This autumn sees the launch of a new game celebrating Cornwall’s rich and often surprising past.
Born out of successive Covid-19 lockdowns, The Cornwall Memory Game is a passion project created by Merryn Threadgould, a Cornish-born author and TV producer with a love of local history and culture.
Essentially a simple ‘find the pairs’ activity, The Cornwall Memory Game is a “beautifully made treasure trove of intertwined stories which shines a light on the people, places, inventions, discoveries and achievements Cornwall has given to the world”.
Threadgould explained: “I’m a storyteller at heart and fascinated by social history, so I’m interested in finding new ways of telling stories that connect us with our past. The Cornwall Memory Game is my way of giving children fun, bite-sized history stories through play and conversation. In fact, I believe it’s a game all ages will find fascinating.”
Most of the images for the 60 sets of cards are unique to this game, having been specially commissioned from local artist Fiona Chivers or sourced from museums and other historical collections.
Each box also contains a pair of blank cards so that the owner can add their own personal piece of Cornish history – a photograph or a sketch for example.
Behind each pair of picture cards, there’s a fascinating story to discover in the accompanying booklet.
For example, did you know that the uniqueness of the human fingerprint was proven thanks to a ground-breaking experiment using the villagers of Polperro? Or that St Michael’s Mount was once surrounded, not by sea, but by woods?
Threadgould hopes the game will act as a spark for all kinds of adventures. “My ambition is that The Cornwall Memory Game will connect the current generation of children living in Cornwall with the millions of years of fascinating history they’ve inherited,” he said. “This is a unique place, and I want them to see that anything is possible.”
The Cornwall Memory Game is available to buy online and from selected retailers across Cornwall, including Wayside in Zennor, The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, The Museum of Cornish Life in Helston, and Watts Trading in Lostwithiel.
