Skewjack Babies

A couple of years ago I spent some time out in Bulgaria with Chris Tyler and his partner Bea, as he continued to share his stories and memories of Skewjack. He lived in a tiny, tucked away village - pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Yet, as many Penzance folk find, he discovered he had at least three neighbours with connections to the town.

One, a chap known as 'Lamp Chop', lived at the top end of Chris and Bea's track and he claimed to have had the first 'Skewjack Baby'. He'd spent the first season at the surf village and months later his first child was born. It isn't surprising that Skewjack begat a whole new generation – the emphasis was on boy meets girl after all. It also forged a close knit community of locals and staff from which relationships and marriages blossomed.

But what is rather special is the link that those children feel. It is the reason for their being I suppose, but for some it goes much deeper. It's an attitude, a lifestyle and a moment in time which has shaped and still shapes their lives today.

Sam Strick summed up a lot of this in his lovely interview with me recently. You can read the first story taken from it in 'Patch on a Hat'. His experience is something I see happening around me in the community of west Penwith, the Skewjack Babies are a certain breed and do have a strong link to each other and their past. They forge a path like their parents did, in their own individual ways.

The ultimate Skewjack babies of course are Cass and Ess Tyler, whose link with the surf village is strongest of all, having been brought up there. I look forward to sharing Ess' stories as well as more from those whose parents met at the village. How deep does Skewjack run ... and will it live on in their children?

Skewjack Stories