GORSEDH KERNOW
The Celtic Spirit of Cornwall
LYTHER BARDHEK - BARDIC NEWSLETTER
Mis Whevrer bys dhe vis Ebrel 2016 / February to April 2016
Gwarnyans an Orsedh ha KKB dhe Lannahevran / Gorsedh Proclamation and AGM at St Keverne
This will be on Saturday 16th April at 10.30am and the Procession of Bards will leave St Keverne Parish Hall, Well Lane, TR12 6LZ at 10.15am. This is earlier than last year as there is a wedding in the Parish Church that same morning and we don’t wish to cause inconvenience to guests arriving for that.
9.00am Robing in St Keverne Parish Hall, all Bards to be robed by 10.15am.
The procession will go from St Keverne Parish Hall and the ceremony will take place at 10.30am around the statue of Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank at the top of the High Street. The route is up a short but steep hill.
Car parking is scattered around the edges of the village, but none of them are very far away. Owing to the wedding that will be taking place in the Church that same day bards are please asked NOT to park in The Square. There is space for dropping off only at the Parish Hall and vehicles will then need to be parked elsewhere in the village. There is some parking available at the Community School, School Hill, St Keverne, TR12 6NQ, (down through The Square and bare right uphill) but if that is already full then the biggest space is adjacent to the St Keverne Band & Social Club, Porthallow Mills Band Room, Lemon Street, TR12 6NEwhere you will find the club carpark and a community carpark. They can be foundon the road out of The Square towards Porthoustock, immmediately on the left after the old St Keverne Church Hall. Donations for parking here are invited via the honesty boxes at the entrance to these carparks. You will then need to walk back down into and diagonally across The Square (with the White Hart on your left) and follow the blue sign on the wall to the Parish Hall.
If any bards with disabilities wish to attend the Proclamation ceremony there is limited parking available at the St Keverne Health Centre, immediately by the statue, situatedat the top of the High Street in St Keverne. The entrance lobby will be open for robing and there is a toilet available there as well. Pedestrian access from the Health Centre carpark is through the wire fence entrance behind the An Gof statue. The postcode for satnav is TR12 6PB but if coming by car please follow the sign to the Health Centre viaPolventon Parc. Because of road closures for our procession you will need to be in this carpark by 10am please. Please do not park here if you are able to walk the route.
If wet, the whole Proclamation ceremony will take place in the Parish Hall. Please note that this is a different venue to the one where the Gorsedh bardic ceremony will be held in September.
The Gorsedh Kernow AGM will take place at 12noon on the same day in St Keverne Parish Hallafter the Proclamation ceremony. You are welcome to bring your own lunch although if you have time there is a café, a hotel and a pub in The Square as well as a general store.Tea and coffee will be available at the Parish Hall and there are toilets there as well. The AGM is expected to last no longer than an hour and a half and it would be really good if as many bards as possible could attend please as decisions are usually made by those who turn up!
Ow tochya Lannahevran / About St Keverne
St. Keverne is situated 12 miles from Helston on the Lizard Peninsula and stretches from Goonhilly Downs to the Helford River and along to Kennack Sands. The parish consists of the villages of St Keverne, Coverack, Porthallow and Porthoustock and several hamlets including Traboe, Rosenithon, Tregowris and Ponsongath. The landscape of the parish is varied and ranges from the vast windswept expanse of Goonhilly Downs (which supports many rare heathers and flowers and is also home to the Earth Satellite Station), to sheltered valleys leading down to many beaches and coves.About 2,000 people live in the parish. Employment, owing to the demise of quarrying, is mainly farming, fishing and tourism. It is a very active parish and has in excess of 30 organisations who work hard to provide a variety of interesting pastimes.The Parish is served by 13 Councillors, 9 for the St. Keverne Ward and 4 for the Coverack Ward.
During the year many events are held including the internationally known Ox Roast which is held the first Wednesday in August and at this and other events the famous St Keverne Band can be heard. Historically the Parish is known for the 1497 Cornish Rebellion and a statue depicting Michael An Gof the blacksmith and Thomas Flamank of Bodmin is erected at the entrance to St Keverne village.
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Plans are also well underway for the annual September Esedhvos Festival and bardic ceremony, which starts on Thursday 1st September and runs right through until Sunday 4th, so why not consider making the Esedhvos Festival part of your annual holiday and join those who already enjoy the great variety of events during the days in the run up to the Saturday bardic ceremony. If you would like to stay locally you are advised to book your accommodation as soon as possible.
