2025 is finally here! We can all breathe a sigh of relief as 2024 is officially over, and what a year it was for us in Cornwall! From shocking murder trials, beloved companies going bust, to kilos of cocaine washing up on the beach – there was no end of breaking news this year.
Here we take a look back at the highs and lows of 2024. Fingers crossed for a calmer 2025!
January
January marked the start of the murder trial of Jake Hill, Tia Taylor and Chelsea Powell
(Image: CPS / SWNS)
The year began in January and the news wasn’t far behind, as the trial of Jake Hill, 25, Tia Taylor, 22, and Chelsea Powell, 22, started in earnest at Truro Crown Court, in connection to the murder of Michael Riddiough-Allen, 32, from Liskeard, who was stabbed to death outside the Eclipse nightclub in Bodmin in April of last year. Six other people were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries.
Cornwall Council declared they could be on a financial “cliff edge” within two years. While the council was not in danger of going bust like local authorities in Birmingham, Slough, Croydon, Thurrock, Woking and Nottingham – the financial forecast wasn’t good and there was a very real need for improved funding from Westminster.
The first call for a £1-a-night visitor tax, similar to that in force in Manchester, was made by Cllr Mike Thomas as a way to fight over-tourism.
A plan for a huge crematorium off the A39 near Bude which was opposed by hundreds of local residents was refused by Cornwall Council, three months after the High Court quashed an original decision by the local authority to approve it.
Mining firm Cornish Metals announced it would start “underground infill drilling” in 2024 as it looks to progress its plans to mine tin at the South Crofty mine.
Newly installed average speed cameras, in Tregolls Road in Truro and on the A39 at Perranarworthal, were felled by vandals at the beginning of the month. It was the second time the camera at Perranarworthal, near the Norway Inn, had been targeted.
The county’s flagship museum landed a financial windfall to help revitalise its showcase exhibition and secure its future. The Royal Cornwall Museum, in Truro – which faced the threat of closure only 18 months before when Cornwall Council withdrew all its funding – was handed £2.1 million by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme.
The Heartlands Trust, which ran the £35m visitor attraction that it leased from Cornwall Council, announced it was no longer able to cover the operational costs of such a large site, despite it attracting around 360,000 people each year eager to learn about Cornwall’s culture and mining heritage. So the site closed down.
It was announced that the iconic white wooden signpost in Land’s End, which was first put up in the 1950s. would be removed this year. Penzance’s Art Deco lido, including its £1.4 million geothermal pool, announced that it would no longer open in winter and cut jobs because it costs too much to run.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that a huge fin whale which washed up on Fistral beach in Newquay at the end of December 2023 likely died of a viral infection passed on by other sea mammals.
February
The North Quay housing development in Hayle went into administration in February
(Image: Greg Martin / Cornwall Live)
News broke early in February that the controversial North Quay project at Hayle had collapsed. Work was halted and the huge harbourfront site was locked up. It was also confirmed that administrators had been brought in to deal with four different companies involved in the scheme, which sought to create luxury flats alongside leisure, retail and business space on more than 100 acres, making it one of the largest regeneration projects in the South West.
Back-to-back storms uncovered the remains of an unlucky ship which ran aground near Penzance. Following Storm Isha and Storm Jocelyn, which brought strong winds and large waves to Cornwall, the skeletal remains of a wooden hull could be clearly seen at low tide on the beach at Long Rock.
Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, Speedwell Solar Farm Limited, applied to build a solar farm across 22 fields on land at Lanyon Farm, Gwinear, near Hayle, which it said would be enough to power the equivalent of 12,000 homes.
Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited the county to argue the Government was delivering for Cornwall, investing in transport and healthcare, reforms of second home ownership and a new focus on improving access to NHS dentists. This was also the month when Cornwall Council announced that local residents would have to pay the maximum increase of 4.99 per cent in council tax for the second year running to help avert a financial crisis for services.
