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Cornish Pirates |
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Alexandra Road Penzance Cornwall TR18 4LY UK Main Rugby Club Website Contact Person: Scott Dugdale Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Phone: 01736 351568 Fax: 01736 335319 The Early Years During the Christmas holidays of 1870, the first recorded game of rugby to be played in West Cornwall took place at Poltair, a gentleman's residence at the bottom of Madron Hill, near Penzance. One team, raised by W.Borlase of Marlborough School, comprised local young men, who were mainly up at university or away at boarding school. Their opponents were from the Eastern Telegraph Company (later to become Cable and Wireless) at Porthcurno. This, then, was the genesis of the game in West Cornwall and from such roots were born Penzance RFC in 1876 and Newlyn RFC in, probably, 1894. Two clubs combinePenzance played at the St Clare ground on the northern approach to the town, while Newlyn's pitch was at St. Goulder, overlooking Newlyn Coombe. Relationships between the two Clubs were hardly ever amicable and, indeed, between 1929 and 1932, fixtures between the two were cancelled by the police in the interest of public order! However, relationships began to mellow during the late 1930s, assisted subsequently by the temporary suspension of sporting activities during World War II. By 1944, there existed a strong desire to amalgamate on both sides, with the result that, on 22 September 1945, a new club - Penzance and Newlyn RFC - played its first match against Guy's Hospital on the Mennaye Field. The Mennaye was, and still is, perfectly sited in tribal terms, so symbolically equidistant from St. Goulder and St. Clare. The field itself is leased from Penwith District Council, but the Club owns the freehold of its superb, nationally famous Clubhouse, Westholme |
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