Howard Spring and the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society // 1940

Howard Spring joined the RCPS shortly after he moved to Cornwall in 1939. During the war, the Society continued to put on lectures, but faced difficulties including the threat of requisition of the premises (in 1939 a detachment of Royal Engineers made use of the Hall for about 8 weeks; potential use by both the British and American Navy was reported in 1943 and 1944).

By 1944 the Annual Report noted that "little use was being made of the Society by its members... the Society was not serving the useful purpose that it should in the life of the community, the membership was slowly falling off and... the Society was not attracting younger members" (Annual Report 1944). After the War, the Society faced the challenge of restoring and using a deteriorating building.

Read more about Spring's involvement with RCPS here.

Location: Falmouth

Tags: RCPS, The Poly, Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, Howard Spring

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Arwenack Manor from the Harbour ca 1910 (from Brian Osborne's 'Images of the Past' collection #924)

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