The series is organised by Carrick Leisure Community Service, in partnership with Triathlon England. Now in its sixth year, the project expects that triathlons in the area will grow significantly, which will be exciting, especially in an Olympic year.

Events for the triathlon are taking place all over Cornwall, from the first event held in Penzance, to the last event held in Wadebridge on October 7 2012.

The next forthcoming event will be the Falmouth Triathlon on June 17^th.  The sprint distance event with an open water sea swim will be based at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth.

The event, which starts at 7:30am will include a 750m open water swim in the bay of Gyllyngvase Beach, a 28K cycle from Gyllyngvase to Swanpool and out to Mawnan Smith and back, followed by a 5K run round Pendennis Headland and finishing at Falmouth Beach Hotel.

Local fitness instructor and volunteer to the Cornwall Triathlon series, Rachel Haspell commented, “It’s such an exciting event that showcases the talent throughout Cornwall.”

The series will feature ten events ranging from sprint to standard distance and pool and open water. Competitors must complete a minimum of six events in the ten races, and the top 6 scoring events will count towards the overall series total.

The age categories range from Junior at 16 to Vet 60 + with a Novice category for any age to encourage greater participant for the triathlon. Prizes in the Novice categories will be awarded for the best newcomer to the series.

Triathlon England South England Manager Gareth Hall commented: “I have been very impressed with the people I have met that are involved in the series.  Cornwall Councils Leisure Service provider Carrick Leisure Limited is very experienced in developing events in Cornwall and we are delighted that they are embracing Triathlon England’s Event Quality Mark”.

The prize presentation evening will be help on Saturday 10^th November at Newquay Sports Centre to award trophies and prizes to the top three placing in each of the individual categories.

With six events left, there is still chance to register and take part in an event near you. Entry fees into the series are free, however entry into each particular event will vary, and more information about applying is available on the England Triathlon website.

Despite the extremely miserable and drizzly weather, little could dampen the spirits of those attending this organised one night music event situated on the beautiful lizard peninsula, overlooking Kynance Cove.

It is estimated more than 700 people attended this event, most of whom set up tents in the camping area ready for a night of nocturnal madness by the seaside.

Across two fabulously decorated, weatherproof marquees and a double decker bus with a well stocked bar inside, the wind and rain went truly unnoticed (apart from the few unfortunate people that found themselves queuing for the portaloos).

With some of the Westcountry’s best entertainment and a team of dedicated organisers, the night air was filled with flashing lights and beats impossible to stay still too. With performances from some of the county’s best DJs, the musical genre varied from funky house to impressive breakbeat and the finishing touch of euphoric psytrance to end the night.

Food on offer ranged from crumpets to burgers, but as expected at these sorts of events the prices weren’t the cheapest. For those who were prepared enough to bring their own refreshments, they made their way back and forth between the music tents and the camping area. For 99 per cent of the time, this journey meant tumbling over the hedge as a hilarious alternative to the ever so slightly longer yet safer roadside route.

With an exciting vibe and harmonious atmosphere attracting the weird and the wonderful people from Cornwall and afar, seven hours of non-stop dancing and smiles within a time warp of truly Cornish celebration took place.

At the reasonable price of £16 per person there were next to no technical hiccups and for once a surprising array of friendly security staff.

Predictably, there were a small handful of attendees who had exceeded their limits and ultimately missed what could have been the best night of their year to instead be in a messy heap on the floor. However, all in all there didn’t seem to be any cases for medical concern and the general consensus was to party hard and deal with the consequences in the morning.

His painting, The Hovering was chosen from more than 2000 entries to be awarded the £10,000 prize fund but for David, the monetary value of the award is far less important than the increase of confidence in his own work it has given him.

“I had no thought about winning I just knew I had to get in,” says David “not for the money, but for the sake of my soul and of my work, I just felt like I had to get in so I was part of the race, in the running almost.  I felt I was capable just to achieve that.”

David’s work in recent years has projected a feeling of duality, his paintings usually featuring a detailed landscape within a head-shaped form that give the viewer a feeling of viewing the world through a portal.  As David puts it:  “I try to create a sense of romanticism, an echo of real life that we see through our own eyes every day but often miss or take for granted.”

This feeling of duality reflected in David’s work echoes not just the way he views the world around him but the challenges he has faced in his personal life too.  In 2009 he was diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria, a condition in which a person feels there is a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity.

