St. Ives

We had the day here in St. Ives, free of driving but with a goal of locating my grandparents' graves. The Barnoon cemetery in St. Ives is huge and set on a hill overlooking Porthmeor beach. The headstones and grave markers are often elaborate and date back to the 18th century. I was pretty sure my grandfather was buried in this cemetery in 1957 but I had no idea about the location of my grandmother who died in 1985.

We did a look-through based on approximate age of surrounding markers but this could get tricky because a gravestone may have been originally erected for one person, then other relatives get tacked on afterwards. The later dates are often more obvious. On advise from locals that graves in the 1980s would be in Carbis Bay, we walked a couple of miles there. It is the next community along. We tried to be systematic in our search but unfortunately only military cemeteries seem to be laid out in an orderly fashion. After much marching about using the same general plan of looking for similar dates, we gave up.



Beach encampment for young family





Tate Gallery St. Ives

Riding on my father's shoulders here at Xmas
 I got drenched by a big wave





Sloop Inn, circa 1312

 
 


Porthminster Beach

We had the traditional Cornish lunch, a pasty and beer then we came back to the room for a rest. While Laurie noodled around on the internet I made another stab at searching for the graves.




After lunch we walked over to the Porthminster Beach where my grandmother had run the Porthvail Hotel for 40 years

Porthvail Hotel is now remodeled flats

 

Quite by happy coincidence Laurie booked our accommodation close to the cemetery. I spent another hour of marching around on uneven ground. I was calling it a day and walking back on the freshly cut path and there it was! I returned to the room for Laurie and the grave cleaning kit.

Robert Ashton b.15/11/1884  d.23/10/1957
Isobel Ashton b.27/04/1898  d. 23/01/1985