Chairmans Report August 2011

A Quiet Corner

Our very helpful web developer and website content manager Mr Brian Baker tactfully pointed out to me the other day that I hadn’t updated the chairmans blog for the parish website in a while.  It had actually been nearly a year (see what I mean about tactful?) and it shamed me into sitting down and committing pen to paper so to speak, and updating it.  So I found myself a quiet corner of the house and thought about the beautiful parish of St Hilary and all the things that we have to be proud of.

Since moving back into the parish earlier this year I have been struck once again by the sense of community we have in what is, geographically speaking, a very large parish indeed.  Many things have happened in the parish that have brought us together, not least of which was the opening of the Penwith historical centre and church room.  This really is a wonderful project undertaken by local builders who did a first class job.  It is available for bookings and I would heartily recommend a visit to the historical centre on the ground floor for a very well presented insight into the local area.  See the link on the main parish website for contact details for bookings.

For me this sense of community was underscored recently in its contrast with the unrest in other parts of the country.  For whatever perceived reason(s) the rioters and looters had for taking to the streets and venting their frustrations we all feel from time-to-time with the current global economic situation; be it the government cuts, lack of money, lack of work, housing etc. nothing I saw justified it and we are blessed indeed to live in such a beautiful and tranquil part of the country that still retains its unique identity and a very strong community spirit.

Whilst we as a parish council are not wholly responsible for the community spirit we all enjoy, it should not be underestimated either.  The work we carry out on the parish council (in conjunction with our county councillor Mrs Sue Nicholas among others of course) is vital.  The parish council is made up of lay people who want to be involved in their community.  We all work for nothing and can often times be found finding cost effective solutions to local issues without making a song and dance about it : To coin a nautical expression (and with due deference to the Royal Navy of course) we are also the silent service.

And that’s the point I am trying to make in this blog today. That with everything else going on around us in the wider community we can still say that we have a quiet corner of the country in which to live that still holds true to the motto of Cornwall – Onen hag Oll or One and All.