Alongside the beautiful paintings that hang in David’s studio is a collection of small mirrors.  They feature a tiny landscape that can only be viewed in the mirror’s reflection and a pair of female shoes at the bottom of the plinth upon which each one stands.  The piece, ‘When Trains Kill Poems’ was inspired by the death of a young girl but also feel like a reference to David’s Gender Dysphoria.  David agrees:  “They come from a feeling of being trapped I guess, trapped in the wrong body.”

As David has adapted to the diagnosis he feels like he is starting to feel as confident as a person as he is as an artist:  “I have always been a late developer as a human being,” he says “my art has always been racing ahead of me a little bit and I’ve often shocked myself.  I’m constantly trying to catch up with my art, the person itself has always been lagging behind a bit but that’s changed now.  Although it has taken me until the age of 47, which is a bit sad in a way.”

Despite being encouraged by a family friend to seek a place at Art College from an early age, David is completely self-taught and has never received any formal training.  “As a teenager I was shy and insecure, with very low self-confidence and it just wasn’t for me,” David recalls.

But he has no regrets:  “For me I feel like the way things have happened have been right for me and my journey, to remain untouched by any of the college set-up.  I have been able to evolve and discover myself, finding out what works for me along the way.”

Discovery and evolution seem to be common themes that run through David’s work and in a way represent his own battle with coming to terms with his Gender Dysphoria and finding himself as an artist.

“It’s my balance really,” he says “to all the trauma in my life, my personal situation and whatever else is going on in the world.   You’ve got the mess and the chaos, and then the order and the beauty.  I like to think it all balances itself out.”

Cost is a main reason. With websites such as lastminute.com offering deals on well-known hotels it is easy to be sucked in to routine when it comes to choosing the accommodation for your getaway, however many alternative ideas for accommodation are just as cost effective. Ok you may not have all the luxuries of a swanky hotel but it’s a holiday that you’ll remember forever rather than loosing it in a blur of miniature shampoos and bad room service.

Ease of access is another reason that we are choosing to go for the big brand hotels with advertising everywhere from billboards to Spotify the idea becomes lodged in our brains making it seem the only logical option when choosing somewhere to stay. For many people spending an hour researching deeper into accommodation options on Google is just a stretch too far.

When I was 13 I was lucky enough to be taken travelling across Spain by my parents. Although not the standard choice for a family holiday we travelled from Madrid to Granada staying in tiny local owned b and b’s and rustic villa’s. I was mesmerised by the culture and world that was so far away from my own and experienced much more than a standard holiday in a hotel I could have seen round the corner from where I lived.

It’s time to break free and choose an adventure that will put you out of your comfort zone, thrilling and exciting you! Here are five interesting European accommodation choices to get you thinking and planning your next true adventure.

1.ICEHOTEL, Sweden: A magical hotel built every winter from ice and snow in a tiny village in Lapland. Guests experience rooms made entirely from ice, keeping warm underneath animal skins. Take in the breath taking Northern Lights, a real once in a lifetime opportunity.

http://www.icehotel.com/

2. Lighthouses, Croatia: Become the keeper of the ocean with this unique experience to stay in a lighthouse on your own private island just off the coast of Croatia. With transfers to the main Island regularly you can mix being secluded on the private beach with visiting the local towns.

http://www.lighthouses-croatia.com/

3.TREEHOTEL, Sweden: TREEHOTEL offers unique and contemporary architecture in the middle of unspoiled, beautiful nature. With facilities such as a treetop sauna it’s the perfect place to relax and get back to nature.

http://www.treehotel.se/

4.Traditional horse drawn Romany Caravans, France: Les Roulettes du Pradal provides the perfect holiday for those who can’t sit still, moving onto a new destination everyday. Guests get to enjoy the French countryside from the comfort of their traditional Romany Caravans. With different activities planned at each stage of the route it’s defiantly a holiday for those who like their breaks action packed!

http://www.roulottes-du-pradal.com/
5.Cley Windmill, England: This 18^th Century windmill on the Norfolk coast has been converted into a rustic guesthouse, decked out with antique furniture, roaring open fires and amazing views across the salt marshes. Close by is Blankley Point, which is a well-known area for seal spotting.

http://www.cleywindmill.co.uk/

I first stumbled upon Provedore after moving into a house on nearby Marlborough Road in the summer of 2011. After a slightly overenthusiastic house warming and the prospect of unpacking the stacks of boxes that lined my hallway I decided I was in need of good fresh coffee.

