Women of Cornwall

29/08/2025

A big thank you to Jessica Parr for asking me back as her guest on Maid in Kernow, her radio show for , Falmouth’s community radio station. I chose an all women playlist featuring musicians, Ley Adewole and the Falmouth Community Gospel Choir, Angeline Morrison, Brenda Wootton and poet, Penelope Shuttle, 4 of the 50 Women selected to feature on a plate. We talked about the incredibly tricky selection process, some of the women selected - too many mention them all on air - and the next steps to secure funding to make the plates.

It was really great to be in Source FM’s new studio in Kimberley Park and have a coffee in the new Lodge Café afterwards.



Women of Cornwall is made possible with a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. With thanks to the players! It is also part-funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

24/07/2025

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24/07/2025

22/07/2025

Woman of Cornwall selected to feature on a plate:
 
VIOLETTA THURSTAN
Nurse, interpreter, weaver, writer
1879 - 1978

Suggested by Maggi Livingstone

“After training as a nurse in London, Violetta joined the Red Cross in 1913, to lead a group of nurses behind enemy lines in Belgium. Here, she was awarded her first medal for bravery. After setting up hospitals in Denmark and Russia, she received a medal from the Russians. Her first memoir, Field Hospital, Flying Column, about her experiences in Russia, was written on sick leave. On her return to the front, she fought for resources and new hospitals – the subject of a 2nd memoir. Violetta remained in Europe until the end of WW1 and was awarded five medals in all for bravery. At the end of the war, she worked with the Red Cross to repatriate and house refugees - subject of a 3rd memoir. After WWI she used her linguistic skills to travel with the Bedouin nomads and learn about weaving and dyes. In WWII she worked as an interpreter.
Moving to Cornwall in her 70’s, she became chair of the Embroiderers’ Guild, taught crafts and wrote books. She was involved in setting up Cornwall Crafts Association and age 94 was made a fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. One of her rugs is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. 
Find out more about Violetta and all the women included in the project at Art Centre Penryn (link in bio).
 
Women of Cornwall is a project by Art Centre Penryn in collaboration with ceramic artist Katie Bunnell, to create a new collection of 50 plates highlighting and celebrating significant women of Cornwall. It is made possible with a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. With thanks to the   players! It is also part-funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 
 
Thanks to: 

 
 
 



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22/07/2025

Woman of Cornwall selected to feature on a plate:
 
TAMSIN WILTON
The UK’s first Professor of Human Sexuality
1952 – 2006  

Suggested by Sophie Meyer 

Sophie writes: “Tamsin Wilton, born and raised in Redruth, was a le***an activist and became the UK’s first Professor of Human Sexuality.

Tamsin’s ability to take complex academic theories and disseminate them to the wider LGBT community in an accessible, often humorous way, made her work uniquely impactful. This was especially important during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s-90s, as accurate information about the pandemic was hard to come by. For example, the historic London bookshop “Gay’s the Word” was raided by police for stocking AIDS pamphlets from America, as they were considered obscene material. By sharing up-to-date medical and social information, Tamsin made a significant contribution to deconstructing the prejudice surrounding HIV/AIDS. 

Find out more about Tamsin and all the women included in the project, on the Art Centre Penryn website (link in bio).
 
Women of Cornwall is a project by Art Centre Penryn in collaboration with ceramic artist Katie Bunnell, to create a new collection of 50 plates highlighting and celebrating significant women of Cornwall. It is made possible with a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. With thanks to the   players! It is also part-funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 
 
Thanks to: 

 
 
 



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