An independent review concluded that controversial plans by Canadian company Planetary Technologies to release tonnes of minerals into the sea as a way to fight climate change would pose a “very low risk” to the environment. A row erupted in St Ives after a newcomer painted their shop bright cobalt blue. The shop owner later bowed to pressure and repainted the property white.
Figures revealed that Cornwall’s capital city enjoyed a welcomed boost in festive footfall for shops and the hospitality sector. Cornwall Council also announced a controversial initiative to save money, reduce carbon emissions and cut light pollution by switching off or dimming its street lights as a way to reduce its £1.3 million street lighting bill.
This was the month when it was announced that Truro City Football Club would return home later this year after plans for a Truro Sports Hub in the heart of the Langarth housing estate were approved. Meanwhile, tributes poured in this month for Cornwall councillor Edwina Hannaford, who died after a long battle with cancer. The Looe councillor was described as a tireless champion of her beloved home town.
March
The historic Hotel Bristol at Narrowcliff in Newquay and an artist’s impression of the latest controversial plan to replace it
All the evidence in the murder trial of Jake Hill, 25, Tia Taylor, 22, and Chelsea Powell, 22, who were accused of killing Michael Riddiough-Allen outside the Eclipse nightclub in Bodmin, completed this month. Later this month, Hill was found guilty of murder and also convicted of four counts of wounding with intent. He was cleared of a fifth count relating to a sixth individual. Powell was cleared of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter but found guilty of perverting the course of justice. During the trial, Taylor admitted charges of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.
There was growing opposition to plans by Biome Algae and Camel Fish Ltd, to build two giant seaweed farms in Port Quin Bay near Port Isaac. The plan involves farming up to 4,000 tonnes of seaweed on a site covering some 140 football pitches, just 500 metres from the shore. Those opposed to the plans were concerned about the impact on the local economy and the environment.
A proposal to demolish the historic Hotel Bristol in Newquay’s Narrowcliff and replace it with almost 200 apartments and a hotel was approved despite a fierce local backlash.
Meanwhile, rogue beavers were found on a wildlife trust reserve, but nobody knows how they got there – and they may have been released illegally. The animals were discovered at Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Helman Tor nature reserve, on Bodmin Moor, and reported to the charity by a member of the public.
Plans by Eden Project co-founder Sir Tim Smit and his son for 19 holiday aparthotel ‘drums’, a clubhouse, a 96-space car park, a reception unit and a classroom at the Gillyflower Golf course overlooking Lostwithiel were rejected by Cornwall Council.
Three men were jailed for a combined 43 years following a frenzied hammer and gun attack in Redruth. In Truro, tributes and messages of support poured in after Big Issue seller Nick Cuthbert announced the death of his beloved Labrador.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) celebrated 200 years of saving 16,028 lives in the UK in those two centuries. Since the charity was founded in 1824, its volunteer crews in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, West Dorset and the Channel Islands have launched lifeboats 55,912 times, saving 14,967 lives in all.
Residents in mid-Cornwall feared a solar park a quarter of the size of Truro could be built. More than 100 residents, farmers, and business owners aired their fears that they would end up like zoo animals in “a glass and concrete prison” if industrial-sized solar farms were approved at Hendra, near Mitchell, between Carland Cross and Landrine.
A developer announced plans to build a 66-bed care home on the site of Cornwall Council’s large office building at Dolcoath in Camborne. Meanwhile, children and adult social services, probation services, post-prison rehabilitation charities, and police were all criticised by Andrew Cox, senior coroner, in connection with the murder of Michaela Hall. Mr Cox said a “more rounded and holistic” and more robust approach should have been taken by all those involved to ensure the 49-year-old mother-of-two could break the cycle of violence from her partner, serial offender Lee Kendall.
Pendeen School primary in West Penwith announced it was facing a funding crisis because second homes and holiday lets were killing off its village. This was the month when Belfast shipbuilder Harland and Wolff (H&W) threw its hat into the ring, announcing its intention to build both a freight vessel and a passenger ferry to the Isles of Scilly.
