Take a bite out of this pasty

Cornwall is looking to exploit its mining and maritime heritage to benefit its communities economically, socially, and ecologically. No, it’s not chewing over a stale history, but cooking up a brand new Cornish future. Mark Cantrell reports

Don’t tell the Yorkshire folk, but if any county in England has got true claim to nationhood then it’s Cornwall, but when has anything like that barred Tykes from singing their exceptionalism baht ‘at on Ilkley Moor?

Cornwall, however, has long been recognised as one of the Celtic nations and it retains a distinct cultural identity that reflects its heritage, but insofar as claims to a separate and distinctive national identity and case for political autonomy go, these remain far from the mainstream. Certainly, the Cornish nationalist cause is far less developed and codified than its Welsh cousins across the Celtic Sea.

For all that, it is an ancient kingdom, turned modern ceremonial county and unitary authority area that is very much aware of its own distinctiveness, as the revival of the Cornish language testifies – Kernow a’gas dynnergh (welcome to Cornwall) as the tourist signs say. The language is closely related to the Welsh and Breton tongues, but less so to Irish, Scots and Gaelic, reflecting the South Western peninsula’s cultural straddling of the European Celtic legacy and that of the British Isles.

Like many other areas of the UK, nascent nation or not, the age of industrial modernity brought about a certain uniformity of cultural norms, and from the 18th century onwards the use of Cornish declined. Like its counterpart Celtic tongues, however, it never quite died, even if its survival and revival has lagged somewhat. It only became an officially recognised minority language in 2002 and a written version was only finally agreed in 2008.

Historically, tin mining was of major importance to the Cornish economy. The industry first gained significance in the Middle Ages and it exploded in significance with the rise of the metal-hungry Industrial Revolution, which also saw the exploitation of rich copper mines. However, from the middle of the 19th Century the metal mining industries began to go into a period of decline and china clay
extraction became an important industry. Other important industries have been fishing and agriculture, but the 20th Century saw tourism become an important mainstay of its economy.

Mining remains important to Cornwall, for all that it has declined as a functioning industry; it’s a part of the heritage having shaped the socialeconomic landscape and it finds an important position in the county’s tourism appeal. More than that, however, the relics of the industry provide the ‘clay’ for regeneration to mould Cornwall’s modern vision.

At the centre of this is the fittingly named Heartlands development in Pool, a massive regeneration project that is in the process of transforming Cornwall’s most derelict urban area – a former mining site centred on the Grade II listed Robinson’s Shaft complex.

Cornwall Council is leading on this £35 million regeneration project, which was enabled by a massive £22.3 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund, and the Heartlands is regarded as a scheme of unique historic, social and economic significance for the county. The council is working with the Homes and Communtiies Agency (HCA), which also contributed funding and more than £6 million of land to the scheme.

The 19-acre site is intended to more than simply regenerate the immediate area; it is also expected to play a role in the economic revitalisation of the surrounding communities of Pool, Redruth and Camborne, as well as showcase sustainable living and green technology. The landscaped complex will feature its own photovoltaic solar array as well as a biomass district heating system and rainwater harvesting systems for irrigation and other non-potable water uses.

Cornwall’s mining heritage sits at the centre of Heartlands and it will include new exhibitions on the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape and World Heritage Site, but it will also look to the present and the future with facilities created for artists, performance areas, business units, community
facilities, cafes, restaurants, bars, one of the biggest adventure playgrounds in the county, and of course some homes too. These will consist of 19 apartments, with five delivered for affordable rent.

In December, the H eartlands scheme passed a major milestone with the laying of the foundations for the ‘Chy-An-Bobel’ community hall. Work is also currently underway to restore the engine house on the old mining facilities, the preservation of the old head gear and the conversion of old workshops. The World Heritage Site exhibition will be housed in the old engine and winding house.

Once it is completed, Heartlands will be handed over to the social enterprise, the Heartlands Trust, which will manage the new estate and plough profits back into community and economic regeneration. Heartlands is expected to open to the community in the Autumn this year.

If Heartlands celebrates the past, a project elsewhere in Cornwall is looking very much at harnessing the county’s raw materials to furnish a more sustainable – and profitable – future in a new industrial sector. Efforts are underway to harness the power of the sea to provide electricity for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Cornwall Council is working with a range of partners, including agencies in Finistere, Brittany, to exploit the potential of marine renewable energy.

The council is leading the MER iFIC project, which takes in South West universities and leading marine and research organisations, and it has recently secured £4 million of funding to help develop and utilise the technology for island communities such as the Scilly Isles and Parc Marin d’Iroise. The project is expected to identify important opportunities in the region for new industry and jobs.

“Cornwall is at the forefront of the development of renewable energy and this investment will prove to be invaluable in exploring the potential of renewable energy for communities like Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. There are tremendous opportunities in the sphere of renewable energy development and we are proud to be leading the way in this area,” said Councillor Carolyn Rule, the cabinet member for the economy and regeneration.

Peter Child, managing director of A&P Group at Falmouth Docks, which is said to be one of the county’s largest private sector employers, added:“We work at the forefront of this new innovative marine renewable sector and are fully aware of the superb array of marine energy resources that Cornwall and Brittany have to offer and we can clearly see the business opportunities.

“With the Wave Hub infrastructure now in place we hope that this project will help position the far South West of the UK as a leading region to reap the longterm economic benefits of generating electricity from the seas off our coast.”

The project will investigate technical issues to underpin economic development and promote the business and commercial opportunities for renewable marine energy. It is estimated that by 2050 up to 50 per cent of Europe’s electricity supply could be provided by renewable ocean energy generated off the Atlantic coast.

Cornwall may well be another country, and it might be out there on the further-most edge of England’s South Western peninsula, but its efforts to build on its past and mine its present show that the long history and heritage of Kernow is far from over.