But when I travel I am looking for the odd stuff. The name for instance. It seems to be a merging of two names, "Meva-ag-Issey" which in Cornish recalls the supposed origins of the place as an early destination for two female Irish Christian Missionaries, Meva and Issey. They turned up in the Dark 6th Century. Irish saints washed up in Cornwall with some frequency back then.
The current church has been renamed St. Peters. Heck, it only dates back to the 14th Century.
Another odd side light of Mevagissey is that in 1895 they built a small power plant here. It generated electricity by burning pilchard oil. Pilchards are basically sardines. This makes sense for a small fishing village, and apparently produced enough electricity to light the town.
It was located here on the West Quay, near the fish processing plant. All current structures look newer....waves and storms tend to play havoc on seafronts.
Wisely they kept their ambitions in check, you won't light London with small fish.
One imagines the locals had mixed feelings about the project. Or maybe not. Having light was good. And they were all entirely accustomed to the smell of fish.
I must make a note to ask my UK pals if NIMBY is a phrase they use over here. I would like to imagine instead something like NIMBG (Not in My Back Garden) but really it does not have the same cadence or the hint of goofiness as the US version
1 comment:
We certainly do use the acronym NIMBY, Not In My Back Yard.
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