Goonhavern
As well as a village store and post office, a garden centre and several campsites, there is a public house named 'The New Inn' in the centre of the village. Until recently, a model village was a visitor attraction beside the B3285 southeast of Goonhavern. A traditional village show is held in the community hall in July, with prizes awarded for the local produce, flower arrangements, art, craft and photography.
The name Goonhavern comes from the Cornish words goon, meaning 'downs', and havar, meaning 'summer fallow land'.
History
A railway branch-line to Perranporth and St Agnes ran through Goonhavern from c.1905 but the line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts and today there is little sign of its route through the village centre.
On 12 July 1940, during the Battle of Britain, three bombs were dropped on Rosehill Farm near Goonhavern, killing a bullock.
Cornish wrestling
Goonhavern has hosted Cornish wrestling tournaments for prizes in venues such as the field by the New Inn.
John Collings (1783-1869) from St Minver was a celebrated wrestler in his early life. He also had a famous wrestling brother called Thomas. He lived at Porteath.
References
- ^ Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF) Archived 15 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine : List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Cornish Language Partnership.
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 Newquay & Bodmin ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Explorer map sheet 104 Redruth & St Agnes ISBN 978-0-319-24034-2
- ^ Akademi Kernewek place names - Goonhavar
- ^ ""When Bombs Fell" - The air-raids on Cornwall during WW2 : Part 2 - 1940". WW2 People's war. BBC. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ The Royal Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet, and General Advertiser, 18 October 1878, p1.
- ^ Death of a Cornish wrestler, Cornubian and Redruth Times, 17 December 1869, p4.
- ^ Death of a wrestler, Western Times - Tuesday 21 December 1869, p6.
- ^ Death of a Cornish wrestler, Royal Cornwall Gazette, 18 December 1869, p5.
- ^ 1841 Census: Transcript of Piece HO107/152 (Part 5): Book 12 Folio 10, p12.
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