Cornwall

perhaps the more places feel separated or undervalued,for whatever reason, the more parochial they become?
So many interesting places across UK it should not be a competition but a celebration!
I think it is good to maintain local traditions, languages and dialects but one should not be seen as more 'special' than another.

Doesn't every capital city receive a great deal of publicity with regard to tourism?

If you were to ask me which county in the UK has the most TV coverage in terms of food, documentaries, dramas, publicity, (Caroline Quentin) promotion of tourist attractions like The Eden Project and Lost Gardens of Heligan not to mention countless appearances on Escape To The Country, I would say Cornwall without a moment's hesitation.

How on earth can they feel undervalued?

Nonu That is exactly what I tried to get across to OH but he just said: 'we shall have to agree to differ' - a metaphorical 'pat on the head'? Spot on Pentsemmon

DEB we all have our cross to bear !!!!!!!!!!!
We love "em though really , don"t we ?

I agree with the point made about the excellent publicity give to Cornwall. I feel for those folks born in Cornwall, Devon, North Wales, The Lakes, various parts of Norfolk and I'm sure lots of other lovely places within reach of London, Birmingham and Manchester. 2nd homes in areas near the coast the dales, etc have driven prices right out of the reach of most locals with ordinary jobs.
I'm with jendurham on the idea of more regional governments, that represent their own communities. It seems a common desire for the majority of this countries inhabitants, who don't live in London and feel excluded and disenfranchised.

I spoke to my sister in Exeter today. They find it a bit stupid and can't understand why Cornwall is now classed as being 'special' as opposed to beautiful Devon or Dorset or anywhere else in the UK.

Perhaps poor old Jethro will have to change his way's.

He will have to stop saying "Well, what happened was". To " Well, this is how it occurred old chap".

I don't think some people will be happy until we have regressed to the Feudal System. We will all be crossing borders with pick axes and loo brushes soon to evade the 'rotten neighbours' who have had it all too good compared to us.

For heaven's sake if you are unemployed in Leicester you are in the same boat as being unemployed in St Austel. If you are in work and just keeping your head above water in Skegness you are no different to someone in doing the same in Penzance. If you are a fisherman in Weymouth you are no different to a fisherman in Polperro. If you are a farmer in Helston you are no different to a farmer in Windermere.

As I said there are some people who are weighed down by the 'chip on their shoulder'.

I am Cornish and had to grin when I heard it on the radio this morning. I just knew there would be a wealth of moaning!

I live less than three miles from the Houses of Parliament and as alienated from the ruling elite as anyone in Cornwall or Scotland.

There are many deprived areas of London e.g. Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK but also home to Canary Wharf.

The average school-leaver in that borough hasn't a hope in hell's chance of a career at J P Morgan, Credit Suisse, KPMG, etc.

River, I felt quite pleased today when I read that the Gherkin had gone into liquidation. I'm sure I shouldn't have, but there you are.
It could house all the homeless in London if turned into flats.
I also saw today that the last fruit and veg shop had closed in Helston because of the rise of supermarkets. Perhaps this will be a wake-up call to Cornwall.
Isn't Eric Pickles supposed to be the champion of localism. Whatever happened to that idea? He's got rid of planning rules, so that the government can say that it is going to build six new garden villages without any affordable homes. They are in trouble about that, because the garden village has to have about 50% of affordable homes, or it cannot be called a garden village.

Not too much made of it in today's Cornish Times, just a small piece on the back page. One worrying thing was the 'Grand Bard of Cornwall' saying she looked forward to the Cornish language being a regular subject on the school timetable. This would be such a backward step as the school curriculum is already overcrowded and time spent studying to speak Cornish would mean children missing out on other education opportunities and reducing their chances of future prosperity. I have no problem with anyone learning it for fun, our as an after school club but not on the timetable.

You get a lot more people busking in York than in Hull or Middlesborough, POGS, so it's not the same everywhere. Homeless go where they can beg the most from the richest.
It's interesting that sheep rustling is reappearing in the North Pennines. Border reivers back again.

