The Mousehole Cat

Product Information

A beautifully illustrated book, which mingles history and legend to tell a stirring story of heroism and storms at sea and a very special cat. The story of brave Mowser and old Tom, fighting The Great Storm Cat whilst dreaming of home and food, is so satisfying and the illustrations are incredible. I found it narrated on youtube, with animations of the illustrations, and a 10-minute segment at the end on how the animation was made. These included interviews with the author, illustrator, and animators, and views of the actual village and the fisherman's cottage which was an illustration of the author's own cottage.

It’s open for visitors from 10 am – 4.30 pm daily, admission is completely FREE but donations are welcome.You can find it on Quay Street just above the Mousehole Harbour Beach. If you were searching for souvenirs on your holiday, you’ll be glad to know that this cute cottage is as pretty on the inside as it is out. He then fed it to the villagers and saved them from starvation. It’s mentioned in the children’s book The Mousehole Cat! My year 5 class are currently studying this book in Literacy and they love it! This book is cleverly written from the cat’s perspective, where the animals are the masters and the humans are the pets. Using sections of the book we planned and taught lessons on punctuation, grammar and short pieces of writing. It became famous in 1967 after the Torrey Canyon oil tanker disaster. Over 8,000 seabirds were admitted to the hospital when they were injured or nearly killed with their feathers covered in the oil. Walking, especially along the cliffs in Cornwall. Gardening in my poison-free, wild-life garden in Kent. Going to the theatre, ballet, opera and cinema. Watching television, especially BBC classic serials. Best of all, reading books.

I love how this book makes clear who is the pet and who’s the boss. The cat is in charge, naturally, and has a man as her pet, and worries when her children can’t seem to control their humans as well as they should. Ha! Perfect.

Curriculum

The M6 service by First Kernow runs from Jew Street and stops at Mousehole. The journey takes around 15-20 minutes. Advice for the Mousehole parking situation You’ll be parking on the harbour walls – If the mainland car parks are busy or full in Mousehole, you’ll need to drive along the harbour to find a space. It’s okay getting in…not so fun trying to reverse getting out. I had serious anxiety reversing my car, I was sure I was going to go over the edge! But, all good, there is a barrier. It battled through 100mph winds and 60ft high waves to try and save the coast liner but never made it home. A sailing holiday in the Greek Islands with my children and my husband, the summer before he was killed in a road accident.

This is a moving story about a cat and his man who save their community from starvation, and it’s an enthralling story. It involves courage and danger and adventure, and cats of more than one type take prominent roles. It’s thought to be one of the most beautiful in the world as it takes you over the gorgeous UK coastline. The Mousehole Cat has become a modern classic. It was a finalist for the Smarties Prize, the winner of Illustrated Book of the Year at the 1990 British Book Awards and commended for the Kate Greenaway medal. In 1994, the book was made into an animated short, and a stage adaptation in 2007 used puppets.If you were after a more traditional pub lunch or dinner here after the sun goes down, there are plenty of historic Mousehole pubs to choose from. As a previous performing arts student, I always dreamed of being able to perform in this amazing amphitheatre along the Southern coast. The message teaches children about bravery and not to be scared when they are faced with difficult challenges, but instead to overcome being frightened and to rise to a difficult challenge. There are many access routes where you can stroll along the harbour walls, or follow it around towards the Wharf to find more hidden coves.

I really don't have a good sense of my niece's impression of The Mousehole Cat. She listened to the story, but to be fair, her attention was divided. She was working hard on developing some sort of sympathy-inducing ailment. She was about to get in trouble with her mother for not doing her homework, so she really needed to pull out all the stops. :-)

However, the name changed in Victorian times to Merry Maiden. According to legend, these were local girls who broke the rules of dancing on the Sabbath day and were turned into stone! Many people were killed in the invasion and houses, holy places and livelihoods were completely burned to the ground. Only one Tudor property remains from that time as everything needed to be rebuilt. St Michael’s mount is 500 metres away from the mainland and can be walked to at low tide in the day. No visit to the south of Cornwall would be complete without a stop off at Land’s End to see the very end of England.