Three Men in More Than One Boat

Do you recognise these characters?  We had the pleasure of meeting Dara O’Briain, Griff Rhys Jones and Rory McGrath when they came to film for the Three Men in More Than One Boat series.  Having taken the photos I couldn’t find where I’d saved them anyway but have since found them, so it’s three years late but well worth publishing.  It’s not often you see a picture of Griff and Dara trying to move juvenile lobsters with a holey bent tea spoon!  We’re very technical here at the hatchery or genius?

It’s amazing to meet people like this, not only because you feel you’ve grown up with them in your front room but they were highly amusing and incredibly sharp and quick with their humour.

It was a brilliant series and having come to film at the hatchery and help us out, they ended up taking a tray of our baby lobsters to do a release in the Isles of Scilly.

Autumn Watch 11th Nov 2011

It was nice to have the Autumn Watch film crew with us last week with presenter Martin Hughes-Games.  We were very lucky to have a berried hen (an egg bearing female lobster) delivered to us the week before, probably the last for the season so we had a beautiful mother lobster to show for Friday’s Autumn Watch.

It really is a wonder of nature when you turn a lobster over to see 3,000 to 20,000 eggs attached to her pleopods.  I think really, they should come back with Spring Watch when the hatchery is a hive of activity.

We gave Martin one of our Santa CLAWS fluffy lobster to hold for the photo that are now available on our on-line shop with their very own handmade Santa hat’s.  http://www.nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk/shop/

Christmas Present List SORTED and all for charity

Unique lobster charity Christmas cards

(designed by pupils of Padstow Primary School)

Grandma – Lobster Hatchery hamper with

Cornish fudge, biscuits and Cornish sea salt

Grandpa – The Secret Life of Lobsters Book

‘How fishermen and scientists are unravelling

the mysteries of our favourite crustacean’.

Or our ‘His & Hers’ Adopt a Lobster – name a lobster after Grandma and Grandpa and we will release 2 lobsters back into the wild together.

Mum – beautiful Lobster life-cycle T-Towel or stylish Jute bag

Dad – Lobster Hatchery mug & key ring

For the teenage girls – check out our collection of Sea Gem silver jewellery, designed in Cornwall

For the teenage boys - Lobster Hatchery t-shirt

For the boys – a woodcraft construction kit or bath squirt puffer fish (that has a 3 metre firing range!) – watch out at bath time

For the girls – our lovely children’s book about a Padstow lobster called Claude & his 4,000 brothers & sisters

For the babies – it’s got to be a fluffy lobster

Adopt a Lobster Wedding Favours

It’s the year of the Adopt a Lobster Wedding Favours.  Last year we launched our Adopt a Lobster scheme as ethical and fun wedding favours, particularly for those that are taking a more eco-friendly approach to their special day.  We have had a really good uptake and in recent months we have had 2 lobster themed weddings believe it or not!  Check out these beautiful cake decorations that sat on Phil & Ally Whitehead’s cake.

The idea is that you can adopt a lobster for each of your guests and you get to name a lobster after each guest, which can be quite amusing if there are some old nick names.  We had one wedding party with some very amusing lobster names; Thirty & Flirty, Pontypandy, Baby Machine, Marathon Man and Half Marathon Man, Denis the Menace, Pasty Crimper, Desperate Dan (just to name a few).  You can imagine the noises when the wedding party sat down to eat and opened up their certificate!

This photo was taken at another wedding by photographer Ed Smith and they rolled the adopt a lobster certificates like a scroll with ribbon.  They look really nice, I like the brown ribbon.

I had a call this morning from a couple that are coming back to Cornwall to get married next year.  They are both working in the Caribbean on dive boats.  Their table decorations are going to be lobster pots with flowers sticking out of them!  I think our Adopt a Lobster wedding favours will be the perfect finishing touch!

Many couples come to the South West so that they can get married by the sea and have their wedding photographs taken on the beach and our wedding favours complement their special day.  The couple can feel happy that their money is going to a good cause, staying within the county and their adopted baby lobsters will be released back into the sea around the coast of Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.

For more information about our wedding favours contact us on sales@nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk

Happy customers

Thought I’d share an email we received:

“We just wanted to let you know, that we thoroughly enjoyed our visit today.  It was heart-warming and incredibly informative.  In fact we came home and looked at  your website and u-tube films.

We are regular visitors to Hartland in Devon and decided today to visit Padstow, mainly to eat great Rick Stein food!

Ashamedly we didn't even know of your existence, but whilst parking, our 3 year old son saw your signs and was insistent that we visited.  We're so glad we did - we were overwhelmed.  Seeing the baby lobsters was a profoundly moving and quite an extraordinary experience, they are all so utterly individual and beautiful. 

Thank you so much for such a lovely time.

Good luck for the future and keep up your fabulous work, we hope to come and see you again soon.”