Ostyans yn Lannahevran / Accommodation in St Keverne
St Keverne village does have a selection of catered and self catering accommodation but there are no large hotels in the immediate area. In the actual village there is The White Hart Hotel, The Three Tuns Hotel, Eden House B & B and the Old Temperance House B & B and self catering cottage. In Coverack there is The Bay Hotel and The Paris Hotel. There is also the Gallen-Treath in Porthallow. The nearest large town is Helston.
There are also lots of self catering holiday cottages in the area and several camping sites, but there are no large, well equipped caravan touring parks in St Keverne although there are one or two in and around Coverack that have touring pitches and static caravans for hire.
Here are a few other suggestions for online accommodation searches..
You are advised to book your accommodation early for the September Esedhvos Festival in St Keverne.
Bedhen ni Awenek / Let’s Be Inspirational!
Many of you rose to the Gorsedh Kernow “Do Something for Cornwall” challenge and I thank you for sending in your stories which were all posted on the GK website and Facebook page, as well as featuring in the news round up letter sent out in the New Year. We want to maintain this momentum but also approach it from a slightly different angle – “Let’s Be Inspirational!” Bardships are awarded to people who have shown excellence in their particular field, whether it be history, language, archaeology, sport, art, music, dance or one of the countless other aspects of Cornish culture that make the work done by bards so important and……well…..inspirational! Of course, it’s not only bards who inspire others, but with the strength and support of Gorsedh Kernow and the College of Bards behind us all we do have a higher profile and therefore a unique opportunity to help others enjoy and care for our culture by encouraging them to get involved as well. Please don’t be modest - send me your stories, and photos as well if you have them, about the things you do to promote Cornish culture so I can tell everyone else. You can email them to me at
Tegennow Lannustin / St Justin Jewellery
Following the successful launch of the beautiful St Justin Awen jewellery on the Gorsedh Kernow website shop page I am delighted to tell you that we are adding several more St Justin pieces in Cornish tin to those already available for purchase, including some from the hugely popular Poldark range. There will also be two new additions to the Awen range – a smaller brooch with bar pin which will be the same size as the pendant and therefore suitable for wearing on lighter garments, and from about Easter time a new tie pin will be available, also bearing the Awen symbol to match the cuff links. Please remember that in order for Gorsedh Kernow to benefit financially from sales of St Justin jewellery you need to order through the GK website only.
To see the whole Gorsedh Kernow St Justin range please see
Nowodhow aral / Other news
Those bards who receive their newsletter by email will have recently received a news round up for the year which highlighted important events of 2015, especially those answering Gorsedh Kernow’s “Do Something for Cornwall” challenge - I hope you enjoyed reading it.
However, just as we “went to press” Gorsedh Kernow was involved in two further exciting developments that caught the imagination of the local media. Bard and professional film maker Denzil Monk, An Gour Glas,has launched a campaign to persuade the BBC to add a new channel, BBC Kernow, to their proposed new charter. He believes that the Cornish should have equal status with the other indigenous languages and cultures of Britain and is campaigning for a new channel - BBC Kernow - to sit in it's rightful place alongside BBC Cymru and BBC Alba.
If you wish to support Denzil’s campaign you can sign the petition - please go to
We also made a small but significant contribution to the campaign to recognise Minority Status in a practical way when Bude-based bard Jonathan Ball, Tregarthen, MBE, co-founder of the Eden Project, architect and now internationally elected Councillor for the Royal Institute of British Architects, received confirmation that RIBA had revised its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy to recognise Cornish ethnicity. Jonathan had noticed that there was no mention of Cornwall on RIBA’s EDI policy form despite there being mention of all the other Celtic nations, but following his intervention he was delighted to confirm that the new President and Board of RIBA had reconsidered and agreed to include Cornwall as a Celtic nation in all their policy documents, with immediate effect.
Keslowena Donsyor Lanust / Congratulations Mark Dungey
Late last year, Mark Dungey, Donsyor Lanust, along with a small number of others was presented with certificates by Ted Gundry, Covathor Covyon, of Azook CIC at their Re:collect end of project event in Redruth cinema. The certificates were presented to the successful volunteers who had completed the Azook course in Digital Archiving, an A level 2 award and the only type of such qualification in the UK.
Kovheans / In Memoriam
Sadly I must pass on news of the passing of one of our Australian Bards, Richard HANCOCK – HENGKOK. Richard Hancock passed away on Tuesday 1st December 2015, after a long illness. Richard & Diana Hancock were barded together in 1994, with Richard taking the name HENGKOK (both as meaning 'great-grandfather', and for his family name Hancock). He had been Patron of Kernewek Lowender for many years. He also served for several years on the Committee of the Cornish Association of South Australia, and took a keen interest in Cornish activities around Australia and across the world.
