CORNWALL - A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

A peninsula jutting out from the south west of Britain into the Atlantic, Cornwall lies midway between Brittany to the south and Wales and Ireland to the north.

The intrusion of her granite spine into marine sediments gave her fine slate and building stone; rich metallic lodes and major china-clay deposits. The sea planed the slate into a plateau with granite islands rising above. Uplift created dramatic cliffs backing magnificent sandy beaches, rugged moors and a myriad of little rivers and streams which carved out wooded valleys whose estuaries produce splendid natural harbours.

Her granite has been quarried for building works from Ireland to India; her slate covers roofs from Land's End to St Petersburg; her china clay serves paper and other industries on every continent. Tin mining is dormant after 4000 years but rich soils and an equable climate give a mixed agriculture and a landscape of hedged fields surrounding open moorlands. Her seas sustain a fishery internationally-important for a thousand years.

Cornwall was a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and a hub of world-wide commerce; a source of artistic, philosophical, scientific and technological creativeness. The late 19th century collapse of large-scale mining led to massive emigration so that Cornwall is now the historic, cultural and spiritual home of a world-wide family maintained by a network of Cornish Associations. Her old mining landscape is of global importance

For 4000 years the seas of NW Europe have been a highway for traders, migrants, warriors and missionaries. Cornwall is part of Europe's rich cultural and regional diversity. Her Celtic tongue, undergoing a remarkable revival, marks her from the rest of SW Britain; her mix of Irish, Latin, Norman and English elements, her geography and social history make her unique within the Celtic world. Her flag is a white cross on a black ground

Cornwall is very rich in archaeological remains; the story of Tristan and Iseult is a major European literary theme; the lives of Meriasek (Bewnans Meriasek) and of St. Ke are the only surviving examples of pre-Reformation plays on a British saint's life in their original Celtic language. The Newlyn School of painters helped a reappraisal of traditional rural society. There is a lively contemporary scene in painting, sculpture, pottery and drama. There are many important private and public gardens.

Music is expressed through her internationally known brass bands, choirs, folk and contemporary groups. Dance, traditional and modern, is strong. Her principal team sports are rugby, rowing ( chiefly in the traditional gigs, some over a century old still racing with a growing fleet of new vessels,) sailing, soccer etc, whilst individual sports include traditional wrestling as well as the international games, athletics and martial arts.