This webcam image is from our loft window looking out over Newlyn harbour and Mounts Bay, Cornwall. Occasionally, we face the camera into the loft so you can watch us building sails, (maybe even yours!)
For current discussions and information around Newlyn Harbour, visit http://blog.through-the-gaps.co.uk/
‘Eye, no Eyes’ Frank Bramley (1857 – 1915)
Newlyn, along with St Ives in Cornwall, has always been home to some of Britain’s most important artists due to the beautiful light and scenery. In this wonderful painting from around the turn of the century, Frank Bramley depicts an elderly sailmaker in Newlyn harbour laughing along with the ladies at his inability to thread a needle.
This picture was painted in more or less exactly the same spot that Solo Sails’ loft is sited today and the old harbour is still visible to the right of our webcam image. Of Course, methods and materials have changed since then, but we still draw inspiration from the traditional techniques adopted by the sailmaker’s of the past and apply them to our use of stronger, lighter and more efficient modern materials.
All fishing boats of the time would have sailed to the fishing grounds, but it was the first to fill their holds and get back to port that raised the best price for their catch.
Whoever had the fastest boat, the canniest skipper and the best Sails won the prize. Sounds familiar!?