Fal Rumours

Jonny Depp, Bear Grylls and Madonna may well all have a link to Falmouth. Of course they may not: it’s hard to separate the fact from the fiction. There are many rumours flying around the streets of Falmouth, so, to separate the fact from the fiction, here is a list of definite honesty, ruthless rumour mongering and a few questionables.

1. Madonna owns a house in flushing.

This one at least seems to be widespread, if not completely true. The Metro first published a story about it on the 12^th August 2010 stating that ‘Local people believe she has bought a large detached pad on the exclusive Roseland Peninsula opposite the port.’ If anyone is unfamiliar with this exclusive area, it you look out from the gas works car park, it is the stretch of water on the opposite side of the Quay, the house in question is the rose colored one.

Surely Madonna wouldn’t want to live so far off the celebrity beaten path, that reminds me, once I heard that…

2. Jonny Depp owns a house in Falmouth

Surely two major Hollywood A listers couldn’t reside in Falmouth? Well, no. You’re right, they can’t. It would appear, to the fullest extent of my research, that Mr. Depp does not reside in this sleepy fishing town. It is true, however, that he certainly tried to live here. Back in 2006 Depp requested ‘the freedom of the British seaside town… and was refused’ according to online magazine Female First. Apparently, if Depp was granted this traditional honour, his rights would have included parking his horse and cart outside the town hall, and driving his sheep through the town on market days.

Depp’s interest to live in Falmouth began after learning that this town was the home of Britain’s first female pirate, Lady Mary Killigrew. Just goes to show that Falmouth has a dark side too, which reminds me, someone once told me that…

3. Remedies was owned by none other than Phill Mitchell

This one goes a bit further than I have initially let on. When I first heard the rumour it went: ‘Did you know that Phill Mitchell owns Remedies, that he organizes the porn night, and that the drummer from Queen owns Club I, and most of the high street from there to Dig N Delve.’ That seemed like too much of a mouthful to disprove, or fit in a headline, so I’m just sticking to the Remedies bit.

There’s plenty of talk about this one. I would say that it is Falmouth’s most popular rumour, but alas hard evidence there is not.  However, I have no doubt that the drummer from Queen owns Dig N Delve.

There seems to be an awful lot of celebrity activity in Falmouth, maybe that’s because of its lovely beach, but I heard…

4. Gylly Beach is a man made beach

One hundred percent true. Yay, verily I say unto you, Gyllingvase beach is a man made beach. It is also the third deepest harbor in the world, after Rio De janeiro and Sydney, which is also why it plays host to dolphins and whales during the summer term. No joke, completely true.

Surely such a spectacular marine habitat would attract the adventurous, which reminds me, apparently…

5. Bear Grylls’ son goes to University in Falmouth

This one at least seems plausible: why shouldn’t a celebrity send their child to university in Cornwall? If anything, it makes more sense that sending them to a city, as being the child of someone rich and famous would surely get them victimized, especially if it was a marmite figure such as Mr. Grylls himself.

At least if young Grylls runs out of student loan then surely he could make short work of the abundance of rabbits around campus. Talking of celebrity parentage, surely there is a chance we have more celebrity offspring in our midst. There are rumours of none other than Jo Wiley’s daughter attending this prestigious university. Again, completely plausible, and judging by the amount of people repeating this one I would say almost certainly true. Probably not so good at skinning rabbits, nor is her mother as much of a marmite figure, so she should be fine. Talking of Radio One DJ’s another came to the university before, and I heard that…

6. Annie Mac wasn’t actually DJing when she played in the Stannary, there was a DJ stood behind the curtain

I could see how this rumor could start: people have been claiming musicians have been miming since the dawn of time – it was only a matter of time until people started pointing the finger at radio one DJ’s. However, the reason I consider it to be so preposterously unbelievable is that behind the said curtain there is a window, and everyone would have been able to see the ghost DJ’s true identity. It would have been much more believable if she was miming to an iPod, or to a DJ hidden in the room housing the soundboard just to the left of the stage, but behind the curtain? That’s a bit too Scooby Doo for me. Flawed in the nature of its conception, this one.