I do know that it is considered one of the six Celtic nations as shown on this map. It has its own language, related more to Welsh and Breton than to the other Celtic languages.
The north coast is wild and exposed but with some wonderful beaches which attract tourists. Tintagel Castle is there, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. The south coast is more sheltered.
Porthcurno beach from Wikipedia.The Eden Project, gardens and the world's largest greenhouse, is another valuable tourist destination built in a disused clay pit. I've been there and it is amazing.
The Eden Project from WikipediaThey eat a lot of Cornish pasties in Cornwall, but nobody seems able to agree on the true and authentic recipe.
A Cornish pasty, from Wikipedia.Finally , they have Land's End, the western-most tip of England. It's rather a shame that it's become something of a theme park, or it was when I saw it a few years ago. It ought to be wild, remote and windswept.
I'm afraid that's pretty much the sum total of what I know about Cornwall. I feel sure Sage and Soubriquet will be able to add and embellish.
Next post: John O'Groats.
Update. Sage has kindly done a whole post of her own on the subject of Cornwall AND the famous authentic pasty recipe. Many, many thanks Sage.
God's Own Country and proud of it... the magic, the myth that makes up the land of the celts..
ReplyDeleteWill be back to visit with more detailed comments..
Thank you Sage. I look forward to that.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind, I used it as a good reason to post on my blog... Kernow (or Cornwall to you and me)
ReplyDeletehead on over and check it out or you can post it here
Oggy recipe now up at
ReplyDeletehttp://wiseherbrecipeblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/cornish-pasties-recipe.html
There are many pasties but only one oggy :-)
Cornwall has its own language which is closely related to Welsh and also to Breton. It has many ancient sites full of mysticism and magic. Thank you sage for posting the tiddy oggy recipe :-)
ReplyDeleteCornwall to me... Memories of long summer holidays spent based around a little cottage owned by one of my father's friends, It was by the water at Sea-Mills, close to where Little Petherick creek meets the Camel estuary. (http://tinyurl.com/seamills)
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, one way or another, most of the summer was spent in or on the water... Or retrieving the outboard from the glutinous black mud of the creek when the tide was out. 'tis a good thing the old seagull outboards were almost indestructible.
One summer, in the year I left school, I was there for five whole weeks, with a friend from home... Two teenagers with a sailboat, surfboards, and enough money to buy beer. Need I say more. Epic.
oh. and sunburn. plenty of that.
So, Cornwegians, I confess to being a sometime grockle, and occasional emmett. But hey, we loved you, despite the occasionally surly way you took our money...
I particularly liked old pubs in little less-than-villages, where old men with accordions sang songs of cape-horn, Cloudy, very alcoholic cider, and stormy headlands. The moonscape of china-clay workings near St Austell.
Brother-in-law-to-be was at R.A.F.St Mawgan, getting to grips with Nimrod long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, when he was not chasing my sister.
I've not been to Cornwall for a long time. It's nearer now, roads are faster, straighter, which I'm not sure is a good thing. I liked the feeling of an arduous journey to open my holiday.
Sage, thank you for the post and for the recipe. I didn't really intend the comment to be a hint. Not really. :)
ReplyDeleteHello Jenny, yes Sage is a gem. :)
ReplyDeleteSoubriquet, they sound like very Swallows and Amazons type holidays, albeit in the wrong part of the country. I remember the stories of people driving to Cornwall for the summer, pre-motorway, and it taking something like 11 hours. Those were the days!
This 'unavoidably detained' business....is it seven days for drunk and disorderly perhaps? :)
ReplyDeleteGood post re Cornwall, a place I would love to see in the summer.
Hello Adullamite, drunk I don't know about, but disorderly seems to be his normal way of life.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks. :)
Don't forget your Daphne du Maurier...she worked Cornwall like it was paying the mortgage. Huh?
ReplyDeleteYes!
Oh, I love Cornish pasties...and Cornwall of course, though I've not managed to stay there yet.
ReplyDeleteGrumpus, Daphne du Maurier of course. I read her autobiography not so very long ago - interesting! She didn't come out of it in a shining light. Because I'd read Rebecca in the past, I thought I'd give some of her others a try, but it wasn't a great success. Very dated.
ReplyDeleteAlison, do get to Cornwall if you ever can. Sage's recipe for the pasties looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteamazing information sharing and great blog sharing. thanks for that.
ReplyDelete- St Austell