Of course having just moved in and food shopping not being a top priority I had no such thing in my cupboard and decided that I would stumble into town for my morning pick me up. It just so happened that I had already misplaced my front door key so decided to leave via the back door. It was there adjacent to the back alleyway of my new home I saw Provedore.

As previously mentioned from the outside Provedore looks tiny, box like and slightly shabby but I decided to take my chances instead of facing the challenging walk into town.

Once inside it was cosy and inviting. Spanish art adorned the walls, Paella pans hung from the ceiling and within ten minutes of being there the place began to fill up with regulars. I decided to sample a latte and brownie, the latte being creamy and frothy with just the right hit of coffee and the brownie was just the right amount of gooey goodness.

I began chatting to the waitress, remarking how pleased I was that I had found this charming gem on my doorstep and how I was sure it would become a regular coffee haunt for me. It was then that she informed me that coffee wasn’t all that they provided, every Thursday – Saturday evening this quaint little coffee house turned into a tapas bar.

I was immediately excited and sceptical at this news. Firstly tapas is my favourite food ever, I’m a grazer by nature and love meals where I can sample little bites of everything. However after being blown away by the tapas that I had tasted on a recent trip to Andalucía, I didn’t know if the tiny kitchen that I had just spied was up to the job of recreating such authentic tastes.

Like on many other occasions, I was wrong. After being advised to get there as close to 6.30pm as possible, I was shown to a small table in the corner and given a small but through menu of tapas delights all priced between £3.50 -£6.00 a dish. After much deliberation I decided to go for black bean and feta cheese parcels, homemade pitta breads and hummus, spicy fennel sausage and my all time favourite calamari.

I sat patiently waiting for my dishes to come watching the waitress toing and froing from that tiny kitchen out back with the terracotta bowls of tapas. The fresh and intense smells were almost becoming too much to bear for me so I was relieved when after a short wait my food arrived.

To say that it was heaven in food form would be an understatement, everything was cooked to perfection. The fennel sausage was just the right amount of spicy without burning off your taste buds, the bean and cheese parcels were an amazing blend of tastes (although scolding hot so be warned try to refrain from a huge first bite!) and the hummus was a smooth and cooling accompaniment. The calamari I could talk about for days it was by far the best that I had tasted in England. The batter was light and well seasoned and wasn’t greasy. The actual squid itself tasted fresh and must have been cooked to perfection as it avoided the easy mistake of becoming like chewing on a rubber. All this washed down with a bottle of Spanish Alhambra beer (chosen because I had recently been to visit the Alhambra in Granada.) made it a perfect meal.

Provedore is one of those little finds that you want so desperately to keep a secret to avoid it becoming popular and overcrowded. It is an impossible secret to keep though as every time I have had a visitor I have had to take them to Provedore to share the experience.

Provedore thank you for making living on Marlborough Road a great experience, from morning coffee to evening tapas I never want to move away!

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.

Pan Dorset have issued an urgent health warning urging everyone to stay away from what they describe as ‘pink tablets, embossed with the letter M’.

The deadly compound within the pills is currently unknown, but is believed to be a substance known as paramethoxyamphetamine, or PMA.

The symptoms of these pills are said to include profuse sweating, increased heart rate (up to three times of that of a regular heart rate), extreme muscular tension and delirious ranting.

If anyone is found showing signs of these symptoms you should call 999 immediately.

The concern started when the police were called to an address in Bournemouth where one person was already deceased, and the other three were rushed to hospital. One remains in intensive care, having to be heavily sedated due to extreme muscular seizures.

Michael Clarke, who has seen the pills first hand says: “Its alright if you just do one, but because they have some psychedelic compound in them they don’t react to your body in the same way as regular pills, so people take loads of them. If you just take one it can be used recreationally, but if you take a lot of them it all builds up and that’s where the trouble starts.”

Michael went on to remark that the M emblem resembles that of the McDonalds famous arches, and that on the street they are referred to as ‘McDonalds’.

The BC Coroners service claims that in the period of 2006 – 2011 their have been only 99 ecstasy related deaths.

The hierarchy of dance music throughout the UK goes roughly as follows – House music, in all its many guises (Deep House, Tech house, etcetera), first. All other types of dance music, second.

