Cornish Solidarity (Unvereth Kernewek in Cornish) was a Cornish direct action protest group founded in 1998, campaigning for Cornish issues, principally including Objective One status for Cornwall and more support for the Cornish economy in light of mine closures during the 1990s. [1]
It produced "Cornwall First", a newsletter published every two months which is free to members.[ citation needed ]
In February 1998, campaigners against the closure of South Crofty, the last hard rock and tin mine in Cornwall, blocked the A30 trunk road into Cornwall using a twenty-car slow-moving convoy. [1] [2]
The organisation grew from this protest, and demanded Objective One regional funding for Cornwall, an exclusively-Cornish European Parliament constituency, a Cornish university, support for Cornwall's traditional industries and local control over Cornwall's health service; these demands were broadly similar to those being made at the time by Mebyon Kernow, a Cornish nationalist party that had recently relaunched itself. Cornish Solidarity was consolidated as a pressure group after the closure of South Crofty, the last hard rock mine in Cornwall, in March 1998. [1] Greg Woods was elected the organisation's chairman. [2]
In March 1998, hundreds of Cornish Solidarity campaigners staged a protest on the Tamar Bridge. A convoy of protesters, many waving black and white Saint Piran's flags from their vehicles, drove to the bridge, and used pennies to pay the £1 toll to enter Devon at Plymouth; Woods claimed that "that's all we've got left to pay with in Cornwall". [1] [2]
In July 1998, Cornish Solidarity staged its last major protest, in which over 1,000 protestors blocked the Tamar Bridge. [1]
Since achieving many of its aims, Cornish Solidarity has undertaken a self-imposed hibernation vowing to return to fight any attempt to attack or alter Cornwall's ethnic diversity, boundaries or constitutional status.[ citation needed ]
Cornwall was granted Objective One status in March 1999. [1]
In 1998, Cornwall was recognised by the UK government as having "distinct cultural and historical factors reflecting a Celtic background", [3] thus allowing it to be separated in a regional and economic sense from Devon.
Cornwall is an historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, with the River Tamar forming the border between them. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain. The southwesternmost point is Land's End and the southernmost Lizard Point. Cornwall has a population of 568,210 and an area of 3,563 km2 (1,376 sq mi). The county has been administered since 2009 by the unitary authority, Cornwall Council. The ceremonial county of Cornwall also includes the Isles of Scilly, which are administered separately. The administrative centre of Cornwall is Truro, its only city.
The Cornish Nationalist Party is a political party, founded by Dr James Whetter, who campaigned for independence for Cornwall.
Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and several town and parish councillors across Cornwall.
The Cornish people or Cornish are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain before the Roman conquest. Many in Cornwall today continue to assert a distinct identity separate from or in addition to English or British identities. Cornish identity has been adopted by migrants into Cornwall, as well as by emigrant and descendant communities from Cornwall, the latter sometimes referred to as the Cornish diaspora. Although not included as an explicit option in the UK census, the numbers of those claiming Cornish ethnic and national identity are officially recognised and recorded.
A Cornish Assembly is a proposed devolved law-making assembly for Cornwall along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly in the United Kingdom.
Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the southwest of England, began in the early Bronze Age, around 2150 BC. Tin, and later copper, were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continued long after the mining of other metals had become unprofitable, but ended in the late 20th century. In 2021, it was announced that a new mine was extracting battery-grade lithium carbonate, more than 20 years after the closure of the last South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall in 1998.
The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape is a World Heritage Site which includes select mining landscapes in Cornwall and West Devon in the south west of England. The site was added to the World Heritage List during the 30th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Vilnius, July 2006. Following plans in 2011 to restart mining at South Crofty, and to build a supermarket at Hayle Harbour, the World Heritage Committee drafted a decision in 2014 to put the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger, but this was rejected at the 38th Committee Session at Doha, Qatar, in favour of a follow-up Reactive Monitoring Mission.
Cornwall is administered as a county of South West England whose politics are influenced by a number of issues that make it distinct from the general political scene in the wider United Kingdom, and the political trends of neighbouring counties. Its position on the geographical periphery of the island of Great Britain is also a factor.
The economy of Cornwall in South West England, is largely dependent upon agriculture followed by tourism. Cornwall is one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom with a GVA of 70.9% of the national average in 2015. and is one of four UK areas that qualified for poverty-related grants from the EU. Farming and food processing contributed £366 million to the county, equal to 5.3% of Cornwall’s total GVA. The agricultural/food industry in Cornwall employs 9,500 people, 23,700 are employed in the food industry in Cornwall The Cornish economy also depends heavily on its successful tourist industry which contributes 12% of Cornwall's GDP and supports about 1 in 5 jobs. Tourism contributed £1.85 billion to the Cornish economy in 2011.
Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England. It is usually based on three general arguments:
The Cornish National Liberation Army (CNLA) was a short-lived Cornish nationalist paramilitary organisation that threatened to perform acts of vandalism and arson against commercial targets that it considers to be English, in Cornwall.
Devonwall was a political concept introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1970s by the Conservative government. It was an attempt to link Cornwall and Devon together in an economic, political and statistical sense to form a South West region. This involved combining and centralising some local government functions and services such as the police, ambulance, fire services and media output such as local TV and newspapers.
Richard Garfield Jenkin, was a Cornish nationalist politician and one of the founding members of Mebyon Kernow. He was also a Grand Bard of the Gorseth Kernow.
Garry Harcourt Tregidga is a Cornish academic, director of the Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, UK, and editor of the journal Cornish Studies. Garry is 101.
Kescusulyans Kernow was an independent non-political Cornish conference which was held twice yearly at Perranporth, Cornwall, England, UK, between 1987-1994. It was formed to promote research into Cornish current affairs and the culture of Cornwall and was originally started by members of Cowethas Flamank, an organisation founded in 1969. Of special interest to Kescusulyans Kernow was the issue of the Cornish Constitution implicit in the creation of the Duchy of Cornwall.
Devonwall is a jocular name used in 2010 for a possible constituency that would combine parts of Devon and Cornwall and would be represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot is a Welsh activist, Early Years lecturer and language expert who has been General Secretary of the Celtic League since 2006 and editor of Carn magazine since 2013. He is also the former president of the European Free Alliance Youth.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall:
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