Rumour has it, that Buckingham House is haunted, but before guests of a more delicate disposition freak out at the prospect, the ghost concerned has not been seen for almost 20 years.... furthermore, she is a sweet little blond haired girl, dancing along the corridor in a long white dress.......
infact, in recent years, the only thing to roam our corridors is Bertie, our handsome collie, who steals the hearts of all that stay.......
Buckingham House, or rather, 17 Tregony Hill is featured in a famous book "Early Tide" by Mary Lakeman..... which describes her Mevagissey childhood just after the First World War..... Indeed a whole chapter is dedicated to No 17, and it is rather moving some 90 years on, to reflect on the happiness and joy she discovered in this house as part of a traditional fishing family....
The chapter begins...... "This was our new abode into which we moved when I was eight. It is the tall granite building just below the first sharp bend of the hill, which has since been given the grand name of Buckingham House and where summer visitors now disport themselves.
In the fabric of that house there surely must still be some residuum of the intense joy, the gaiety and dedication that went into our preparation and occupation,'.....'Ah yes, it was fantasy realised, a dream come true our going to No 17'.......
There are some familiar features mentioned, still very much part of Buckingham House today - especially the mahogany rail to the spiral staircase and the coloured glass door to the lavatory half way up the first flight ..... Back then of course, there was no modern extension to the eastern wall.
'In our time one small eye, looked out to sea from that granite expanse. It was the side window of the boy's bedroom and had a smooth window seat. Mother took up her position there when the "Ibis" (the family fishing boat) was out in bad weather'..... 'It was her task to watch and she went right out of herself, riding the storms with terrific concentration in order to bring back the menfolk, four of them, safely home'.
You can almost feel the sadness in a poem Mary Lakeman writes at the end of the chapter..... Some 10 years on, it is now time for the family to leave No 17 Tregony Hill as the house has become too big for them...
October sunshine falls aslant the hill
This Sunday afternoon
No-one about
All still.
The lingering summer and the dying day
Defying winter and the coming night
Conspire with my protracted stay
Upon this precious patch of ground
To fill the body of my mind
With blessedness.
Dusk falls.
Farewell.
I will bequeath
All earth and heaven
All time and space
To such as step upon this place
With reverance
In Autumn sun
Aslant the hill
Some Sunday afternoon
No-one about
All still.
A truly enchanting book, of life as it was in the 1920's, in the fishing village of Mevagissey, depicting a charming fragment of an irrecoverable past...... Extracts re-produced by kind permission of 'Cornish Hillside Publications.
Today of course our daily life is somewhat different..... but, the fisherman still depart for their daily catch and their wives still anxiously await their return, the roads built more for a horse and cart than car, still remain, so to do the old buildings and many of the old inhabitants, who will be more than happy to tell their tales of days gone by at one of Mevagisseys local pubs.....
Buckingham House is now in its 10th year of Bed & Breakfast of which over the past 8 years, our guests have really fallen for Bertie, our handsome rough collie, whose breed is for ever associated with the stories of Lassie.... Bertie has to be one of the gentlest, most laid back animals you could ever wish to meet. He is so laid back, he actually eats his dinner lying flat out with splayed paws. He adores children and takes great pleasure in licking them to death. Andy has to confess that he has been rather indulgent with Bertie over the years - often watching the cricket with Bertie lying on his lap like a cat.... he is very much the dog who thinks he is a cat. The arrival of Andy's partner Mary in September of last year, has seen a little more discipline in Bertie's life, but little is probably the operative word! Bertie has been taught one thing by Andy, much to the amusement of the guests eating breakfast in the dining room. He comes down the stairs at about 9am every morning, opens the dining room door, ignores everybody, opens the kitchen door and walks through out onto the patio. He then perches himself on the garden wall and has a good nosey down the street to see who's about.....you'll love Bertie! When Andy is not occupied with Bertie, he is a youth cricket coach and has now been appointed Chairman of the local cricket club at Gorran, which is well over 100 years old. This is a wonderful venue for a Saturday afternoon cream tea or pasty and a pint, lazing in the sunshine, listening to the sound of leather against willow. The last 3 years has seen talented young New Zealanders and Aussies come to play at Gorran for the summer, courtesy of guests from 'down under' at Buckingham House.
