ANTARCTIC ADVENTURES AT THE MARITIME MUSEUM

ONE of the most remarkable locations on the planet will be brought to life at the Maritime Museum on Monday September 5.  

In 2007 Cornish based skipper and tall ship sailor Debbie Purser spent 52 days on board the tall ship Europa exploring the Antarctic Peninsula and re-tracing Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 800 mile voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia.

Join Debbie as she brings her incredible story to life in a Lunchtime Lecture at the Maritime Museum in Falmouth. This engaging lecture will see Debbie recount her first-hand experiences of sailing the Southern Ocean, a journey which she captured in a series of stunning photographs, taken with experienced wildlife filmmaker Roland Gockel.

Debbie says: “This was a bit of a busman's holiday for me as I run charter voyages in Cornwall.  Sailing a square rigger amongst the icebergs downwind in the Southern Ocean was definitely more hard core than the day job.  Photos of Falmouth Quay Punt Curlew cruising under the mountains of South Georgia were the temptation to go. Discovering I could sail there by tall ship was the snowy icing on the cake.”

The talk, entitled Square Rig Sailing in the Southern Ocean, is part of a programme combining a lecture and lunch, which explores different historical and nautical themes. The lecture and set lunch is from 12.30pm at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, on Monday September 5 and costs £14.50. To book your place please call 01326 214546.

Next tall ship to visit Falmouth

The Dutch brig Mercedes will be setting sail on day trips in the bay around Falmouth on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

The ship, one of the youngest in the international tall ship fleet, was launched in 2005 making her the youngest tall ship afloat.

Unlike most ships in her class, Mercedes was built specifically with the needs of the corporate entertainment market in mind and has a very comfortable interior.

The Dutch ship, rigged as a brig, has two masts, each carrying five square sails and sailors are offered the chance to set the sails themselves, if they choose to.

Members of the public do not need any experience of sailing or any special equipment or clothing to take part in the sails. Sailings are at 11am to 3pm or 5pm to 9pm and include a meal aboard.

For more information, or to book online, please visit http://www.tallshipsfalmouth.co.uk/.

New seating for Falmouth

In its quest to highlight Falmouth’s unique qualities, the Falmouth BID has appointed local design firm Mor to collaborate with Falmouth School and develop what will be the third Falmouth BID initiated and funded public seat for Falmouth.

The project responds directly to feedback from holiday visitors and local people who identify that the main thoroughfare areas of Falmouth would benefit from having more places to sit on. The Falmouth BID acted upon this by commissioning locally designed and crafted benches, that also celebrate Falmouth’s fascinating artistic history.

To read all about the project click here

World War Z

HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER TO BE FILMED IN FALMOUTH NEXT MONTH

Open casting for zombie thriller ‘World War Z’ being held at Truro School this weekend.

One of the biggest film studios in the world is set to use Falmouth, Cornwall, as a key location for a multi-million pound zombie thriller being filmed this summer. The Paramount Pictures production World War Z will be partially shot onboard a ship from August 2nd to August 12th. In advance of the filming Paramount has issued an urgent call for extras, with casting taking place this Saturday (July 16th) and Sunday (July 17th) from 10am until 5pm in the gymnasium at Truro School.

For the Falmouth-based scenes around five hundred extras are needed. The casting sessions are free to attend and are open to those aged 16 and over. A casting for children is set to be held at a later date. The roles will be paid for and those involved may be asked to have their hair cut short. The casting unit is particularly interested in those from the forces, fire brigade and RNLI and a number of film crew support staff may also be required. Anyone wishing to take part can also upload their details to www.maddogcasting.com.

Falmouth’s Town Manager Richard Gates has been in ongoing discussions with Paramount Pictures’ Location and Casting crews and is co-ordinating the necessary logistical and support requirements within the town. Some of the filming will take place during Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week (6th- 14th August) so extra preparatory measures for the event are being made with signage and road diversion information rolling out shortly.

Richard says, “This is a major coup for Falmouth and we’re pulling out all the stops to prepare for the influx of over 600 crew and cast. We’ve been working closely behind the scenes with Paramount Pictures and are working hard with regards to the necessary planning and permissions. With Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week taking place at the same time, there is going to be an almighty buzz around the town.”

Jeff Taylor, Casting Agent for Paramount Pictures, says “We are very excited to be coming to Falmouth as it’s a fantastic place with some unique assets that we can make the most of for the film. I’m incredibly grateful to Falmouth for helping us make it all happen and would encourage as many people as possible to come along to the casting session in Truro this weekend.”

Richard Wilcox, Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID) Manager adds: “This is such huge news for Falmouth and is set to boost the town’s profile and economy. It’s not every day that a big Hollywood movie rolls into town, with so many exciting temporary jobs, so we’re delighted to have been selected as a location and this situation illustrates the potential for similar future endeavours. I’m sure plenty of local people will be keen to get involved.”

Regular online exclusive updates will be given via:
Facebook - ‘Falmouth – spirit of the sea’ – official Falmouth Facebook pageTwitter - @FalmouthBID – official Falmouth BID Twitter page

Port of Falmouth Masterplan final documents on view

Further to the Port of Falmouth Consultation exercise, the Port of Falmouth Masterplan study has now been completed and the final Masterplan, Economic Impact Assessment and Statement of Community Involvement documents are available to be viewed.