Star Inn at Crowlas, near Penzance, famous for its ever-changing collection of ales from all over the country, was put on the market following the death of publican and brewer Pete Elvin on Christmas Eve after a five-year battle with cancer. Meanwhile, the loo with a view at Long Rock sold at auction for £169,000, more than eight times its original guide price of £20,000.
April
Royal Marine turned humanitarian worker James “Jim” Henderson, 33, from Falmouth, Cornwall, was among seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers to be killed in Gaza when their convoy was hit by an Israeli drone
(Image: Greg Martin / Cornwall Live)
Jake Hill, who murdered rugby player Michael Riddiough-Allen by stabbing him outside the Eclipse nightclub in Bodmin last year, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 28 years. His co-accused, Tia Taylor, was sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. Chelsea Powell was convicted of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Cornwall Council was warned that the cash-strapped scheme to develop the Pydar area of Truro could become its “own Thurrock Council bankruptcy project” following discussions that an extra £10 million should be spent to ensure the Pydar development goes ahead.
A Bodmin pub that won a coveted Pub of the Year award was stripped of the accolade after it emerged it had Nazi memorabilia on display. The Hole in the Wall was named the best pub in the county by Camra Kernow – in part due to its unique decor but landlord Steve Hall came under fire after a complaint about “a swastika armband” even though it had been displayed for decades without any issue. Camra later reinstated the award following a huge U-turn.
The Isles of Scilly Steamship Group came under fire because its new passenger ferry was being built in a shipyard in Vietnam and not the UK. The GMB trade union said it was an “absolute scandal” that the £42 million contract wasn’t given to a British firm, sharing the benefits with the local community which “needs the work”.
The director of a national charity which campaigns to bring empty homes back into use as affordable housing said Cornwall is “slow walking into a crisis as it is being left behind by a lack of action”. The Action on Empty Homes organisation said the number of empty homes is just the tip of the iceberg if the number of second homes, Airbnbs, holiday homes and other categories are taken into consideration. The charity, which has spent 30 years fighting for homes to be brought back into use, said that the number of empty homes in Cornwall is currently around 20,363, which equates to more than one in 14 properties.
Protesters took to the beach as part of a continuing campaign against the planned release of tonnes of a mineral into the sea by Canadian company Planetary Technologies and South West Water as a way to fight climate change.
Opponents of plans by Premier Inn to build a 90-room hotel in St Ives believed Cornwall Council’s recommendation to approve the scheme was a total whitewash.
The massive financial scale of the collapse of the North Quay development in Hayle was revealed by administrators. At the end of January, work stopped on the controversial regeneration housing scheme after all companies involved went bust. Documents available on Companies House show that Sennybridge Hayle Ltd, the company through which the funds for the Hayle Harbour North Quay regeneration project flowed, racked up massive debts of more than £135.4m as of January 31, 2024.
Truro property development firm Stephens and Stephens admitted cutting corners when disposing of toxic asbestos and putting the health of its staff, contractors and the general public at risk when it and its director Paul Stephens pleaded guilty to offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in connection to the removal of asbestos from the former Cliffdene Hotel, on Narrowcliff in Newquay, ahead of its demolition in the summer of 2020.
Former Royal Marine James Henderson, 33, from Falmouth was killed in an Israeli drone strike while providing security to a charity feeding starving children in Gaza. Meanwhile, figures showed that thousands of elderly patients in Cornwall waited more than 24 hours in A&E before being admitted to hospital in 2023. FOI requests submitted to hospital trusts by the Liberal Democrats showed 2,523 over-65s had to wait more than 24 hours in the Royal Cornwall Hospital’s emergency department prior to admission.
May
A view of Cornwall Airport Newquay
(Image: Cornwall Airport)
The boss of hospitality trade body Visit Cornwall, Malcolm Bell, voiced cautious support for a tax on tourists in Cornwall and neighbouring Devon, another visitor hotspot, having previously rejected the idea. One of Cornwall’s biggest road projects, connecting St Austell to the A30 with a link road, was back up and running after work came to a temporary halt earlier this year. Some of the work on the £84.9 million project was temporarily paused, with Cornwall Council blaming bad weather for the delays.