Yet the dance music scene, as with many other forms of culture in Falmouth, is completely reversed. The underground is mainstream and the mainstream, underground.

The main venue for this new scene in Falmouth is the Rugby Club. Last year the Rugby Club opened its doors no more than four nights a month on average. This year, however, that has soared to 10 times a month.

It is impossible to walk past the rugby club on a Friday night without hearing the sort of sounds usually confined to nightmares or migraines, and if you manage to avoid the sight of someone throwing up on their shoes then it really is your lucky day.

Helena Lewis, a University College Falmouth student, said of the rugby club: “I hate how drunk you have to feel to enjoy yourself in there. It’s horrible, it feels like the sort of place you’d go for an alcoholics anonymous meeting.”

On this issue Helena seems to stand with the minority, as each night the Rugby Club is filled to the brim with eager, loving crowds, each reveling in the fact that they, once the underdog, are now part of the mainstream culture.

House music nights are going bust, no longer bringing in enough revenue to cover even the most slight of bar tabs. More and more people are ebbing away from the bright lights of the Watermans, away from the consistent pounding rhythm of house music towards the Tim Burton end of the music scene.

It is difficult to explain the difference in these types of music to people who are not familiar with the ins and outs of dance music. A fair comparison would be to refer to house as a dentist’s drill, and jungle as a chainsaw. Not necessarily a bad thing, as although chainsaws aren’t massively popular, neither is the dentist’s drill.

Dental hygiene aside, there are other aspect of music within Falmouth floundering from the lack of attention. Just this month saw the third installment of Financial Kollapse Records night at the Cutty Sark. An extra special night as this was the launch night of their new EP, a promising release on the Hip Hop scene.

Yet Financial Kollapse records also seem to be feeling the strain of the recession, with only 20 people turning up to revel in this new piece of original music. So it seems they may be staring, poetically, at financial collapse.

Maybe there is some rhyme and reason as to why the music scene in Falmouth town is slowly dwindling, and to why the rugby club is the last bastion of the crowd-searching drunkard, and if there were one, it would be in the shape of Remedies.

Remedies was Falmouths main attraction in terms of nightlife. It was an essential part of the culture to at one point or another have its name stamped on the back of your hand like a branded piece of cattle.

Although in previous years it played host to some reputable names, and could be considered to some extent a good venue, in recent years its role had changed. From provider of entertainment, to something alike to a light in a kebab shop: attracting the irritations towards it, then leaving them sometime later drooling on the floor, no harm to anyone.

When Remedies closed, however, it was like someone had poisoned the watering hole. All the dregs of society left the prison-like walls of Remedies, and flooded into the surrounding area, essentially turning previously good venues such as QBar and the Watermans into UFC fighting cages.

An explanation, maybe, but a remedy it is not. With more and more people flooding out of town the ratio of poison to water is rising, and unless something is done soon, we might all be forced to take refuge in the rugby club, inducing migraines and throwing up on our own shoes.

Collins had a brush with the games in 1972, ranked eighth in the United Kingdom, when he took part in Olympic Trials for the 10,000 meters. However, as only three places were available it was up to Collins to run at least one minute faster than he had ever run before to have any chance of going through.

He said: “Due to a combination of poor decision making and a lack of experience at this level, I did not run well in a race in which a New World Record was set.

“Although greatly disappointed with my performance at the time I now look back on it as a valuable part of my running career.”

Collins recalls how at the time he thought about giving up on the sport he loved but persevered and after a few days had other races to concentrate on as he looked to rebuild his confidence.

“As I recall it was a ‘pack it all in’ moment of despair and disappointment, but this passed.”

This was his only chance to be involved, in any connection, to an Olympic Games until his selection as torchbearer in the Torch Relay. Mr Collins was nominated by Ryan Moyle because of his involvement with athletics. A former County and South West cross country champion, Collins has set a number of records (some of which are still held today). He has been coaching running for almost 30 years and has helped hundreds of children to develop a love of athletics and racing, teaching pupils the importance of fair play, fitness and teamwork. Alongside this, Collins set up the Mile High Running Club in the 1980s which has since raised thousands of pounds for charity and which he attends week in week out, even at the age of sixty-nine.

Moyle described Collins as “committed and passionate about athletics” and “inspiring”.