All reports can be found by following this link

Copies of the reports can also be viewed at Falmouth Library from the 7th July...

An evening with Rick Stein

Join Rick for an evening of food and wine at the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (also known as The Poly), where Rick will be hosting a one- off demonstration evening, from which all proceeds will be donated to The Poly.

“When I was shown around the Polytechnic I was amazed at how beautiful it is -so full of history, such high ceilings and elegant windows, but a bit frayed around the edges. I'm very happy to help raise funds to restore it.” Rick Stein.

Tuesday 9th August 2011

The evening will begin at 6pm (Poly doors open at 5.30pm) where you will be greeted with a glass of wine, then sit back, relax and enjoy an evening devoted to recipes from his upcoming TV series and book, Rick Stein's Spain, with video clips and anecdotes from the series. Rick will also be signing books for guests after the event. All proceeds from the evening will be donated to The Poly.

Tickets are £30 for RCPS members and £35 for non-members.

To purchase your ticket please call the Poly on 01326 319461, buy online at www.thepoly.org or call into the Poly Building between 10.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Saturday at 24 Church Street, Falmouth

Falmouth BID Save the High St 5 Point Plan

SAVE THE HIGH STREET 5 POINT PLAN

1. Easy, free or low cost, flexible parking
We need:

• Local control/ ownership of our car parks so that easy, low cost, accessible parking can be provided
• A supportive and imaginative Planning and Transport function to help make access to car parks easy and integrated into a progressive town plan.

Currently, our car parking is in the wrong place with poor access, badly signposted with punitive and inflexible charges. The car parks are generally owned by the unitary authority (Cornwall Council) who primarily regard them as an income stream. They are managed with no imagination and little consideration of supply and demand. The charges/parking arrangements do not seem to take account of the wider economic impact that car parking plays in town regeneration.

Compare the easy, available, free parking with convenient access provided by supermarkets and out of town retailers VERSUS the challenge of visitors finding their way through prohibitive and unfriendly signage, congested and constrained roads through to very expensive car parks where the fright of Clamp Notices for going over time send shoppers scurrying back to their vehicles whether they have finished their shopping or not!

2. Co-ordinated, imaginative and well-integrated local public transport which meet customer needs
Public transport provision needs to be convenient, reliable and integrated to tempt customers away from their cars. I can’t remember ever being asked to participate in or comment on any local public transport service provision. We need to encourage the provision of alternative, customer oriented, green transport developed by the private sector and supported by imaginative councils. Private sector ferries have grown very successfully in Falmouth using the waterways but there is plenty of room for other imaginative schemes such as pedal power, electric shuttle buses and the like.

The problem is that much of the innovation will not stem from tired, moribund councils battling with cuts and reductions. Instead of subsidies for large empty buses running the same routes at inconvenient times through rural areas to tick "inclusion" boxes, why not pave the way for smaller private sector operators running more micro level and customer focused schemes?

3. Well-funded and professional town management which can form proper retail strategies and plans

Big retail centres, malls or retail parks are developed and managed by professional, private sector retail managers and developers who focus firmly upon gaining the right retail mix of tenants to meet the needs of the customers they are targeting. They also focus on the total retail experience from arrival, parking, lighting, ambience, cleanliness, toilets, entertainment and information etc.

How can the High Street compete? It starts off with a great theoretical advantage – location, location and location – but then potentially throws it all away with a complete laissez faire, ad hoc approach with no tenancy strategy and the management of the shopper experience delegated to an assortment of non-integrated public sector departments and agencies.
High Streets need managing like the total business of a shopping centre with real business plans focused upon building footfall, improving the public realm and enhancing shopper experience.

4. More business rates need to be kept local with businesses involved in how the business rates are spent.

Our business rates (or taxes) grow incessantly and disappear off to central government where the customers (the businesses paying those rates) have no involvement or say. If we work hard and grow our businesses, we are dramatically penalised by huge increases in rates. There needs to be a proper connection to business rates and the services we receive with proper local accountability.

5. Cut VAT in half to 10% on retail/restaurants/hotels/tourism businesses

Tourism and its economic multiplier effect is Falmouth’s biggest industry. If the Government is serious about driving economic growth through tourism – which is critical in the West Country, the UK’s leading visitor destination – then action to cut VAT on tourism is vital. The tourism industry acts as a major economic driver and this is crucial in Falmouth, providing income for shopkeepers and farmers alike.

Britain needs to be competitive. Consider that the French have cut VAT down to 5%, the Germans have recently cut it down from 19% to 7%, Spain was already at 8%. The beauty of cutting VAT here is that you will see a return on your investment through more jobs and more economic activity being created which will reduce work related benefits and deliver more tax income to the treasury from the expanding businesses – from farmers to shop fitters – as a result.

How to get involved!

1. Back the campaign!
2. Contact your local newspaper who will continue to tell the story
3. Write to your local MP, let them know your thoughts and ideas for revitalising the High St
4. Write to your local or Cornwall Councillor, again with your ideas and opinions as to what policy changes are needed
5. Get onto the Facebook page Falmouth – Spirit of the Sea and leave a comment on the Discussions page