Demelza Newsom is known for her creative Christmas decorations around the club’s bar, which she co-manages with Neil Le Poidevin.
In the past, she has given a new lease of life to old glasswear and bottles – but she had to make a head-start on preparations for this year’s design, as it involved gathering enough ormer shells to create a whole Christmas Tree.
Conservation regulations mean that ormers are only allowed to be collected on designated tides at the beginning of the year.
Which meant she started collecting in January, with a public appeal for more between March and April. And now, a full-sized ormer shell tree stands in a window of the club house as a proud representation of community effort.
‘If you want something different, Demelza’s the one to do it,’ said Mr Le Poidevin.
‘I think it looks really good, the idea is excellent – just don’t give her any more, please.’
Members, volunteers, and anonymous deliveries inundated the club with thousands of shells. The bar is covered with decorative designs that Mr Le Poidevin, Mrs Newsom and her parents, Linda and David Winterflood, created with all the extra shells.
‘I’m really pleased with it,’ she said.
‘Each window’s got some in and they’re all around the bar. It’s taken us about 15 hours to do, a family effort.’
Each shell is individually wired onto the existing branches of an artificial Christmas tree, and the rest have been glued together with a magical combination of hot glue and strong adhesive, to create different shapes.
‘Neil and my dad were on the technical – cutting the wire and preparing the glue gun, and mum and I were sticking and designing. It was hard to figure out how to stick them all together at first, but once we did it got easier. I’ve just winged it, I keep thinking of new ideas for the others now – definitely going to keep going.’
Mini wreaths, stars and candlestick centrepieces are among the other creations, and Mrs Newsom said there are still three boxes of ormer shells which could be used.
‘It’s so nice that everybody came together,’ she said.
‘I can’t believe how many people came forward, it’s really lovely. I don’t even know where most of them came from, because they were just left in bags and buckets around the back.
'Sometimes there were three leftover from somebody’s supper, and other times there were 100. Everyone’s come in and said it looks so nice.’
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