Penzance & Newlyn RFC in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom | Rugby

During the Christmas holidays of 1870, the first recorded game of Rugby to be played in West Cornwall took place at Poltair, a gentleman's residence at the bottom of Madron Hill, near Penzance.
One team, raised by  W.Borlase of Marlborough School, comprised local young men, who were mainly up at university or away at boarding school.  Their opponents were from the Eastern Telegraph Company (later to become Cable and Wireless) at Porthcurno.
This, then, was the genesis of the game in West Cornwall and from such roots were born Penzance RFC in 1876 and Newlyn RFC in, probably, 1894.
The two clubs combined and Penzance & Newly RFC was established.  Penzance RFC played at the St Clare ground on the northern approach to Penzance, while Newlyn's pitch was at St. Goulder, overlooking Newlyn Coombe. Relationships between the two Clubs were hardly ever amicable and, indeed, between 1929 and 1932, fixtures between the two were cancelled by the police in the interest of public order.
However, relationships began to mellow during the late 1930s, assisted subsequently by the temporary suspension of sporting activities during World War II.  By 1944, there existed a strong desire to amalgamate on both sides, with the result that, on 22 September 1945, a new club,  Penzance and Newlyn RFC  played its first match against Guy's Hospital on the Mennaye Field in Penzance.The Mennaye was, and still is, perfectly sited in tribal terms, so symbolically equidistant from St. Goulder and St. Clare. The field itself is leased from Penwith District Council, but the Penzance & Newlyn RFC owns the freehold of its superb, nationally famous Clubhouse, Westholme .