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Oh, Get On!

Oh - Get On! is the late Bettye Gray's book, recalling 100 years of Cornwall's holiday scene and how one family (her own) helped to shape it. Filled with stories and anecdotes, the book is a fascinating account of how five generations of Bettye's family influenced so many of the hotels in Cornwall – particularly in the Newquay area – and have done so much to develop the county's now thriving tourism industry. It also gives an invaluable insight into the story and social history of Newquay over the last century.

The book starts over a hundred years ago in 1908 when Mrs Minnie James, Bettye Gray's great aunt, opened a boarding house (Nagajanka) on the Narrowcliff in Newquay. It goes on to recount the story of the next four generations of Bettye's family, via Tolcarne Hotel and The Edgecumbe to Watergate Bay Hotel and The Nare, which Bettye herself acquired in 1989. Toby Ashworth, Bettye's grandson, joined The Nare full-time in 1996 and took over as Managing Director of the hotel on Millennium Night. Toby's brother Henry Ashworth set up the Watergate Bay Beach Complex and the Extreme Academy, now merged with Watergate Bay Hotel. His younger brother, Will Ashworth, is now resident family director of Watergate Bay Hotel.

The country house hotel by the sea