As a response to the cost-of-living crisis, we are trialling a new discounted ticket option for some events, starting in our summer season. This will be labelled as “students, low-waged and unwaged”. No proof of eligibility will be required, and we rely on the honesty of our audience to use this option in the spirit in which it is intended. To put it simply, if you feel you cannot afford a full price ticket but can manage the discounted one, that’s fine: there is no age limit or other qualification.

The Tolmen Centre is housed in a beautiful building, which is old and listed, and requires constant maintenance and renovation. While our regular activities bring in enough money to keep the centre safe and in running order, there are inevitably larger amounts of expenditure that need to be prepared for. We have therefore decided to set up a special fund, to be known as the Tolmen Building Fund, which we hope will provide some reserve of cash which we can call on when required. Our supporters will be invited – but not pressurised – to contribute to the Fund when they purchase tickets online. Of course we would also welcome donations outside this route at any time. If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

On Saturday July 3rd we welcome locally-based singer and songwriter Martha Tilston and her band.

We were very disappointed at having to cancel Martha’s planned concert in the New Year at the last minute, but we’re confident that this one will be a great success.

Saturday July 17th will see the multi instrumentalist duo The Blackheart Orchestra take to the stage for an evening of what has been described variously as ‘electronic prog-folk’, ‘a mesmerising powerhouse’ and ‘an avant-garde musical utopia’. Sounds intriguing – why not come along?

We are moving towards online booking and will only be taking phone reservations in exceptional circumstances. You can book through our website at tolmencentre.co.uk. We have an exciting and varied programme booked for the autumn season, culminating in a blockbuster evening just before Christmas. Watch this space!

With the new restrictions coming in just before it was due, we had to cancel Martha Tilston’s eagerly awaited gig on January 2 – a decision made all the more inevitable when a small section of ceiling fell onto the stage a day or two earlier! We hope to rebook Martha later in the year, and would like to thank her and her band, and all those who bought tickets for the event, for their support.

IF (that’s what’s technically called a big ‘if’) conditions allow, we hope to be able to re-open in the spring. See Events for provisional bookings made so far.

Tracey Clowes, Hon. Chair, Constantine Enterprises Company

A month shy of two years since we launched our Tolmen ‘Love Me Restore Me’ Campaign, the roof work is complete. The final section of scaffolding came down mid-January and the slated slopes are looking fantastic! The guttering has been replaced along with the downpipes to the two side elevations, and bat slates have been put in place on the north-west slope of the roof in consultation with the bat specialist.

If the amount of guano is anything to go by, the seagulls are also well pleased with their new perching spot! The timberwork to the roof is generally sound, timber treatment has been carried out and insulation installed in the roof void. Thanks go to all involved in the co-ordination of this phase of our project, with special thanks to Richard Thomas, Marc Lothian, Andy, Phil and all the crew at Landstone Construction who have worked in some very inhospitable conditions at times to get the roofing complete.

So, what next? As I write we have a plasterer in situ completing internal plaster repairs around the large upstairs arched window and the kitchen/café walls. This damage arose due to water ingress from the failing roof and downpipes over many years. We also have a minor area of audi- torium ceiling to repair, not an uncommon problem in a building dating from the late Victorian period. Once we can be sure all the dust has settled and Covid restrictions allow, we shall be back into the building for a thorough clean.

On to phase three of the project – the 22 windows, most requiring some attention either repair/restoration and 1 total replacement. Constantine Enterprises Company would like to thank Constantine Parish Council who in December generously donated £2000 to assist with this phase of the project, recognising the importance of keeping such a wonderful village building in good order for the future. We also have ringfenced £4000 from an earlier Garfield Weston Grant. So, for now, we shall draw breath before hopefully in the Spring beginning this part of the project, window by window.

We are so looking forward to a time (maybe now with vaccinations, in the not too distant future) when we can invite you back to the Tolmen Centre and to say in person a huge thank you for ‘keeping the faith’ both financially and on a very personal level which is enabling this vital vil- lage project to progress. We could not have done this without your support.

