Falmouth

Food-lovers in Falmouth are cooking up a storm on Pancake Day. Why? Because the event, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is the last day before Lent when Christians traditionally give up eating rich food for as much as 40 days.

People eat pancakes because the ingredients - fat, butter and eggs - were not allowed during Lent. Shrove Tuesday is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.

Falmouth Custom's House closes. from Calum MacDougall on Vimeo.

Fears of smuggling are rising in Falmouth, Cornwall. The closure of the Customs House makes the docks a target, claims harbourmaster Mark Sansom.

Libraries across the county have reduced their opening times to save more than £1.5m.

Cornwall Council has decided to spare its 32 libraries from closure despite plans to save almost £250,000 a year from its £7m budget in the face of government cuts.

Savings will be made by reducing opening hours when demand is at its lowest and cutting money spent on new books.

Council leaders are calling on the Government to reconsider cuts to the UK coastguard service.

Leader Alec Robertson and chairman Pat Harvey, are among those who have signed a letter to maritime and shipping minister Mike Penning raising their concerns about the proposals.

The number of coastguard offices around the UK coastline could drop from 18 to eight, and Falmouth will become a "sub-centre", only operating in daylight hours.

A 200-year-old birch bark canoe found in a Cornish barn is revealed to the public today.

The public can see it at Falmouth Maritime Museum till September. While it is on display, staff plan to carry on with preservation work.
 

Another live music charity event is being held in Truro this Saturday to raise money for the Shelterbox Haiti appeal.

There will be something for everyone and dancing in the street if last week's event is anything to go by, with half hour sets from rock groups, fiddlers and a steel drum troupe.

NUS executive member Usman Ali wants to replace fees with a graduate tax.

NUS executive member Usman Ali wants to replace fees with a graduate tax.

Unseen photos of cult punk bands are coming to Falmouth.  

"The Roxy: Punk at the Polly" will feature photos of cult bands such as The Vibrators, The Fabulous Poodles, and The Tourists, an early incarnation of the Eurythmics. 

The pictures were taken by University College Falmouth film studies lecturer Dave Clarke during the late 1970s.

Mr. Clarke, who was working as a stills photographer for the BBC, took random snap shots of friends in up-and-coming bands in his spare time.

Global

Falmouth and Camborne fire stations are keep their 24 hour cover after Cornwall County Council announced a u-turn.

There had been plans to shut down 24-hour cover at the two stations in an bid to save money.

But after a storm of protest over safety fears, Cornwall County Council rubber-stamped Cornwall County Fire Brigade's budget to enable full-time cover to continue at Falmouth and Camborne.

They are the only two fire stations in the county to be manned 24 hours a day. Other fire stations across the Duchy use retained crews.

Mike T risks.mp3