Cornish Sports Stadium

With Mebyon Kernow talking of supporting a Cornish sporting stadium, (Used instead of the silly ‘Stadium 4 Cornwall’ or ‘S4C’ <that’s a TV channel!> or ‘Stadium for Cornwall’ which no doubt it will end up being called, just like the equally silly ‘Hall for…’. That was the campaign… Where’s the imagination?!), I though I’d throw in my view.

I feel an all-purpose sports stadium would be a fantastic asset for Cornwall so long as it’s not an excuse to build even MORE houses! The proposals for the already heavily congested Threemilestone from the last few years were exactly that – basically building a new village/town that just happened to have a stadium in it. Wrong.

My own feeling is that use should be made of already existing facilities, in fact one in particular. Carn Brea Leisure Centre and adjoining land in Pool.

Not only is this fairly central, it’s just a couple of minutes off the A30. As you can see the main train line runs alongside – it wouldn’t take much to install a platform, indeed, the disused Carn Brea Halt is in the vicinity (even without, Camborne and Redruth stations are only 10 minutes away.).

This site would allow a stadium to be built on the site of the athletics track. An all-purpose stadium allowing athletics, football, concerts and of course our national sport, rugby. Olympic sized swimming pool, conference centres and state of the art sports science and gym facilities would be part of the whole, making this the jewel in Cornwall’s sporting crown.

That would be my dream but I’m only interested in something that would benefit Cornish folk in general and youngsters whose future careers in sport would be boosted greatly, not in lining my pockets like the carpet-baggers who either want to build unneccessary housing or supermarkets and view a Cornish stadium as an easy way in…

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Who Do the Cornish Think They Are?

With the recent Sun article getting some all hot and bothered about us pesky Cornish, I thought I’d stick up a tiny proportion of the ignorant/ill-informed/mis-informed/half-baked drivel, general weirdness and abuse levelled at us on newspaper sites, Youtube, Wikipedia and fora across the last few years. (All typos, randomness and piss-poor grammar are as written):

Daily Mail

“I live in Cornwall and worked here for most of the last 35 years. (Well someones got to live and work here !!!)
PLEASE ignore these idiotic ideas. We have about 6 people who wear St Piran type g-strings, see through shirts and try to talk in Cornish. You can learn Cornish by popping down your local, drinking 15 pints, and try and hold a conversation with a stuffed parrot.
IF you pop down, and you are most welcome, keep off the moors between 3.00am and 5.00am as you may see some men wearing sheets dancing round a granite block shouting about a sheep.” This is Cornwall

“Its a well known fact that most people born in Cornwall County are a bit inbred and are likely to grow up claiming the dole or sick money from the English. I holiday down there and my money supports these thickos.
England is THE Country and County Cornwall a holiday part of it. The Cornwallese are there to serve and clean up after those of us who go there and spend our money to keep them in their hovels. This year I am going to come down with the biggest England George flags just to help them remember that they are part of England and should be grateful for it. Its time for the English to unite and remind the Jocks, Taffs, immigrants and anyone else that it is our English Pound Notes that feeds them. England will arise and then watch out ! Our great Football Team is just the start. Warming up now but the boys will winthrough for us ! Remember people of Cornwall its our money – Bank of England – our noble flag St George of England and our Army which you want to thank.”    

“i have to live amongst the inbred filth. i have to work along side the inbred filth. i have to talk to the inbred filth. i take the piss out of them and they throw their dollies out of the pram. they are unable to have a conversation without pasties being mentioned. they bring their mums in to show off the love bites. They think jethro is funny. They make up history to suit themselves. They rename birds to make thei tawdry lives more important. They complain about lithuanians not being able to speak english but cant themselves Robert Baillie 26/04/11″ Facebook

“the cornish have no pride unless there’s something in it for them” Facebook 

“until you’ve put up with what i’ve had to put up with today you cannot ever accept that shit can be piled that high. single celled amoeba are more interesting. i am not violent but i really want to seriously hurt the inbred filth. Robert Baillie 27/04/11” Facebook

“I don’t give a damn about the constitutional status of Cornwall, it could become “Independent” tomorrow and I wouldn’t raise an eye-lid, but it’s not acceptable to push a POV on this encyclopaedia like that. There are rules here, things have to be sourced, factual balanced in a POV manner.” Wikipedia