A row started at Cornwall Council over what to do with the loss-making Newquay Airport. Despite a lack cross-party support to sell the airport, it was revealed that full council would not have the final say on the future of the airport. Prince William, the Duke of Cornwall, paid Fistral beach in Newquay a visit and met up with youngsters and members of the RNLI lifeguard and local surf lifesaving clubs.
It was the month when the organisers of the popular Padstow Christmas Festival was scrapped over escalating costs and lack of sponsorship.
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A scooter rider who caused the death of a promising Royal Navy engineer during a careless overtaking manoeuvre was spared jail. Lawrence King, 31, from Baytree Hill, Liskeard, appeared before Truro Crown Court for sentencing having pleaded guilty to a charge of causing the death of Rohan Hicks by careless driving. He was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years, and banned from driving for five years.
A mum was found guilty of drugging her six-year-old daughter and conspiring for her lover to rape the child following a four-day trial at Truro Crown Court. Cornish Metals, the owner of South Crofty mine in Pool near Camborne, said it believed the site, which closed in 1998 after almost 400 years of exploitation, will come back to life again in 2027.
Shop owners in Truro accused Cornwall Council of “trying to bankrupt” the city following tariff changes in a car park which now means anyone staying for more than three hours is clobbered for a £31.50 payment. The Old Bridge Street car park, near Truro Cathedral, has always been short-stay but there was previously no extra charge if you parked longer than three hours – though you could be stung with a £25 fine. The council said it made the move to dissuade a “significant number” of motorists “clogging up” the car park.
A bridge which would connect riverside parts of Truro was saved after the financial impact of inflation and soaring construction costs threatened its future. Hundreds of protesters took part in a mass paddle-out at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth to demand action on sewage pollution as part of a Surfers Against Sewage protest.
National Highways confirmed that the A30 dualling project was on track for completion by the summer. The government organisation behind the £330 million road scheme said it was still proposing to open the dual carriageway in June, as per its revised plan.
Around 700 people gathered at Truro Cathedral to pay their respects for James ‘Jim’ Henderson, 33, from Falmouth who was among seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers who died when their convoy was hit outside Gaza’s Deir al-Balah warehouse in April.
In other news, top chef Adam Handling announced it would be opening a countryside pub in Cornwall. The chef said his second Cornish venue called Tartan Fox at Summercourt would offer “the best of both worlds” alongside his Ugly Butterfly restaurant at Carbis Bay Hotel.
June
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey takes part in a surf session in Bude as part of the general Election campaign
(Image: Getty Images)
This was the start of the General Election campaign with the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visiting Cornwall following a sleeper train ride from London Paddington to Penzance. The candidates for each constituency were all revealed this month with an election date scheduled for July 4.
It was also the start of a campaign against plans by South West Water to build a desalination plant in Par, in St Austell Bay, which it said is necessary to break the cycle of drought in Cornwall. Opponents feared it would damage the environment in an area with rare wildlife habitats.
Save Whipsiderry Cliffs campaign group battling to save a beauty spot from a controversial development accused Cornwall Council of “walking away from the problem”. Flambards in Helston announced that four of its rides would be permanently removed. Work on the controversial harbourside housing development at North Quay in Hayle restarted after the administrators found a new contractor.
The historic Driftwood Spars pub in St Agnes, was put up for sale with a guide price of £3.25 million. Undertones frontman – turned-environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey brought his battle to stop the pollution of the country’s rivers and seas to Cornwall during the General Election campaign.
The banger racing community of Cornwall breathed a sigh of relief after its track was saved for the future. United Downs Raceway, near St Day, signed a new 10-year lease from Cornwall Council, meaning the sport has a bright future ahead of it in Cornwall.
The £330m dualling scheme on the A30 finally came to end and after four years of diversions, closures and delays. While the scheme continued for a few more months, the road itself reopened ahead of the summer season.
