CSM Reunions in St. Ives

Next year it will be 30 years since I left Camborne School of Mines (CSM) after 22 years as a mineral processing lecturer. And it will be 60 years since I graduated in metallurgy at the University of Leeds.

I can guarantee that there will be no 60 years reunion in Leeds, as there was none for 50, or for any other year, and I have only been able to keep in touch with three of my fellow alumni. Unfortunately I have no feelings of nostalgia to my almer mater.

How different it is with CSM, with its annual dinners and other various reunions. I would be interested to know how alumni from other institutions around the world keep in touch.

This weekend Barbara and I have been in St. Ives, 25 miles from Falmouth, on Cornwall's north coast. On Friday evening we had been kindly invited to join the reunion of the CSM class of 1980. This was one of my favourite years at CSM, as many of the graduates that year were involved with my sporting activities, particularly squash, cricket and sub-aqua. They were a fun bunch, and now 45 years later, with a few grey hairs, they still are, as was very evident on Friday. Many thanks must go to Felicity Wilshaw, wife of 1980 mineral processing graduate Nick Wilshaw, for organising the reunion dinner.

There were only three mineral processing graduates present; Nick Wilshaw and Phil Moore are now retired, but Charlie Northfield came all the way from Malaysia for the reunion.  Charlie is General Manage at the Selinsing Gold Mine, in Pahang State, approximately 158 km north of Kuala Lumpur. 

With Charlie, Phil and Nick

St. Ives is a picturesque fishing harbour and seaside town renowned for its famous quality of light, which has drawn artists to the area for over a century. 

Bordering the town is the small seaside village of Carbis Bay, serviced by one of Cornwall's notoriously narrow lanes, and if asked to choose a least likely venue for a G7 summit of world leaders then Carbis Bay would be high on the list. But this was where the summit was held in June 2021 at the height of the Covid pandemic (posting of 1st July  2021)

The main road into Carbis Bay

The meeting was held at the Carbis Bay Hotel, alongside a massive security operation, police erecting a "ring of steel" around large sections of the resort.  Over 5000 police staff from across the UK were drafted into Cornwall, around 1000 being accommodated in a large cruise ship moored in Falmouth harbour near the National Maritime Museum, host to the hundreds of international media representatives. Joining the thousands of police officers were hundreds of British troops, including bomb disposal teams and a navy warship, a 400 strong US Secret Service team, and a number of patrol vessels and rigid inflatable boats to help with surveillance. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the summit was as a "super-spreading event" for Cornwall, Covid cases rocketing 2,450% in areas of Cornwall where the G7 events were focused.

Yesterday Barbara and I walked the beautiful stretch of coastline to the Carbis Bay Hotel, where G7 leaders had been met by British Prime Minister Boris Johnston with staged socially distanced greetings, with obvious lack of social distancing at other events. 

Leaving St. Ives via Porthminster Beach

The magnificent Carbis Bay Beach

Relaxing in the Carbis Bay Hotel

The G7 leaders were housed at the Tregenna Castle Hotel in St. Ives, which some of you will remember as being the venue for Minerals Engineering '95.

The Tregenna Castle was the venue for the CSM Annual Dinner last night, attended by alumni from all over the world.

Predrinks were in front of the big screen in the hotel bar, to savour the England rugby team thrashing Wales with a record score of 68-14.

Cornish Lithium Founder and CEO Jeremy Wrathall graduated from CSM in 1985 with an MSc in Mining Geology and he had organised a reunion for the class of 1985. It was particularly good to see Dr. Ebenezer Aliu Damisa who had come all the way from Nigeria, where he teaches at the Ahmadu Bello University, for the reunion. He graduated in 1985 with a degree in mining engineering.

With Jeremy and Ebenezer

It was also great to talk to  one of my mineral processing degree students for the first time in 40 years. Jonathan Evans had travelled from South Carolina for the reunion.

Also good to catch up with other 1985 mineral processing alumni, Paul Morgan and Pete Flitcroft, and 1984 graduate Jim Turner.

With Jim, Paul and Pete

We are back in Falmouth now after a great weekend, and thank the organisers of the dinner, Nicola Wilton, the new CSM Association secretary and Andy Wetherelt, of CSM, for a very enjoyable Saturday night.