A collection of old Falmouth Packet papers have been discovered revealing some interesting stories of the past.

The papers, dating back to 1978, were discovered by Charlotte Reed in a house she has recently bought in the Boslowick area. She lifted up the old carpet to find history hidden underneath.

The discovery showed the latest and most interesting stories Falmouth had to offer 35 years ago.

One that particularly sparked controversy, written around early January, was to do with the demolition of the Grand Cinema, and plans for a new multi-storey car park to take its place.

Estimated to cost £50,000, the car park would be in the former location of the cinema, built in 1928, on Fish Strand Hill.

The plans, decided on by Carrick Council, caused outrage amongst the town and letters to the Editor at The Packet, flooded in.

Mrs EM Potter of Trevissome Court, Falmouth, wrote in saying: “I believe this is sheer madness and a waste of ratepayer’s money, apart from spoiling the character of Falmouth.”

Another disappointed local put: “Congratulations to Carrick for, in my opinion, putting another nail in Falmouth’s coffin, by planning to demolish the Grand Cinema.”

Local residents also feared that demolishing the cinema would affect the town’s tourism. A letter by JB Swatton of Falmouth said: “There is little enough for families to do on a wet, rainy day at present, without further aggravating the position by removing the cinema.”

However, fury from the locals clearly had an effect as the car park was never built and the former cinema building still stands, now acting as the HSBC Bank.

Amongst the other papers discovered were a few more unusual stories, such as that of a woman who ate a cooked sausage she had bought in a supermarket, before she paid.

In the article, she stated: “I was shopping and very busy. I was hungry and so I ate the sausage. Then I noticed a man staring at me and panicked.”

The 24-year-old woman, who paid for her other items, was stopped by the store manager who called the police. She was charged with shoplifting, fined £20 and ordered to pay £5 towards prosecution costs.

Another front page article from the 1978 papers told how nearly 100 pupils of Penryn School staged a walk-out and barricaded the school entrance in protest against teacher sanctions.

The pupils, mostly aged between 15 and 16, stayed out for most of the morning to show their objection to teacher sanctions, which meant that due to lack of supervision, a number of classrooms were inaccessible during lunch breaks when the children wanted to use them for their ‘CSE’ and ‘O’ Level examination studies.