A STUDENT from the Rame Peninsula has been named the first recipient of a scholarship funded by a late University lecturer - who also hailed from Cornwall.

Finn Woodrow, who studies architecture at the University of Plymouth, was awarded the Gavin Pomeroy Travel Scholarship - a new initiative for second-year students. He chose to travel to Tbilisi, Georgia to study how politics influences the design of houses in the region.

Finn said: “As a minimally-travelled person, the chance to experience a new place, especially with developed reasoning behind it, was an amazing experience.

“Tbilisi showed me that cities, like the countryside that I grew up in, in Cornwall, could also be places of poetic dwelling.

“Exploring these ideas further through my dissertation allowed me to unpick the complex and unique dynamic between planning policies and informal building that caused this to develop in Tbilisi. This research also helped me to confront the romanticism of these environments that I was previously guilty of.

“In summary, the Gavin Pomeroy Travelling Scholarship empowered me to dive deeply into an area of interest that I otherwise would not have had the chance to do; fundamentally changing my understanding of cities and architecture.”

Gavin Pomeroy was born in Newlyn, and taught at the University for over 30 years before his retirement in 1999. He passed away in 2022, and left £50,000 in his will for a travel scholarship to support students looking to supplement their learning.

His scholarship is open to second-year Architecture students at the University of Plymouth, and can be used for anything related to travel, whether it’s attending a conference, or visiting a city to understand more about its cultural buildings.

A keen traveller, Gavin wanted the money to support students’ passion for the programme, with up to £1,000 available to apply for each year.

Dr Ricky Burke, programme lead for BA (Hons) Architecture at the University of Plymouth, said: “Despite not having had the privilege of working with Gavin, I know the impact he left on the University.

“It’s so touching that he left this gift in his will to deepen his already strong legacy here, reflecting his love of architecture and travel. It’s an amazing opportunity for our students to apply for, and I know that our first winner, Finn, really made the most of it.”

Gavin was born in Newlyn, Cornwall in 1929 before moving to Mousehole in early childhood. He started as a trainee architect in 1947, under British Modernist Architect Geoffrey Bazely in Penzance before travelling to Plymouth to study architecture at the School of Art Department in Palace Court.

He became a part-time lecturer for Plymouth School of Architecture taking on a full-time role in the 1960s and successfully completing a Master’s Degree in architecture at Bath University at the same time.

His entire teaching career was spent at the University of Plymouth, where he lectured until retiring in 1999. He loved the arts as a whole, and never stopped sketching and painting with his artwork still available to view online.