Hello all Tolmen supporters: WE ARE STILL HERE! The Tolmen is closed – furloughed – probably for the rest of 2020, but be sure we will be back when all this virus stuff is behind us – even if it needs a vaccination to get us there.

While we are closed down we are taking the chance to get the Roof renewal project under way.   We have just about scraped enough funding together to allow it to proceed  – driven by the immense energies of our Chairperson Tracey Clowes – and it makes sense to get it done during this period of forced closure.

In the meantime, have a read – and a laugh  – at this article from The Stage magazine by Ben Duke from LOST DOG DANCE about the joys of Rural Touring:

Those lucky enough to be at his two dance/theatre shows (Paradise Lost and Juliet and Romeo) will remember two of the best things we were lucky enough to attract to the Tolmen Centre. We get a nice mention too! Thanks Ben.

Also,  to remind yourself of things we have done pre-lockdown, browse through the listing of our past shows. You’ll be reminded of the amazing things we’ve managed to bring to Cornwall over the past 15 years.   

Theatre shows from  Kneehigh, Miracle, Pipeline, Theatre Adinfinitum, Paper Cinema, 1927 Theatre,  Luke Wright – among many:

And numerous equally amazing music shows – Ralph McTell and Wizz Jones, Talisk, The Budapest Cafe Orchestra, Peggy Seeger, all those Guitar Festivals a few years back. And countless Movies:   And Book Club events: And Art Exhibitions: And Cafe Tolmen  supporting all these.

Literally hundreds of performances. Far too many to list in fact.   

So we have the track record – the history. And we will need to make more history when we get the whole show on the road again after the pandemic.  It won’t be easy. We’ll need support. We’ll need new helpers as well as the old hands. But make no mistake – The Tolmen Centre will return to action. 

People like what we do. We like doing it. And perhaps the lovely Ben Duke – echoing Lyn Gardner – sees too what we know – that small scale venues, run by enthusiasts, serving their local communities, offer great future prospects for live performance in  remote – and not so remote –  places

Here’s to the reopening of The Tolmen Centre – whenever it happens

Charlie and Barbara and the Tolmen Team

PS.

Don’t forget to try your hand with our ‘Through the Window’ project.

All you have to do is create something – on paper or online – faintly linked to the big Tolmen Centre window. Then send it to the special email address shown below.

It’s hoped that this will lead to an outside exhibition in the Tolmen Centre porch in August and also on this website.

So join in and have a go! 

At the time of writing, it looks pretty certain that the Tolmen Centre won’t be open for events for the next few months at least. Entertainment venues look like being one of the last categories to be re-opened, and our relatively top-heavy (age wise) audience and management team will make it a particular challenge for us.

We are very sorry not to be bringing you three top acts that were planned for the summer. Two dynamic trios from Scotland – first Talisk, then supergroup Lau – were due to be followed by female American duo Madison Violet. 

We’ve tentatively accepted provisional rebookings for next year, but don’t forget that you can always find just about any artist on Youtube, Spotify or their own websites, to get a taste of what you’re missing!

Spare a thought for the thousands of musicians and other members of the performing arts whose livelihoods are being devastated by the Covid-19 epidemic. Many of them have been posting recordings and live performances on the internet, some of them asking for donations for charity or towards their own living expenses, sometimes both.

Locally some of us have enjoyed Martha Tilston’s two live gigs from her front room, just a mile or so from the centre of our village. Martha’s music and her infectiously warm personality offer hope and joy in gloomy times, and if you missed her you should be able to catch up at facebook.com/marthatilston

Another online concert (thanks for the tip, Sally H.!) can be found at folkonfoot.com/festival. This is no less than 7 hours of folk music from a wide range of performers, each performing in their front rooms. Among them are several who have performed at the Tolmen in the past, including John Boden, Martin Simpson, Bella Hardy, Peggy Seeger and Steve Knightley. Another artist featured is Kris Drever, one third of Lau. The online festival is raising funds for the Help Musicians charity, which is providing emergency grants to working musicians during the epidemic.

Keep listening to music, keep safe, and keep an eye out for better news in future.

Dougal Jeffries