UKC

The other day I came across this interesting archive footage on YouTube, I could not find it posted here so thought I would share:

https://youtu.be/QpS7w_seJ5o?si=kAaXq2IBWE-IraEj

It shows a bit of climbing and general scrambling around Cornwall somewhere in the 1930s. There is a particularly nice moment of someone climbing solo on what looks like diff/vdiff grade rock at 3:32. I wonder where it is?

I’ll forward this to St Agnes museum and see if they have any knowledge of this. The swimming pool looks like Perranporth. The harbour might be Portreath. Some of the footage looks like Porthgwarra.

However, it’ll be interesting to see what they say.

That's a good idea,.definitely. Yes Porthgwarra did come to mind and some of the upper reaches of Chair Ladder perhaps

Very interesting. There doesn't look to be much granite in the film. Possibly, West Penwith greenstone/Killas, the Lizard or maybe somwhere on the Perranporth, Newquay, Padstow  stretch? Would be great to know more as there's definitely climbing involved and the first recorded routes on the Atlantic Coast date from the 1960s. I'm wondering if the climbers might be Romanis and Jerram who were active in Cornwall in the 20s and 30s?

That would be extremely cool if it turned out to be Romanis and Jerram!

I could be way off the mark, but the bit in the beginning where they’re driving out looks very much like coming out the drive of Eagle’s Nest onto the Zennor road. Maybe they popped in to see AW Andrews who lived there?
 

Some of the swim spots look very reminiscent of the coastline around Zennor, but could equally be Lizard. 
 

The tiny harbor with the cliffs behind has stumped me. Definitely not Portreath, thought Mullion but the rocks behind don’t match. Could have since washed away.
 

In reply to:

I find that watermark very annoying. Are they really worried about someone nicking it?

Lamorna?

Lamorna’s not got an opposing jetty nor steep cliffs alongside. 

I thought Mullion, I found enough rocks in the background sides etc, that convinced me it was Mullion. its also had quite a few repairs and additions, which might explain discrepancies. 

It’s the only small cove harbour with that setup that I can think of, though the match isn’t 100% to the film. Funny they’re docking some pretty large vessels there.

If you want to go further down the nostalgia road, I found this British Pathe film about Mullion just after the war:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/83338/

ha yes I found that too. I used to live in west Penrith so found an hour trawling through the internet looking for clues, rather nice. I think the fact that the Mullion harbour has been through a few changes, structurally over quite a long time, can discount the 100 percent fit. The inside end of the left section in the film has a kind of semi circular part to it, I couldn't find that in any old photos, maybe it got destroyed post 1930's. The strong clues for me apart from the harbour shape, are the right hand side rocks, after the end of the harbour,  these same to match other sources. Plus generally the cliffs and rock they are messing around on do like South coast, Lizard. 

Same, I moved away 5 years ago, so it was good to refresh the memory a little. It’s a strange allure that place still has.  

Okay after some digging using Google image search it, the harbour is actually not Cornwall at all, it turns out - it is Creux harbour, Sark in the Channel Islands. Likely that the rest of the film is shot there also? Any CI residents with knowledge?

Good sleuthing skills! Based on this, I think the natural arch seen at 1.18 - 1.40 is probably the one at Port du Moulin on Sark: images such as https://www.francisfrith.com/sark/sark-natural-arch-port-du-moulin-1893_316... and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-port-du-moulin-a-natural-rock-arch-sark-c... seem like a good match for the stepped arete seen through the arch and the transition from shingle on one side to the large boulders on the other. 

Yes excellent that must be it. Couldn't find a similar match to any Cornish arches but that looks spot on. Maybe I'll tell them their video is wrongly labelled...

This was the reply from the St Agnes museum.

I made some enquiries and have come up with some ideas, but not really
conclusive.  Your idea of going on Facebook might be more fruitful.

The two most definite are that the swimming pool is not at Porthtowan,
although to me it doesn't look like a pool, more an inlet.  The other
point is that the harbour is not Portreath.

The cliffs might be west Cornwall, but one idea is that they may be
Scottish.  With that regard, I notice that the car registration, GX
8229, is a Glasgow number from 1932.  A look at the DVLA site shows that
the number still exists on a 1932 Riley, colour green, although it
hasn't been taxed for sometime.  It might mean that the car is a
restoration project.  I don't know how far you would get by contacting
the DVLA.

Sorry not to be more helpful, but if anything more positive emerges,
we'll be in touch.

And the swimming pool at 5:18 could be the Adonis Pool on Little Sark: https://www.sarkholidaycottages.co.uk/caves-rock-pools 

Hello again,

As you refer to Sark, I assume you mean the Channel Islands and not the Isles of Scilly.  There is certainly no harbour of that shape on any of the islands.

I therefore searched Google Earth for Sark, Guernsey, and the exactly shaped harbour wall comes up at Creux Harbour.

I hope that helps.

Tom Thompson,

St Agnes Museum.

Hello again,

As you refer to Sark, I assume you mean the Channel Islands and not the Isles of Scilly.  There is certainly no harbour of that shape on any of the islands.

I therefore searched Google Earth for Sark, Guernsey, and the exactly shaped harbour wall comes up at Creux Harbour.

I hope that helps.

Tom Thompson,

St Agnes Museum.

And 'the climber' is definitely a climber, and a confident one for his day by the way he moves on the rock, the way he sets his feet, checks holds etc

Good job. Mystery solved

I've got right into this. St Agnes museum id'd the car as a Riley. I've mailed their users club.

Lovely little thread.

A couple of climbing shots in this 1908 gallery: https://www.deanephotos.com/section571673_768169.html 

I wouldn't have thought to look outside Cornwall, funny how we can make things 'fit'.