We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2018 Charles Causley Young Person’s Poetry Competition.  Pictured above are the winners with their goodie bags of prizes which were presented at the North Cornwall Book Festival in October.  The prizes included the Charles Causley book of Collected Poems for Children, a Moleskin notebook, a pen and booklight as well as a signed certificate.  The winners of First Prize in each category also won a two hour poetry workshop with Jen Hadfield, our award winning Writer in Residence, for their class.

The prizes were awarded by the Trust’s patron and sponsor of the competition, the author Patrick Gale, and the winners in the age 5-11 category were:-

First Prize – Jake Waller of Egloskerry Primary School with his poem A Miner’s Tale.

Second Prize – Benjamin Griffiths of Coad’s Green Primary School with his poem Bodmin Moor.

Third Prize – William Gribble of Coad’s Green Primary School with his poem The Moor of Bodmin.

Highly Commended – Harry Underhill of Egloskerry Primary School with his poem The Country of Heaven.

Commended – Rosie Kersley Williamson of St Giles on the Heath school with her poem The Carpet of Blue.

Commended – Tori Ellis of Coad’s Green Primary School with her poem At Bodmin Moor.

In the 11-16 year category the winners were:-

First Prize – Dexter Kitto of Falmouth School with his poem Cliffside Memory.

Second Prize – Callum Timms of Falmouth School with his poem The Cornish Countryside.

Highly Commended – Lawrence Charrett-Dykes of Launceston College with his poem Backlanes and Bygones.

A huge well done to all our winners!

Below: Callum Timms reads his prize winning poem with Patrick Gale looking on.

Below: Dexter Kitto, First Prize winner, reads with Jen Hadfield.

Below: Rosie Kersley Williamson reads her Commended poem while Patrick Gale looks on.

Below: William Gribble reads his prize winning poem while Patrick Gale looks on.

The Winning Poems

 

1st Prize
Dexter Kitto – Falmouth Academy
Category B – age 11-16 years

Cliffside Memory

I remember it like it was yesterday,
Seagulls dived towards something,
Weeds strangled the life out of flowers,
The waves assaulted the cliff like an angry child.
Poisonous, purple, sweet foxgloves wave at me
The soft, soothing, soaking grass danced with the morning wind.
Nuts were hidden by silent squirrels,
The abandoned rested peacefully on the sea,
A rusting bunker fell slowly,
The peninsular lay happily.
The towering agapanthus waved with a tree,
A bush hid behind a group of trees.
There was a rotting fence groaning to its friends,
I remember it like it was yesterday.

2nd Prize
Callum Timms – Falmouth Academy
Category B – age 11-16 years

The Cornish Countryside

Crystal clear water
Majestic open sky
Seaweed wrapped rocks like a blanket
Sunlight spreading on the water

Sea as dark as a cave
Sea and sky sewn together
Blue flowers trying to reach the sky
The rocks hug the sea

A shoal of blue fish
Swimming in a green sea
Trunks of trees like jagged rocks
Stretch up
The leaves like seaweed tentacles
Dangle down

Highly Commended
Lawrence Charrett-Dykes – Launceston College
Category B – 11-16 years

Backlanes & Bygones

As I set off on Wednesday night,
With Timmy’s leash held by me tight,
We passed St Leonards and crossed the fields,
Swishing through the tall grass’ yields.

Scrambling through the brambles thick,
Whilst pausing for juicy berries to pick,
We heard the echoes on the breeze,
Of rhyming voices through the trees.

We stopped to paddle in the Kensey,
Until Timmy gave chase in a wild frenzy,
He’d glimpsed a sprightly youthful rabbit,
But try as he might, he couldn’t catch it.

So with several scratches and dirty knees,
And a close encounter with a swarm of bees,
We finally emerged, where in days gone by,
Frequent trains would have passed us by.

Whispers echoed through the years,
Telling tales of laughter and of tears.
Now in my head span local rhymes,
Reminiscing about those earlier times.

The suddenly in front of us – up Ridgegrove Lane,
Was a curious old man with a twisted cane.
He limped ahead with a strange great pace
And in his hand, held tight a case.

As he turned the corner by Cyprus Well,
We took a while to ponder and dwell
Upon the sight that we both had seen,
But neither of us knew who it might have been.

So we walked back home through the countryside,
Me with my faithful friend by side
And wondered upon that strange, peculiar sight,
Just as day turned into night.