Our thanks to Noel CARTHEW, Secretary,Cornish Association ofSouth Australia for this information.
Also, we have received news of the passing of another of our bards, Myra Joyce BENNETT - CARES YLOW. Myra Bennett was previously Musical Director of the Penmeth Singers, based at Penryn Methodist Church where she also played the organ for church services. She passed away peacefully at her home in Penryn on 18 January 2016 aged 89 years. There will be a family committal at Penmount Crematorium on Thursday 28th January at 1.30pm, followed by a service of thanksgiving at Penryn Methodist Church at 2.30pm. Family flowers only, but donations in lieu, if desired, to be shared between Cornwall Music Service Trust and Penryn Methodist Church.
Dedhyow dydhlyver / Diary dates
In February there will several free events at Kresen Kernow Redruth, including user forums, tours of the new public spaces on site, a history talk and a Twitter hashtag, #KKQandA.
More information, or to book a place please contact 01872 323127 or email .
Thursday 4th February User forum (project update and Q & A), Cornwall Records Office, 6pm-7pm
Friday 5th February Tours of the Kresen Kernow site, 10am-2pm, pre-booking essential.
Also talk “A Brief History of Redruth Brewery”, Cornish Studies Library, 3.30pm-4.30pm, pre-booking essential. Also user forum (project update and Q & A), Cornish Studies Library, 5pm – 6pm
Saturday 6th FebruaryTours of the Kresen Kernow site, 10am-2pm, pre-booking essential.
Also Saturday 6th February 11am KESVA Cornish Language Board AGM, Lys Kernow.
2pm Kowethas an Yeth AGM, Lys Kernow.
2pm Agan Tavas AGM, Murdoch House, Redruth.
Monday 8th February St Ives Feast Day. Procession leaves St Ives Guildhall 9.30am, hurling of silver ball from the Church Gardens at 10.30am.
Tuesday 9th February 7.30pmSt Just OCS, film “Early Mines of St Just”.
Friday 12th February 7.15pm Celtic Congress AGM, Lowenac Hotel, Camborne.
Friday 19th – Sunday 21st February Tregedna Cornish language residential weekend or come just for one day. More info from the MAGA website at
Thursday 3rd March 7pm St Piran’s children’s concert Penzance Methodist Chapel, Chapel Street.
Friday 4th March 10.30amSt Piran’s parade Penzance 600+ schoolchildren.
Saturday 5th March St Piran’s Day celebrations all over Cornwall including processions 10am Falmouth, 11am Bodmin, 12 noon Redruth, 1pm Truro, 2.30pm Newquay, 5pm Bude, 6pm Launceston & Perranporth + World Pasty Championships at The Eden Project. Also London 7.30pm show Kernow In The City. You are advised to check times nearer the date.
Sunday 6th March St Piran Community Play, gather 1pm Gear Sands, Perranporth for 1.30pm procession across the dunes. Parking with kind permission of Perran Sands Holiday Park. All welcome. More info from bard Colin Retallick, Tallack Treniow, on email
Saturday 12th March 10am Cornish Language Forum, open to all, Lys Kernow, Truro. Chaired by Bardh Meur Merv Davey, Telynor an Weryn.
Friday 8th – Sunday 10th April Pennseythen Gernewek/Cornish language weekend, Sandy Lodge Hotel, Newquay. All welcome from beginners to advanced learners. More info from or email
Saturday 16th April 2016 Gorsedh Kernow Proclamation, 10.30am at the An Gof & Flamank Statue, top of High Street, St Keverne, TR12 6PB. Procession 10.15am from St Keverne Parish Hall, see details at beginning of newsletter.
Followed by AGM at 12noon in St Keverne Parish Hall, Well Lane, TR12 6LZ. See details at beginning of newsletter.
Sunday 24th April second anniversary of the granting of Minority Status.
Advanced notice–Sunday 19th June Gorsedh Kernow AWEN ceremony, Warbstow Bury, off the A395 at Hallworthy near Davidstow, North Cornwall. Details in the next newsletter.
Nessa Lyther Newodhow Bardhek/Next Bardic Newsletter
News and information to be included in the next newsletter, for May, June & July 2016, should be submitted to Delia Brotherton, Myrghwyn Melynor, Communications Officer by email to by the 15thof April 2016 please. If you have an email address and wish to receive the newsletter electronically please tell the Membership Secretary, David Holman on Although everyone receives the quarterly newsletter there are often “short notice” events that members who receive paper copy will not hear about.
You can also catch up with the latest news about Gorsedh Kernow on our website or you can or follow us on
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Terebo nessa / Until next time………. Myrghwyn Melynor / Delia Brotherton.