The identity of a homeless man who stunned listeners at a Penzance church with his flawless piano playing was revealed as Rhys Wynne-Jones.
Artists said they feared they might never see the money they are owed by Cornish gallery Livingstone St Ives, which had galleries in St Ives, Truro and Clifton in Bristol after it went bust and, they allege, its owner ‘ghosted’ them.
Police identified Plusha on the A30 near Launceston as the worst accident blackspot in the county with 12 personal injuries recorded in the past five years. In second place was the Loggans Moor roundabout in Hayle also with 12 incidents. Third was Thorn Cross, on the A39 near Bude, with 11 incidents.
Plans to demolish the PZ Gallery on the seafront to create a development of 36 homes, including 11 affordable properties, and seven businesses alongside the redevelopment of St Anthony Gardens were approved this month.
July
The Atlantic Wolff, the new ferry service to the Isles of Scilly that never was
(Image: Greg Martin / Cornwall Live)
Cornwall’s political landscape changed when all six Conservatives MPS were wiped out to be replaced by four Labour and two Lib Dem MPs. There was a unanimous call for fairer funding for Cornwall from councillors following the change of Government.
On the same day, a joint letter from all five group leaders was sent to Westminster, calling for Cornwall to be invited to join the new Council of Nations and Regions.
The new bins roll out started in West Cornwall this month. Cornwall Council say the service is aimed at reducing waste, increasing recycling and contributing to a sustainable environment. Also on the bins front, Mousehole was rebranded ‘Binhole’ by angry residents and businesses because redundant wheelie bins were left sitting in clusters around the picturesque harbourside waiting to be picked up by the local authority.
Residents have raised concerns that one of West Cornwall’s best-kept secrets, Pedn Vounder beach, was becoming a dangerous and overhyped beauty spot after it was described as the ‘Bali of the UK’.
The new ferry service to the Isles of Scilly by Harland & Wolff was pushed back by a week after the company hit choppy waters. American doughnut chain Krispy Kreme announced it was opening its first Cornish store in Truro. A £1 million project aimed at improving the police’s visibility on the streets of Devon and Cornwall resulted in four arrests in Truro during its first month.
Ian Jones, the leading man behind Cornwall’s pioneering satellite and space communications company Goonhilly Earth Station resigned from his role.
Meanwhile burger chain Hubbox was rescued from administration – by its own directors under a new company, but without the debts. On July 11, the company Hub Box Limited entered into administration, leaving a trail of debts and unhappy creditors in its wake. Hub Box was sold in a pre-pack agreement to South West Restaurants Limited.
Saltash skateboarder Lola Tambling qualified for Paris 2024 after competing in the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary. Truro Big Issue seller Nick welcomed s new puppy after the sad death of the ‘love of his life’. Firefighters worked through the night to tackle a huge fire at the redundant Hotel California in Newquay.
The Duchy’s business community spoke out about not being consulted about the Cornwall Council deal on the future of Newquay Airport and said they feel “left in the dark”.
Pilgrim’s Europe, formerly Tulip, confirmed it plans for several operational changes at two of its Cornish sites, which could lead to 160 jobs being lost. The Pier House pub in Charlestown, near St Austell, which had been closed for major restoration since the end of last year following a devastating fire in January 2023, finally reopened.
The rainbow flag came to Newquay this month for the town’s Pride celebrations. Also in the seaside resort, the Be Newquay Festival, a new month-long event made up of activities and workshops was launched to showcase the seaside town’s vibrant way of life and unique culture.
Two men from North Cornwall have been jailed for playing key roles in bringing kilos of cocaine and cannabis into the county. Matthew Topham, 31, and Jack Culip, 24, were part of a 13-strong drug gang that supplied £1.5 million of Class A and B drugs into Devon and Cornwall.
Cornwall Council’s ruling Tory administration faced a political crisis this month after a second councillor quit the Conservative group in less than a week.
