Chris Keat has lived in the same house in Pengelly for all his life. The room he was born in is now his bedroom. "I was born and bred, went to school and worked here all my life," smiles Chris. "I went to Delabole Primary School. I actually passed my 11+ by a stroke of luck and ended up in Camelford Grammer School. I really enjoyed growing up in Delabole. We would spend a lot of time down at the quarry and on the beach. Back in that age when television was not common, we invented things to do and used our imaginations more."  | | These old cottages near Chris' house used to be a methodist chapel |
Even when Chris started working he did not stray far from his beloved home. "I ran a television repair service," says Chris. "My offices were based in the shed outside this house!" Chris still finds a spare moment to tinker with televisions and computer printers which have broken down. Chris also keeps himself busy as the Chairman of the Delabole Development Group. The aim is to improve life for the people who live in the village. "We were set up a couple of years ago. We are working on a variety of projects like improving parking in the village," says Chris.  | | For many years Chris was in the local Fire Brigade |
One passion of the development group is to see more housing offered at affordable prices for people in the village. "We are in the stages of negotiation for a plot of land in the village," explains Chris. "In conjunction with the Gaia centre we would like to build eco-houses which are quite cheap to buy but also cheap to run." The development group also work to keep Delabole looking at its best. The members spent a recent weekend dodging showers and planting several hundred bulbs. Make sure you visit Delabole in the spring to see a spectacular bed of daffodils. Visit the village webmaster
Meet Delabole's old meter reader
Pay a visit to the world famous slate quarry
Find out about the Gaia Energy Centre | 
