
New post on Friday! Jack Hick was a popular wrestler and rugby player, but what’s the occasion of his being caricatured..?
For more Cornish sporting history, see: the-cornish-historian.com/category/spo...
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Spaces still available (in-person or online) to join me and other fantastic speakers at the Institute of Cornish Studies next Wednesday! With the Institute’s very existence under threat, show solidarity! Registration link in the comments. Here's my topic:
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall



The young Camborne RFC and Cornwall RFU full back John Collins, as he was in 1949. Image from the Cornishman, 20 Jan 1949. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Hayle RFC's first full season at their new location of Loggans Moor was in 1949/50. Previously they had played at Bodriggy. Here (in plain jerseys) they take on University Colleges, South West. Image from the Cornishman, 2 Nov 1950.
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Cornwall's top team for the 1949/50 season were St Ives RFC. They went an amazing 19 consecutive matches without conceding a try. Any names? Image from the Cornishman, 20 Apr 1950. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

A crowd of 12,000 fans at Redruth RFC watched Cornwall draw 3-3 with Gloucestershire in October 1949. Cornwall were leading until the final minutes, when a monster drop-goal taken two yards inside the Cornish half spoilt the party. Image from the Cornishman, 13 Oct 1949. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish

A gathering of 5,000 convened at Gwennap Pit on Whit-Monday, 1949 to sing hymns and hear the preaching of Rev. F Greeves. Image from the Cornishman, 9 Jun 1949.
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Who remembers the first incarnation of Mount's Bay RFC? They were an old boys' club formed in Cornwall at the end of the war. Image from the Cornishman, 28 Apr 1949. No names, sadly. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

On this date in 1908, an unfancied Cornish rugby team of miners and fishermen made history at Redruth RFC when they won the County Championship. Follow my link here:
the-cornish-historian.com/2025/03/28/1...
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

A very early image of Mennaye Field, Penzance, from 1945 the home of the newly-formed Penzance & Newlyn RFC. Here the 1947 touring Australians limber up. From the Cornishman, 4 Sep 1947.
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Billy Renfree, fish jowster, doing the rounds with his daughter on Morrab Rd, Penzance, early 1900s. From the Cornishman, 27 Mar 1947.
#Cornwall #Cornish #Kernow #Kernow/Cornwall



On this date in 1930, Camborne RFC became the first Cornish club to play in London when they took on Old Blues RFC. Before the game, they were photographed at the Cenotaph. To find out why they were playing Old Blues, follow the link:
the-cornish-historian.com/2023/08/26/c...
#Kernow #Cornwall

Redruth Wanderers RFC were a team of old boys and shop assistants who only played on Thursdays, which was early closing day. The trophy is the Cornwall Old Boys RFU Cup. Image from Tom Salmon, The Story of Rugby Football in Cornwall. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

In 1930s Cornwall, newer industries began to form their own sports teams. Here are the Cornwall Electric Power Company RFC, who like their firm were based at Carn Brea.
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Redruth County School RFC joined the Cornwall RFU in the 1938/39 season and were cutting their teeth against such seasoned junior clubs as St Day, Troon and Lanner. Here they are in 1937. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Though officially formed in 1909, Lanner RFC had several gaps in their playing record until they notched up 15 consecutive seasons as a junior Cornish club between the wars. Here they are in 1932. #Cornwall #Kernow #Cornwall #Kernow/Cornwall

Happy New Year! Last year was: 20 new posts, 37,000 website views, over one million social media views, 39 new website subscribers, six interviews, three presentations, several chapters of a book on the history of Cornish rugby...bring on 2026...
#Kernow #Cornwall #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

Cornish side Troon RFC came into their own from the mid-1920s, playing in fields behind what was The Grenville Arms. Here they are in 1926/27; my grandfather stands in the middle row, second-left. #Kernow #Cornwall #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall


Cornwall's Sparnon Gate RFC only existed for a few seasons in the 1930s. Their coach – the man in the white shirt – is the Redruth RFC, Cornwall and England legend Bert Solomon.
#Kernow #Cornwall #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall

During Christmas week 1921, former Camborne RFC player Harry Rodda donated £11 (£450 today) to the Cornish Miners’ Distress Fund. Follow my link to find out more about the relationship between mining and rugby in Camborne…
the-cornish-historian.com/2024/12/26/r...
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish


On this date in 1903, Cornishman Charles Carkeek, mayor of Blackall in Queensland, died. He had been a founder-member of Camborne RFC. Follow my link to find out about the club's origins...
the-cornish-historian.com/2023/08/26/c...
#Cornwall #Kernow #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall


The first Cornishman to win an international trial cap was Camborne RFC’s Fred Rodda in 1901. He later emigrated to South Africa and appeared for Randfontein United RFC. He stands sixth from left in the back row. #Cornwall #Cornish #Kernow #Kernow/Cornwall

Following yesterday, people have been asking just how good Redruth RFC's Roy Jennings was. I recommend Nick Serpell's excellent book 'Hellfire Awaits', but here's a few snippets from the national 'papers of the 1930s. He was THAT good - and that unlucky. #Kernow #Cornwall #Cornish #Kernow/Cornwall