Oliver lived near Falmouth from around 1968 until 1982.
Tin miner, painter and decorator, odd-job guy.
Oliver arrived in the port town of Falmouth in the late 60’s, met Margaret, had me, then got married in 1970. After years of doing random jobs while Maggie looked after me and brother Rory (b.1971), they opened a small stall in Falmouth Market in around 1977, selling old Dinky toys, antique bottles salvaged from old dumps, and other antiques and collectables. The market stall grew into the addition of a second-hand book stall which was run by Maggie. During this time he also did weekend antique markets at places like Carlyon Bay in St. Austell, or in Plymouth. I remember loading up the van on a Friday night and setting off before light the next morning to spend the day helping on the stall, or (mostly) wandering around the town in question. He gradually got into furniture, and began stripping pine wardrobes, chest of drawers etc. using a huge vat of caustic soda out in the back yard in Lamanva. Needing more space for these bigger pieces, Oliver opened another antique shop, “Falmouth Antiques”, at the bottom of the High Street, on Market Strand. At some point around 1981-2 he decided to open a clothes boutique in this same shop. They called it “Zipper” and filled it with a van-full of early 80’s fashions that they bought on a trip up to London, where they literally drove around the East End knocking on wholesalers’ doors to find clothes to buy.
Family life started to fall apart shortly thereafter, however. By Christmas 1982 Oliver had decided to leave Maggie, the boys, and Cornwall behind, and he drove the old white transit van back home to Newry to start a new family and new life.
Cornwall pics
Robert & Rory, 1974
A Curran History 