York University has an excellent Department of Music and many of the buskers are students, hence the high quality. I know this as a friend is a musician and music lecturer there.

The voice of reason, Aka. Not all buskers are homeless and penniless.

Cornwall may get plenty of publicity on TV but, sadly, a lot of it is the same calibre as Caroline Quentin's dire series about twee upcountry incomers amusing themselves with quaint pastimes or opening boutique hotels and generally wrecking the local economy.
My family originally came from North Devon but I found Cornwall completely different from anywhere else I had been. We had to leave eventually when we could no longer scrape a living, but if it was possible I'd be back in a heartbeat.

I feel the same about the Isle of Wight, Deeda. We had to leave in 1971 as DH's qualifications were in arable farming. I understand what you're saying about programmes like Caroline Quentine's but what's the alternative? Surely any money is good for the local economy? Boutique hotels will need tourists to fill them.

Yes but it seems awful to have the place filling up with some of them. Look at all the hooray henrys who congregate round Rock.

The question is can the economy be revived so that there are jobs for Cornish School leavers and houses for them to live in or do we resign ourselves to Cornwall becoming a "Celtic" theme park full of second homes and boutique hotels. I imagine the same is true of the Isle of Wight there always seems to be news of businesses closing over there.

I wish I knew the answer, Deeda. The Isle of Wight has been struggling for years and I hate to say it but I think a 'Celtic' theme park is preferable to crumbling decay. When I was in my early twenties we were all leaving the Island in droves. We are now all retired and some of our friends have returned to live in retirement bungalows. We were tempted but remoteness is a scary option.

Many York buskers were homeless and penniless until they busked. I lived near the centre for ten years, but obviously knowing some of them is not considered the voice of reason. Some buskers are students. Some came from Hull, Leeds, even Nottingham to busk in York as they knew they would get more money there than in their own cities.
My son is a musician and used to talk to the buskers when he visited us. He busked in York before they brought in the system where you had to get a licence to busk. He's busked in Hull, Newcastle, Winchester, and Southampton.
However, as usual, you know better, Ana and Aka, the voices of reason.

Durhamjen

I am simply not surprised there are more buskers in York than Middlesborough and Hull, why wouldn't there be, York has a totally different foot fall and it will be more lucrative. It is not the case a busker is necessarily homeless, as you said.

Was your son homeless when he was busking? He would have been perfectly understanding of the fact he would get more in York than Hull because of the tourist trade.

To be honest, if as you say, buskers your son and yourself have met managed to earn sufficient to pay rent, pay for gas and electric, pay for food etc. etc, thus no longer being homeless is a bit of an eye opener. I did not think you could earn so much money.

Sheep rustling has been ongoing for years, probably forever. This time of year is worse because of the lambing season and a thief will always be a thief.

Give it a rest Durham and let's not resort to insult please.

Yes, Hon. members, lets not resort to nastiness about a very serious issue - that is how best to protect and encourage our remarkable regional ethnicities against a surging tide of London-based centralism and privilege. Perhaps a system of federalism within the UK, based on the Swiss Cantonal or German Lander models, would provide more opportunity for regional self-expression, opprtunity and equality of treatment. Maybe its time to blow some fresh regional air into the stuffy, pompous, corridors of Westminster!

Well said penstemmon
The other thing about the denizens of counties like Cornwall claiming special status for themselves, is the question of then what happens to rather colourless counties like Staffordshire, Northamptonshire, or Worcestershire for example, which have very few claims to fame other than a natural modesty which is perhaps the very essence of Englishness?

Those counties, JaneA, are the heart of Old England and will remain so. They do not need any pointless nationalist embellishment.

I vote for special status for Blackpool which is officially Europe's Capital of Fun!
Also one of the most deprived areas in the country along with most seaside towns. We cannot charge the extortionate prices they do in Cornwall !

Quite so, Papaoscar and seasider.