August
Several revellers were taken to hospital following a crowd surge at Boardmasters this month
(Image: Greg Martin / Cornwall Live)
News broke that residents in Lostwithiel, which is cut in half for 22 minutes every hour when trains pass through, were to get a footbridge again after 50 years. A plan to build affordable homes for “proper job locals” in Hendra Prazey in St Dennis, near St Austell has caused controversy in the area in the four years since it was first mooted.
Plans for two huge seaweed farms off the north coast at Port Quin came under threat because they did not meet the specifications set by the Marine Management Organisation. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) declared a two-day strike along with two days of industrial action withholding overtime as a pay dispute with First Bus continued.
August marked the 20th anniversary of the devastating floods at Boscastle on the afternoon of Monday, August 16, 2004. When a bridge at Boscastle, blocked by debris, collapsed under the pressure a wall of water was released, surging down the steep valley and smashing into the village, shattering windows and doors, uprooting trees and washing cars into the sea. Amazingly, none died that day.
Seven revellers were taken to hospital following a crowd surge at Boardmasters festival at Watergate Bay. The crush happened in front of The Point stage, with reports of young music fans falling to the ground and being trampled as equipment collapsed. Meanwhile, 11 people were arrested at the five-day music event on suspicion of drug offences, sexual offences and assault, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
It was announced that work could soon start on a new secondary school at Perranporth, one of 21 new free schools announced by the previous government. The Department for Education said the new school would alleviate pressure on these four schools, already oversubscribed. However the headteachers at the four schools in Truro and Newquay later said the new Perranporth Academy is not required as they all have enough space for growth.
More than 30 elderly residents at Roseland Court Care Home in Tregony, near Truro, have been told to leave, prompting criticism that the decision was greedy and inhumane and would tear their lives apart. Cornwall Council’s ruling Tory administration lost its majority after a second councillor quit the Conservative group in less than a week.
All six of Cornwall’s newly elected MPs released a joint statement condemning Conservative-controlled Cornwall Council’s decision to “sell off” the county’s main airport without proper public consultation. Shoplifting reached ‘epidemic’ levels in Truro according to traders, who estimate items worth as much as £1 million have been stolen from shops over a year.
The new ferry service between mainland Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly was scrapped for good before it even started. Cornwall was transported back in time with the arrival of an elegant visitor from a bygone era. The world’s last seagoing paddle steamer, Waverley, was in the South West for a series of scenic trips from three different Cornish ports on Thursday, August 29, and Friday, August 30.
September
Protesters against sewage pollution
(Image: Richard Swingler Photography)
More than 30 beaches in Cornwall were hit with pollution warnings after sewage was discharged into the sea following recent heavy rainfall. Talks have taken place to create a Plymouth and Cornwall super devolved authority.
Cornwall Council was also looking at offloading as much as a 50 per cent of its car parks to private operators as a way to generate more cash.
Cornwall’s four Labour MPs came under fire this month for voting with the Government against a Tory and Lib Dem bid to stop it from scrapping the winter fuel allowance. Labour’s Perran Moon, the MP for Camborne and Redruth, Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay and Anna Gelderd, the MP for South East Cornwall, all voted against a Conservative motion which would have blocked the Government’s plans to means-test the winter fuel allowance.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting admitted that the new Women and Children’s Hospital promised for Cornwall may now never be built because the 40 so-called hospitals promised by the Conservative government were never properly costed.
Blakesley Estates, the developer behind the Copper Estuary housing project, in Hayle went into administration. The organisers of the 2024 Falmouth Oyster Festival said it would not go ahead because of rising costs.
The £4.75 million northern access road running west to east through Langarth Garden Village, Truro, was on track, Cornwall Council said. Truro City Council said it had “grave concerns” about the safety of walkers and cyclists using a much-heralded new bridge at Boscawen park which had been promised for the city as part of its £23.6 million Town Deal revitalisation project.
There was growing anger in St Austell area over plans by South West Water to build a desalination plant at Par. A solicitor acting on behalf of a group of residents, who oppose the plan, said the council’s decision not to carry out an environmental impact assessment of South West Water’s controversial proposals could lead to a judicial review.
