, New Bridge provided one of the lowest crossings by road over the River Tamar, the reason why, during the English Civil War, the Cornish Royalists barricaded it against invasion from Cromwell's Army.

There was mining activity in Gunnislake centuries before the great mines sprang up further west in the county, but like its counterparts, it too boomed in the 19th Century, bringing hundreds of settlers and their families. They mined mainly copper and arsenic, and in 1828, what had been known as Willliamstown, after the local Squire Williams, was re-named Gunnislake, 'gunnis' being the term given to a mine adit.

The mines began to close one by one at the turn of the 20th Century, and the mining community left, with a devastating effect on the life of the village.

Those born and bred in Gunnislake are known as 'Lakers', and a leading member of the friendly community is Councillor Godfrey Smale, presently chairman of Caradon Council, who has lived in the village all of his 65 years. Married to Winn, he was first elected to Calstock Parish Council in 1960. After a break he joined the council again in 1977 and in 1979 was elected as a Labour councillor to the district council. Godfrey is also known as an avid sportsman. He has been running the Callington and Gunnislake Ladies Darts League and the Saltash and District Darts Men's League for almost 40 years and received an award from the Cornwall Football Association in recognition of his 30 years' service to Gunnislake FA.

When it comes to sport the village has produced two famous sons. They are Michael Trebilcock, who scored two winning goals for Everton in the 1966 FA Cup Final and Dean (Deano) Shipton, who twice captained the Cornish rugby team at Twickenham in the county final, lifting the cup in 1998.

The village is also famous in other ways, mainly due to the beauty which surrounds it. During the 19th Century, Weir Head and the bridge were popular places for artists, and in 1813 none other than Turner himself paid a visit. One of the results was a painting known as 'Crossing The Brook', which hangs in the Tate Gallery, London.

Dorothy Kirk, a former Labour candidate and twice European candidate, and former art teacher Diana Cooke, dream of the village having a Turner Trail, and have done much research into Turner's many sketches of the area, including spending two days in the study room at The Tate. Caradon's Leader II, which has financed the research, will now look into the feasibility of creating a trail.

The Tamar Valley Discovery Trail is already in existence, with walkers taking in many of the former mine sites and the delights of the surrounding countryside. Apart from the trail there are many things afoot in the village.

Thriving

Work starts in the summer of 2001 on a new extension at the Junior and Primary School, a thriving happy place, with 115 pupils on the roll. Head teacher for the last 11 years has been Mac Mackeown, who has expressed his delight that the school is to have a new hall, library and IT centre, and other improvements.

The school is excited about being able to offer facilities which the community can also enjoy.

Also on the teaching staff are Gill Boreham, Judy Fricker, Irene Rowan and Rachel Walsh. The school enjoys much help from volunteer parents and from senior citizens - 80-year-old Olwyn Knight, a retired teacher, being a prime example.

There is also a Gunnislake Pre-School at the Methodist Chapel hall. There are 20 children on the roll and joint play leaders are Mrs Deborah Crocker and Mrs Caroline Lake.

The village centre itself is in the midst of a regeneration scheme as part of a £3 million European grant for the Tamar Valley.

The roadworks and extra traffic lights compete with the long stream of traffic which passes along the A390 that carves the village in two. There is a campaign to get the route downgraded to a B-road, which would effectively mean the heavy goods vehicles taking another route.

At the back of the enhancement scheme has been the Gunnislake Forum which was formed in July 1996. It was born out of a number of traders getting together to try and do something positive to 'lift' the village. They called a public meeting and the forum took off. The scheme includes raised granite pavements along Commercial and Fore Streets, new safety railings, an extra pedestrian crossing, street furniture, lamp standards with fittings for hanging baskets, and the creation of a garden behind the bus bay.

A forum member is chairman of the parish council Ian Kirk JP, married to Dorothy, also a member, who says that with so much going on Gunnislake is definitely on the up. He is also a trustee of the Woodland Centre, chairman being Norah Coates, which opens for the use of senior residents as a drop-in venue on November 11. It has been built with the help of a Lottery grant of £69,989.

However, Ian says both the forum and parish coucnil recognise that more facilities are required for the youth of the village. He says the new school hall should open up some opportunities.

Railway

But most things that villagers need are provided, including a health centre opened in the 1970s, the Tamar Valley Community Bus, which is run by volunteers, and the Tamar Valley Railway which runs between Plymouth and Gunnislake. There is park and ride for up to 40 cars.

The village also has four places of worship, which are St Ann's Church, the vicar being Rev Andrew Wilson, rector of Calstock Parish, the Methodist Church, St Joseph's Catholic Church and the Crusade Fellowship Centre. This is based in a former Methodist Chapel and is run by the Rev Archibald Smith, who originates from Jamaica but moved to Gunnislake from London about 28 years ago, where his wife Jacqueline had a great uncle.

There is not a shortage of things to do in Gunnislake. There are four pubs - The Rising Sun (Roger and Jan English), The Buccaneer (Gill Pengelly), Tavistock Arms (Bob Hughes) and The Cornish Inn (Maggie Beaton). On top of that there is the Social Club, chaired by Malcolm Mitchell, and the Public Hall.

Then there is a thriving WI, Mary Newcombe being president, a Friendship Club, Help the Aged, the Red Cross, the local history group, the cricket club at Hawkmoor and the King George V Playing Fields.

There is also the Gunnislake U3A (University of the Third Age), which is an organisation greatly enjoyed by 87 year old Marjorie Jope. She moved to the village at five years old and has lived in the same house ever since.

Gunnislake is also a generous place and raises large amounts for charity throughout the year. Mrs Bessie Standing (formerly of Standings greengrocers), raises about £1,000 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance, and Jan Mowlem is co-ordinator of the Children's Hospice South West fundraising group which is well-supprted.

Gunnislake has an ongoing Village in Bloom initiative, a Village Voice Newsletter, co-edited by Diana Cooke and the parish clerk Julia Massey, and a Christmas lights scheme, run by David Marston and helpers.

There are a good range of shops in the village. There is the Cottage Bakery run by Jackie Donnell, at the newsagents Doyle's Daily's are Colin and Gill Doyle, and for the last 13 years Duncan and Carole Campbell have been running the convenience shop, Tudor Stores (Mace). Duncan is full of praise for the enhancement scheme, saying the village will be greatly improved.

At the Tamar Valley Butchers in Fore Street are Michael and Hazel Kinger, who have traded in the village for 14 years and live above the shop.

Beautiful

The sub-postmaster is David Soulsby who took over the post office at the end of July. He moved from Oxted in Surrey where he had previously been a postmaster for eight years.

The fish and chip shop is run by Paul and Christine Parchment, there are two hair stylists, Creations run by Margaret Mitchell and She Hair Fashions, Pete and Di's (Holmes) Bazaar, a bright new gift shop, and the village even boasts a bank, Lloyds TSB.

The estate agents, Sawyers, has been run by Robert Sawyer for the last 13 years.

Gunnislake is a village of many parts, beautiful, historic, forward thinking and above all friendly.