Hello folks! First of all, apologies for the blog and Facebook pages being so quiet in the last month! Secondly, Happy New Year 2016 from all of us here at Trelugga! Things have not stopped at Novel English! In December we held our much awaited Christmas course, which focused on Victorian ghost literature, and most particularly Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol!

The course was a fun packed few days in which the participants feasted on Victorian favourites: hot buttered crumpets, a full English roast supper and mince pies made by the children themselves!

We had discussions on Christmas traditions such as why robins are so frequently featured on festive cards, the making of paper chains (which served as useful props for the chains of Jacob Marley’s ghost) and the decoration of the wonderful Trelugga Christmas tree. Once the tree was decorated with traditional decorations, tinsel, lametta and real Christmas tree candles, there was ample time for cosy fireside storytelling, reading the novel itself (as well as its play script) and on the last night a dose of Christmas carol singing! There was also sessions of classic Victorian party games, the favourites being Blind Man’s Buff and Wink Murder in the dark (during which there were some spectacular deaths!)

In the daytime there were plenty of excursions, which included visiting an old graveyard where the Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge his tomb and a walk above Kynance Cove on Winter Solstice where Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Present saw the lighthouse and ships out at sea.

On the final day, after a quick lunch, the children gathered their props and costumes together and performed a play for parents and grandparents which they had written themselves. The audience were suitably impressed! After many cries of ‘Merry Christmas!’ the course came to an end.

We will be putting photos of the course up on our Facebook page in due course, so do have a look!

As always we at Novel English would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came along, and we hope to see you at one of our 2016 courses too! Watch this space for further details!