A police investigation was launched this month into the deaths of a mother and her young son at Fletchersbridge, a hamlet two miles from Bodmin. A firefighter who took his own life when he could no longer cope with the horrors he had witnessed at Cornwall’s most horrific car crash was remembered nearly 30 years on. Richard Bobek was a member of the first fire crew to reach the scene of the accident, which occurred on a minor road north of the A30, near the Castle-An-Dinas hillfort, on December 15, 1995.
Manchester-based developer Salboy, which wanted to demolish the Hotel Bristol in Newquay and replace it with 176 apartments and a 40-bedroom hotel, was accused of trying to weasel out of building affordable housing.
A fishing boat carrying approximately one tonne of cocaine worth an estimated £200 million was intercepted off the Cornish coast by the National Crime Agency.
October
Una St Ives in Carbis Bay went into administration this month leaving more than 60 people to lose their jobs
(Image: Adj Brown)
Family visitor attraction Dairyland at Tresillian Barton, near Newquay, announced it would be closing for good – blaming the decision on significant losses.
Cornwall Council and its arm’s length company Cornwall Housing admitted they faced making “difficult choices” when it came to vital repairs to the 10,300 council homes in the Duchy.
A huge lorry wedged in a narrow street in Forder, near Saltash, was finally freed after a heavy-duty crane was brought in to recover the vehicle.
A unique collection of historic photographs of Britain from the sky by pioneer aerial photographer Arthur William Hobart was released to the public for the first time. The incredible black-and-white images, from the Air Pictures Portleven Collection, had been newly digitised by the Historic England Archive and feature 242 black-and-white aerial images showing the national landmarks, towns, industrial sites, construction projects, and seaside resorts of 1930s interwar England, including many of Newquay.
The National Trust said it was still working to determine if access to the beach at Bedruthan Steps, between Padstow and Newquay could ever be reinstated after a significant cliff fall almost five years ago led to its closure.
Cornish Lithium’s demonstration plant near St Austell was set to start producing lithium hydroxide – key to making batteries for electric vehicles and other technology – from granite extracted from a former china clay pit.
The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in Charlestown, near St Austell, had been on the market for some time, complete with its collection of more than 7,000 items. As no one came forward to take over the museum, owned by Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of Eden Project, the decision was taken to auction off the entire collection.
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said it would push ahead with various parts of a project intended to modernise healthcare at its Treliske site despite plans to build a £291 million women’s and children’s hospital coming under threat.
A&P Falmouth Ltd was fined £750,000 for putting the lives of more than 250 workers at risk when it ignored the results of an ‘MoT’ for a 59-year-old crane which collapsed at its docks in 2017.
The Diocese of Truro announced that St Paul’s Church in Tregolls Road, Truro, would have to be demolished because it was too costly to maintain and was increasingly at risk of collapsing.
The finishing touches were being put to a controversial £10 million creative hub in the centre of Penzance. Meanwhile more than 60 staff lost their jobs after holiday resort Una St Ives in Carbis Bay went into administration. Work started this month on the major regeneration programme of the PZ Gallery, Coinagehall Street and St Anthony’s Garden opposite Penzance’s Jubilee Pool.
Cornwall Council’s Conservative leader Linda Taylor survived a vote of no confidence.
November
Flambards theme park in Helston went bust in November this year
(Image: DC Media)
This month’s news was undoubtedly dominated by the permanent closure of Flambards theme park in Helston. The sudden closure came months after bosses at the theme park announced that they were planning to upgrade Flambards with new rides aimed at young people after the retirement of several of its older rides. But that will never materialise as Flambards, which first opened in 1976, said it has faced “numerous challenges to continue bringing joy to families and visitors across the region”.
A teenager died, and six others were taken to hospital after a two-vehicle collision at the crossroads between St Tudy and St Breward, near the B3266 on Friday, November 1. There were calls for the Plusha junction on the A30 near Launceston to be improved with a bridge following the death of a woman earlier this month, the third death in six months.
