He has been described as Porthleven 'royalty' and there can be no more fitting tribute to a man who has left the community with a wealth of memories – both in hearts and minds, and also committed to film.

Local historian and filmmaker Vic Strike died peacefully last Tuesday, January 18, aged 88, following a short period of incapacity after a fall.

His full and busy life began in Porthleven on March 1, 1933 and Vic continued to live there almost all his life, aside from two brief occasions – the first to do two years of National Service, in which he rose to the rank of sergeant with the Royal Engineers, and the second being a one-year stint in Southend, working for Woolworths as a carpenter.

The call of home proved too strong, however, and after National Service Vic returned to Porthleven to join the family business, FE Strike and Sons, builders and undertakers.

He then left the business to open up his own shop, selling paint and decorating supplies in The Paint Pot, in part of the building that is now The Square restaurant.

Despite being a tiny shop, Vic packed a lot into it and kept expanding, later adding a line in fishing tackle and supplies. It proved so popular that he was able to expand into the rest of the building, renaming it Porthleven Angling Centre, and adding beach goods, souvenirs and other tourist supplies.

It was a real family affair, with Vic's wife Monica and children, Paul and Amanda, also getting involved.

Mandy said: "The shop was the community hub, whether it was local people or holidaymakers. People would come from everywhere to have a chat down at Vic's."

He became a founding member of Porthleven Angling Club and also built his own boat, The Paulmanda. Later he bought a larger boat, The Busy Bee, on which Paul would take tourists out fishing.

Around the mid 1980s Vic closed the shop and became a sales rep for Abu Fishing Tackle. What started out as a six-month job turned into ten years, covering seven counties.

Vic was also among the long line of Strike family members to serve with Porthleven Coastguard, for which he was presented with a long-service medal.

It was after he retired from this, and left work aged 60, due to ill health, that what would almost become Vic's second 'career' began in earnest.

Joining a film club in Falmouth, Vic developed a passion for recording local history and spent many hours documenting the life of the port.

His first film was The Ill Wind, a trilogy on the wreckers around Porthleven, in which local people played different characters, filmed on the cliffs around the port. It went on to win a number of awards.

One of his most famous films was about Guy Gibson, to whom he was a distant relative, which developed over a number of years to include a 12-minute radio recording of Wing Commander Gibson himself, being interviewed on Canadian radio, as well as footage from the unveiling of a bronze plaque to WC Gibson on Porthleven Institute in May 2012, which Vic was instrumental in bringing about.

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He also spent a year filming the life of pupils at Porthleven School, with the resulting video sold to the families to raise money for school equipment.

Vic's services to local history saw him being made a Bard with Gorsedh Kernow, given the name Gweskel – Cornish for 'Strike'.

But it was his family that would always be his priority, with Mandy saying: "We have always been a close knit family. His family and his friends were his world. He always wanted to do right for everybody and wanted to please everybody.

"He was phenomenal. He would never suffer a crisis, he would always suffer an 'opportunity'. He would always find an answer to something and a solution."

Vic is survived by his wife, two children and three grandchildren, Claire-Louise, Alexzandra and Nic.

A funeral service will take place at Porthleven Methodist Chapel on Monday, February 7, at 1pm, to which everyone who knew Vic is invited.

A collection will taken for Porthleven Coastguard Team and donations can also be sent via FE Strike & Sons Funeral Services.

People have been quick to leave their own tributes on Facebook after hearing of the news, and Mandy said: "I know he would have been absolutely beside himself with the comments. They're just incredible."

Susan Tinley described Vic as Porthleven royalty, saying: "Victor, if Porthleven had royalty, I think you might have been king! Dear Mon, Paul, Mandy and families, what a great wealth of memories that great man has left you with."

And Kurt Jewson wrote: "Vic was part of my childhood, along with so many Porthleven characters. I’ve still got my very first fishing reel, bought from his shop, all those years ago."