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Pat
Bate is a Polruan boy born and bred.
He
has never moved more than 100 yards away from where he was born
in East Street in 1928.
Pat
had an eventful childhood attending the village school. It was bombed
during the second world war and many young lives could have been
lost.
"We
left school just before four o clock," says Pat. "At ten past four
the school was bombed. The story goes that the plane was flying
very low because of the fog. To get over the high bank here in the
village he had to drop his bombs to lighten the load."
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| No cars
but lots of horses. |
Pat
is one of six brothers. As a child he would play on the harbour
darting the village’s horse and cart. "We would play marbles on
the harbour," says Pat. "We never had to worry about traffic as
there were only seven cars in the whole village during the 30’s."
When
he was not at school or playing marbles Pat was on the football
pitch.
"Many
years ago all Cornish villages had football teams. My brothers were
involved in the Polruan team," remembers Pat. "At the end of each
Saturday our tea table would become a meeting place. All the brothers
used to analyse their performances. It would take a long time to
sort out."
Next
to where Pat would play as a youngster is "The Lugger",
one of the village’s pub, it is still here to this day. An area
below the pub was of great importance to villagers.
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| Once the
home of many horses. |
"The
Lugger had a stable underneath," explains Pat. "The workers would
keep their horses under the pub during their lunchbreaks. They could
go and have a lunchtime drink and know their horses were safe."
Pat’s
family used to be involved in the pub. "My aunt owned the lugger
at one time. She offered it to my mother as a business. My mum said
she would never take it on as her husband and sons would drink the
profits," laughed Pat.
After
leaving school Pat went to work in Par for "Curtis and Pate", a
shipbuilding yard. He helped to build motor fishing vessels for
the Admiralty. "They must have been well built," he says. "Some
are still in use to this day."
In
recent years Pat has travelled around the world but has never considered
leaving his home in Polruan. He often walks around the village with
friends pointing out old playground haunts.
"We
often talk about the village in the old days and people we used
to know," says Pat. "One gentleman who springs to mind was a Mr
Salt. We would always call him John Pepper as he used to walk around
the village with his pockets full of peppermints."
When
asked if he was ever given a peppermint Pat smiles and admits he
would only get a sweet if he behaved in church.
Also
meet:
The local ferryman
Mavis Cocks
The local Webmaster
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