Callum Tindal-Draper, 22, from Gunnislake, South East Cornwall, was killed in action in Ukraine while serving with the foreign volunteer platoon in the country’s war against Russia.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Council again agreed to raise council tax by 4.99 per cent from April.
A controversial proposal to build a 400-lodge luxury resort on more than 170 acres of agricultural land on the outskirts of Newquay was been approved despite a huge amount of opposition. Kingsley Leisure Developments was given approval by a Cornwall Council strategic planning committee to build the Green Ridge Resort on land near Colan and Quintrell Downs. Some 250 of the properties will be for sale as holiday homes.
The Watering Hole on Perranporth beach announced that work on its new rooftop bar would start this month. Also in the regeneration world was the Buttermarket in Redruth which reopened as a foodie quarter following a £4m regeneration investment.
Dean Richards, 43, who spent the past seven years battling the marine authorities for the right to anchor his own boat on foreshore he owns at a Cornish quay in Point near Truro, was found guilty of “carrying out a marine licensable activity without a licence” and faced paying £20,000 costs.
Anger was growing in an area where a developer proposed to build what would be the biggest solar farm in Cornwall. Residents of the Carland Cross area said they feared that if permission was granted for the 210-acre solar park it would severely affect food production, local businesses and the beauty of a rolling green valley.
Shane Jenkin, now 45, gouged Tina Nash’s eyes out during a 12-hour attack at her home in Hayle in 2011, while her two children were at the property. In November, Tina feared he could be released as he was up for parole. Cornwall was battered by wind and rain as Storm Bert hit the UK, with pictures taken in Penzance showing huge waves crashing over the promenade.
Farmers from all over Cornwall travelled to London last week to take part in a protest in Westminster against changes to inheritance tax (IHT) announced in the Budget. Since 1984, agricultural property relief (APR) has allowed small family farms to be exempt from IHT, but from April 2026, those with agricultural assets worth more than £1 million will be liable to the tax at 20 per cent – half the usual rate. The tax is a cause of concern for countless family farms in Cornwall, many of which have been farmed by the same family for generations.
All six Cornwall MPs voted in favour of the Assisted Dying Bill. The historic vote on Friday, with 330 in favour to 275 against, followed five hours of discussion during which MPs shared personal stories. Cornwall’s MPs—Labour’s Anna Gelderd, Noah Law, Perran Moon, and Jayne Kirkham, and Liberal Democrats Ben Maguire and Andrew George—all voted to approve the contentious Bill.
December
A huge tree has come crashing down at Mawnan Church, crushing the historic lych gate during Storm Darragh
(Image: Jon Christie)
Hundreds of homes were left without power, trees were brought down and roads were closed when Storm Darragh battered Cornwall with winds recorded at more than 80mph.
A new business announced they would take over the site of Dairyland which closed for good at the beginning of November. News that the Hotel California in Pentire, Newquay, which burnt down twice in three months, was to be demolished to make way for new apartments was shared.
Fear grew over pet abandonment as the RSPCA revealed that almost 200 animals were left homeless in Cornwall in 2023, a 15 per cent increase in the past two years. The animal charity said it believed a surge in pet ownership during the Covid-19 lockdown, followed by increasing financial hardship due to soaring living costs, led to the rise in people dumping their pets.
The bridge deck and temporary staircases for Network Rail’s new accessible footbridge at St Erth were installed. Meanwhile, National Highways announced that all work along the new £330 million A30 dual carriageway would take at least another six months to complete.
A major milestone was reached on the new West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance. Construction of the £9 million project began in January this year and will take 15 months to complete. A group of volunteer gardeners in Penzance announced they are worried about plans for more planters in the town as they’ll end up looking after them and there isn’t enough money to go around.
A teenage boy was excluded after hacking into his school’s IT system when he was bored in class. Riley Stoddern was sent home from Poltair School in St Austell when he cracked the school’s network.
Also, the Isles of Scilly Travel’s iconic ferry route between Penzance and St Mary’s has been named the UK’s best for wildlife spotting for the third year in a row.
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