Peacekeeper

Written by Guy Newton

If you were to visit any town or city in England, you would most likely find a museum dedicated to past warfare, typically filled with dusty mannequins and miles of neatly arranged medals. Few of these collections, however, manage to truly engage the non-enthusiast, often leaving visitors with a vague sense that what they’ve seen was supposed to be important. Fortunately, a historical complex in Cornwall offers quite the opposite experience.

I set off from London’s Waterloo Station on a particularly chilly autumn morning, Earl Grey tea in one hand and pastry in the other. My destination was the remote village of St Ive, Cornwall, where the home of an early civil rights activist has been transformed into a museum dedicated to her life.