Visit West Cornwall

St. Ives Pilot Gig Club

In recent years gig rowing has become Cornwall's leading watersport, with race meetings taking place off the coast of many of the harbours on most weekends throughout the summer.

A gig, or pilot gig, is a 32 feet long clinker-built rowing boat with six rowers and a cox. Although many new boats have been built in recent years, some have survived since the early 19th century and are still in use. The original gigs were used to take pilots out to sailing ships as they approached the Isles of Scilly or coast of Cornwall. The first pilot aboard the ship got the job, so the gigs evolved into very fast seagoing rowing boats. There are many gig clubs around Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Devon and there are even some overseas. St. Ives Pilot Gig Club was formed in 1990 and has two gigs, Porthminster (built 1992) and Defiance (built 1997) and has ladies' crews, men's crews and junior crews. The gigs can be seen in St. Ives Bay on most evenings, while the crews are training for the weekend competitions.

Joannies

In the mid 19th century at the height of the use of gigs as working boats, the fishermen of St. Ives, who were often away for many months on the fishing luggers, made wooden dolls to bring back for their children. These dolls were called Joannies.

They were carved from old oars and were often painted. Some of these original Joannies have survived and a collection of them is in St. Ives Museum where they will be featured as part of St. Ives Queen's Jubilee Celebrations.

Also on display in the town will be the Jubilee Joannies which have been carved by Steve Martin. There are forty five of these ten inch tall figures and they represent the people of St. Ives. They range from the vicar to a rugby player.

St. Ives Railway Station

Work of building the branch line between St. Erth and St. Ives, one of the most picturesque in Britain, began in May 1874. By September, 250 labourers were employed by which time many complaints were voiced about the conduct of the navvies at Lelant, where they were said to be rambling through the village in a drunken state on Sundays.

Fine weather enabled the work to be carried on without interruption into the winter, and by December the embankment across Lelant Pool had been completed, and Carbis Valley viaduct brought to a good height. By March 1876, the iron girders had been placed across Primrose Valley viaduct, and a strong wall built on the seaward side of the ground allotted for St. Ives station. This wall was also being carried around the Malakoff, and would be brought up to meet the new station approach road below The Terrace.

The four new stations for the line were completed by March 1877. In place of the "miserable shanty" at St. Ives Road (St. Erth Station) a handsome stone building had been erected in the shape of the letter L. The station building at St. Ives was, in architectural terms, similar to a number of other Great Western local stations. The substantial, hip-roofed building was constructed in stone, with a projecting platform canopy and an array of tall chimney stacks. The station building provided the usual facilities for the travelling public, including waiting rooms, booking offices and toilets.

The station building was intended to be used for coping with a large volume of business. Its design was thoroughly Victorian in concept. A description of the station written in May 1877, just before the opening of the line, describes it as "a very creditable building – 128ft long by 25ft wide, and with rooms 12.5ft high".

The late 1950's and early 1960's were a turning point in British railway history. The growth of road transport, and in particular the rapid development of private motoring, deprived the railways of a significant proportion of their passenger and freight traffic. In its earlier years St. Ives station was a very busy place, handling heavy goods and passenger traffic.

On Monday 28 June 1971 work began on the pulling down of the St. Ives Railway Station building which in a further six years' time would have been 100 years old, like the branch line itself. Many people, convinced that the building could have been put to good use, regret its destruction.

Once, of course, all St. Ives' visitors arrived by train, and it is surprising to learn that about 40 people once worked the branch line. Now there is a booking office staff of three.

St. Ives Lifeboat

The Lifeboat House was recently built to house a modern, larger lifeboat launched by carriage directly into the harbour. Previously, the lifeboat had to be towed along the Wharf Road and launched down the slipway opposite the Sloop Inn.

Since 1840 St Ives has had a lifeboat manned by local volunteers for the purpose of rescuing those in peril at sea. Originally this service was carried out by use of a locally built boat, but in 1861 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution provided both lifeboat and facilities as indeed it has in many other parts of the British Isles.

Lifeboats at this station were first propelled by oar and sail, and hauled into the water by townspeople. Over the years the lifeboats were evolved, and the latest boat on station is "HRH The Princess Royal", (C.S. No. 41) a powerful and fast modern lifeboat.

Since the inception of lifesaving at St Ives, over 1000 lives have been saved, and many more assisted to safety. Apart from the Mechanic, all crew members and associated staff are volunteers, and together with the Ladies Guild who run the Souvenir Shop, total about 100 staff in all.

In 1968 the Offshore Lifeboat was supplemented by the provision of an Inshore Lifeboat, which at present is a "D" Class provided by the British Army, and appropriately named "The Spirit of the Royal Corp of Transport".

The Lifeboat Station is normally open to the public for inspection from April until late September each year where a full pictorial history is displayed, as is the souvenir shop. Specific groups booking well in advance may be offered a guided tour by contacting:

Captain P Moran, who is the Honorary Secretary of the Lifeboat Station, either by Telephone on (01736) 795062 or at 3 St Andrews Street, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1AH. The Lifeboat Station also has a Fax facility on 01736 796422.