July Summary: summer heat and sporting highs

The UK and Europe had record temperatures earlier in the month in a succession of heatwaves, but fortunately Cornwall missed the excesses and it was good to relax and enjoy the summer in Falmouth.

A crowded Swanpool beach, Falmouth

Falmouth lies between two beautiful rivers, the Fal to the north and the Helford to the south. I am most familiar with the Fal and the world's 3rd deepest natural harbour at its mouth, while Amanda spends much of her spare time gig rowing on the Helford, with its many creeks, particularly Frenchman's Creek, famous in literature and film (posting of 10 April 2015).

Falmouth's famous Chain Locker pub is situated by the Fal's inner harbour and we were pleased to see Steve Hearn on a brief visit to Cornwall before flying back home to Denver. Steve graduated in 1972 from the University of Nottingham but has spent most of his working life in USA, where we often met at the Annual SME Meetings. Barbara and I first met him at a conference in Antalya, Turkey in 1992 and he represented Outokumpu as a delegate at Magnetic, Electrical and Gravity Separation '01 in Falmouth 24 years ago.

Off the coast of Antalya in 1992 with Chris Bailey, now Managing Director of
Holman-Wilfley, Cornwall, Steve Hearn and the late Alan Apling of Leeds University

Steve retired from Huntsman Chemical in 2020 after 10 years as Senior Staff Engineer, providing technical support to the sales distribution network in the Americas who were responsible for selling mainly flotation but also hydro metallurgical chemicals. Prior to that he was with Outotec, formerly Outokumpu, for nearly 23 years, of which 21 years were with Carpco, a leader in physical separation, mainly gravity, magnetic and electrostatic separation with a market focus on industrial minerals. Carpco was acquired by Outotec in 1998.

With Steve at Falmouth's Chain Locker

Two months ago, Jon and I were in Germany for a stomach-churning high-speed lap around the infamous Nürburgring (posting of 12 May 2025). Just two weeks ago, Jon returned to the Nürburgring, this time for a high-speed circuit by bicycle. Back in May, we hit 213 km/h in a high-performance BMW, which was terrifying enough. But Jon’s 81 km/h on two wheels would’ve turned me to jelly! His fastest lap took 48 minutes - only 39 minutes behind our lap in the BMW!

In the middle of the month Barbara and I took the 2 hour journey by train from Falmouth to the southeast Cornwall town of Looe, changing at Truro and Liskeard. The Looe Valley branch line from Liskeard to Looe is unique among the four Cornish branch lines. Trains reverse out of the mainline station to access the branch line junction. The driver then has to change the points to allow the train to access the branch line, which descends steeply on a sharp horsehoe loop.

Looe is a picturesque coastal town, split by a bridge across the River Looe into East Looe and West Looe. In recent years the town has been prone to disastrous flooding. The river runs through a steep-sided, narrow valley, which funnels rainfall quickly downstream, creating a flash-flood risk when there is heavy rain upstream, The town lies on flat land at the confluence of river and sea, so high tides can prevent river water from flowing out and during storms, tidal surges can push seawater into the river, causing backflow and worsening flooding in the town.

East Looe from across the river in West Looe

The town was extremely busy, as the BBC drama Beyond Paradise, a spin-off of the popular Death in Paradise, has boosted tourism to Looe and surrounding areas significantly since it began airing in 2023. While the show is set in the fictional Devon town of Shipton Abbott, many of its scenes are filmed in southeast Cornwall and Devon.

There’s not much cheer in the news these days, but sport often has a way of lifting the spirits and the English Lionesses have done just that, reaching their third consecutive Women’s Euro Football final by the finest of margins. They mounted a stunning comeback from 2-0 down in their quarter-final against Sweden, ultimately prevailing in a dramatic penalty shootout, despite having four spot-kicks saved.

Then, in the semi-final against Italy, they looked headed for defeat, until a last-minute turnaround saw them snatch a 2-1 victory in extra time, booking their place in the final against world champions Spain, who had beaten them in the World Cup final two years ago. A showdown between the reigning European and World champions was always going to be special and after a pulsating 1-1 draw following extra time, England triumphed in the penalty shootout. It marked a historic first - a major tournament win on foreign soil for either the English women's or men's team. Well done Lionesses, most of the nation, including me, enjoyed every minute.

Source: Financial Times

And if you don’t like Test cricket, well, maybe you should! It’s hard to explain to the uninitiated how a five-day match can be so thrilling, but for those who appreciate the subtleties of the game, the recent five-match series between England and India has been a masterclass in drama, skill, and resilience.  With England leading by two wins to India's one. the final deciding Test begins today in London, capping off a fiercely contested series that has captured the true spirit of cricket.

Finally, on a sombre note, as we continue our preparations for Flotation '25, our thoughts are with the families of the six mineral processing students from Northeastern University in Shenyang, China, who died during a field trip to a copper-molybdenum concentrator in Inner Mongolia last week. The students were observing a flotation cell when the grid plate they were standing on collapsed, causing them to fall into the tank. Despite rescue efforts, all six students drowned, and a teacher accompanying them was injured. The incident has sparked national outrage in China, with many questioning the safety protocols in place at industrial facilities and the measures taken to protect students during educational field trips.