“Not just a coach, Dave takes his role seriously and regardless of the level of runner he coaches, he encourages them to achieve to the best of their ability He has organised various running events for charity where the club ran the whole coastal path of Cornwall to raise funds.

“Dave is involved in promoting athletics within local schools and regularly coach’s sessions at Cornish primary schools and continues to be an inspiration to us all at the running club and puts in so much effort to keep the club going, even on those dark, wet, cold January evenings!”

Collins himself was unsurprisingly thrilled at being chosen, saying: “Naturally I was pleased and proud to be chosen to carry the Olympic Torch in Falmouth, just two miles down the road from my hometown of Penryn.

“I looked forward to taking the torch to the local schools so that the children that I coach could share a part of the Olympic experience.”

This is in stark contrast to the emotions and thoughts he had directly after the Olympic Trials of 1972. The turnaround has been a fairy-tale for Collins who had thought his shot at the greatest sporting event in the world was gone.

“Forty plus years on it came as a pleasant surprise to be chosen to carry the Olympic Torch in Falmouth. A great experience for me and a chance to once again be involved in a very small way in an Olympic games.

“As an Olympic Torchbearer, a privilege and an honour which I will never forget, the wheel has gone full circle and my minimal involvement with the Olympic Games ends on a high.”

Having made a successful career out of the sport Collins sees this as a separate achievement to his medals at regional level and compares it more to another achievement during his participation.

He said: “I first became aware that I had been nominated in November 2011.

“In my mind I see this honour as separate to the County Regional, and British Championship titles that I won, and compare it more with the first time that I was selected to run abroad.”

In any case, his life in the sport has been one to be proud of and his legacy will live on in the county long after his eventual retirement – this was a fitting moment that rewarded him for all his hard work.

The late Sam Peckinpah’s infamous psychological thriller has been delivered to a new audience by Rod Lurie – forty years after the original – and has been critically received on both sides of the Atlantic.

Having not seen the original or indeed read the novel on which it’s based, The Siege of Trencher’s Farm by Gordon Williams, this was completely new to me. I watched in disbelief as the film championed viciousness on a whole in graphic detail.

I followed-up the watch and came across the debate on which the original was left. Even twenty-four years after its initial release it was still being edited and cut, due to its explicit behaviour, in order for widespread re-release in 1995.

What Lurie has done is transfer the setting to that of a typical redneck Mississippi town which populates beautiful blonde haired girls and strapping football jocks. It gives the film more of a wilderness while taking the armoury from farmers to stereotypically tougher guys – Westcountry rural types aren’t perceived as too frightening these days, I mean, look at The Wurzels – the example of rednecks is more traditionally sought.

It sticks along the same lines as the original with the upper-class male moving from his successful setting out to the country where he and his newly-wedded wife are subjected to a torrent of abuse, violence and destitution. The male protagonist David Sumner (James Marsden) ends up living the film in which he is writing as it finales on those famous words: “Jesus, I got ‘em all.”

The success of the eccentric Peckinpah’s 1971 film hasn’t been matched by the remake which performed disappointingly at the Box Office and has thus far proved a loss for the studio. Nevertheless, this film made me develop a desire to watch the original and if my view is shared could see a niche market reappear for fans of Straw Dogs.

Overall, Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs is feistier. The female protagonist Amy Sumner (Susan George) is portrayed as even more of a tomboy with the jogging beside the lake replaced with smoking in an armchair which reflects the difference in era. The weekend American Football rituals are juxtaposed with a community meeting in the church, the sheriff is a magistrate and dollars are a bob. The differences in that forty-year spell and between the two societies are obvious.

The hold that the paranoid mathematician David has over his wife is stronger – he physically strikes her on more than one occasion – while Lurie’s work sees them as more of an equal as does modern culture.

The original is also more explicit and obvious; there is constant swearing and one of the builders actually steals Susan’s underwear and openly talks about sex. There is also nudity in the film, prominently during the rape scene, where Susan’s breasts are revealed. Lurie’s interpretation of the scene features no breasts and this is another example of how views and respect towards women have changed.

Lurie’s remake brings the piece into the modern day with somewhat of a bang, while Peckinpah’s will forever remain a classic for the boundaries that it crossed and set in the industry.

At least those in Cornwall who were kept awake at night by fear of violence caused by Straw Dogs can sleep soundly in the knowledge that it has emigrated to Mississippi.