1st Prize
Jake Waller – Egloskerry Primary School
Category A – 5-11 years

A Miner’s Tale

The gentle water the cows non
Slaughter a cool breeze whipping
The long grass old slate used to bait
The miners left to dehydrate the
Long grass now it’s too late to save
Them

The breeze catching the falling
Leaves the jagged rocks guiding the
Clear Blue stream the long wavy
Grass tickles the onlooker

The faint sun slows your heart
Beat all of a sudden you meet
Your expectations that is summer
The miners call this heaven the
Whiners call this hell we call it
Well the original sound of water
Trickles on the river bed but
Instead it really matters

As well as that the trance of
The rivers stance will blow the
Mind a forgotten memory
Lies here the water a hard-core
Challenge lies down on the
Encore maybe this is heaven

The herd of cows trundling
Through the undergrowth
A farmer shouts he doubts
His dog will come we float
Around forgotten we are the
Miners

2nd Prize
Benjamin Griffiths – Coad’s Green Primary School
Category A – 5-11 years

Bodmin Moor

Terrifying Tors hung the slopes below,
The grey tops are cornered by bleak storms,
Twisted and chewed away the merciless murderous hills,
Still remain.

The ever-rising peaks of Bodmin Moor survive the
Continuous torture
Urban forests invade the rocky space on the lower moors
These colossal mountain-like granite-filled hills cover
an endless wilderness.
This is a land of good and bad.

The enormous yellow gemstone in the sky, bringing the true
Colour of this place sets, turning to fire, turning to ash, dead silent
The morning’s early light,
As for the moors,
They are covered by a bed of fog that sleeps, awakes,
And moves on.

3rd Prize
William Gribble – Coad’s Green Primary School
Category A – 5-11 years

The Moor of Bodmin

The sapphire blue ski freshens the trees like the water out of the spout of a whale,
The emerald grass is butter gold but in the past it was the colour of an ivy scale.
Waves thundering with granite,
Unevens the soft green land,
The scorching sun goldens,
The grass burns to a blooming gold with a tinted look of sand.
When horizontal it looks like waves but when vertical it looks like a spike,
And an amazing view,
But also for a hike.
Sheets of fabric,
Ripped from those peaks,
It’ll be hard to find mice
So don’t expect to hear squeaks.
Beautiful as diamonds,
I can give you that,
And when you finish your hike
Give your back a big pat.
You might find some sheep,
But don’t forget to sleep,
You might scare the rabbits
Maybe even more than just sheep more than you think.
It might look luscious,
And quite a lot quiet,
It might be incredible but when you look at it at a different angle
You’ll see it’s the shape of a sleeping giant.
Ancient and cloudy,
And quite beautiful,
Jaggedy and misty,
When you find it’s quite natural.
The emerald green trees luscious with the colour of granite ore,
Enchants this world,
Cut outs of paper,
Dance the wisps of clouds.

Highly Commended
Harry Underhill – Egloskerry Primary School
Category A – 5-11 years

The Country of Heaven

The huge glistening raindrops
Look so out of place while the pink sunset
Shines through them, and makes their
Dark shadows as bright as rainbows…

Lumbering cows start their slumber
And lay their colossal heads under the
Undersized tree while the red berries sway over them
In the breeze which could ripen all our
Mouths.

The taste of golden corn beats the aroma of freshly
Cut grass, but both sends us in a trance while
In our stance.

All of these things are in the Country of Heaven!!!

Commended
Rosie Kersley Williamson – St Giles on the Heath Primary School
Category A – 5-11 years

The Carpet of Blue

Enclosed in the forest over the Cornish hills,
Where the thrushes sing,
There lies a natural carpet,
The Carpet of Blue.
Where no feet have ever trodden,
Where there is no rubbish,
Where all there is, are trees and silence.
Only blue, no reds, no pinks,
No yellows, no blacks.

Commended
Tori Ellis – Coad’s Green Primary School Primary School
Category A – 5-11 years

At Bodmin Moor

Standing at the bottom of the moor,
My friend sitting next to my feet saying, “I Want more”.
We sat and talked,
Until she saw another bird squawked.

I looked at the majestic mount that stood,
And just watched.
The emerald grass swaying in the wind
The trees dancing with their branches assembled.

As we moved away, I thought about the hospital
And looked at the lines,
I said that it was similar to cardiograph outlines.

The golden, butter fields brushing in the breeze,
As well as the overgrown trees.
On the edge of eyesight, mines miles apart caught
The eye of many,
Very small children thought the endless beauty was
Scary.

Hills of granite elevating upon closer look,
Your breath would’ve been took.
It wasn’t hard to fall for the jewel,
The moor was beautiful.

It was continuous; never-ending,
No one was ever pretending,
When they said it was wonderful,
Not anyone could compare with the majestical.