“As for the “duchy question” on the Cornwall article, you are also well aware that it is discussed on the talkpage. Your bnehaviour is exactly the sort of idiotic, unthinking nonsense that gets Cornish nationalism such a bad name amongst so many people (not least in Cornwall, where most people find the likes of you irrelevant irritants). You are doing more to undermine the movement for greater Cornish autonomy than the most rabid English nationalists ever will, simply because you make it impossible for anyone to take you seriously.” Wikipedia

“Deletion as MK aims are covered in the above, tweaked wording (Rights implies oppression of the Cornish people which is a fantasy of some” Wikipedia

“Total tosh as usual, the Cornish have no Celtic heritage to claim. They have no historical claim of a seperate history from England, most claimed ‘culteral history’ claim dates from a fictional history book and its claims in the 1920. This is just fiction claimed by a few Middle Class wombats with some wierd agenda that could lead to millions being wasted on fiction. There are many genuine claims could be made by other areas of Britain with a very genuine claim, the extremists in Cornwall have none!” The Guardian

“As a  London tax payer I would be delighted to kick the Celtic fringes into touch whether they wanted it or not.  I would be richer but it would not be right though.  All Celtic Nationalists parties would be well advised to pipe down in case the English took them at their word.” The Guardian

“I don’t mind them getting independence as long as they don’t hold me up at the border. If they make it difficult for us Londoners to spend long weekends in Cornwall their economy would collapse.” The Guardian

“Oh, do sod off. To suggest the Cornish are somehow a different ethnic people from the rest of England is absurd.” YouTube

“the Cornish are so ungrateful! who wouldn’t want to be part of the greatest, most culturally advanced country (England) in the world! why do you think so many immigrants come here for a better life?? if the Cornish want to be even less well off economically than they already are then let them have their independance! if it is offered to them they would not take it any way, these ‘freedom campaigners’ simply want something to whine about. how could a DUCHY hope to survive on its own with no industry???” YouTube

“I think the thing here is that Cornwall is quite an irrelevant place, with high unemployment and a fading fast economy. Nobody outside of Cornwall cares what happens to it. So, by all means argue the toss over what somebody said in an historical document 400 years ago. It’s not going to make a blind bit of difference. England owns you.” YouTube

“Cornwall is basically just a shit hole. It is the poorest county in England (yes, that’s right – ENGLAND!) and pretty soon people are going to get fed up with being ripped off by the inbred yokels that inhabit Cornwall along with the masses of retired folk from the rest of England.” YouTube

“an overwhelming bigmouth minority of Cornish people want independence backed by big muth evangelists and bigmouth IRA types and big mouth Alec Salmond types. But yet no fucker will vote for their right-wing political party why is this, I wonder?” YouTube

“Ha if cornwall became independent where would the money come from?…lol you live in cloud cookoo land…very small, irelevent,no money,little man sydrome…nearly as bad as the jocks…lol” YouTube

“Yes because a country could survive with Cornish pasties being the backbone of  it’s economy(!) Morons!!” The Sun

“One of the poorest counties in England wants to be cut free to run it’s own afairs, but still be subsidised by the rest of us I suppose. Cut the inbred pasty muching oafs adrift, and see how they survive.” The Guardian

“As along as they don’t want English taxpayers’ money they can do what they like. But, oh no they want that too. Bit like the “independence of most African countries: an illusion that lasts as long as it takes for the begging bowl to come out” The Independent

“Beautiful county populated with sullen indifferent inbreds.they’re looking forward to reviving their old ways,luring ships onto the rocks and drowning sailors.” The Independent

“I’ve only been to Cornwall a couple of times and I found it a wet, dismal dump with cloudy beer and horrible tourist traps, populated by whinging ginger dwarves speaking in an accent that makes the Welsh sound erudite. They eat minced dog and carrots wrapped in cardboard pastry and call it a ‘local delicacy’, which I suppose it is if the alternative is scrawny sheep?” Arrse

“Bearded pasty eating kuntards,,,,and that’s just the women.” dont-start-me-off

“I just don’t see why Cornwall would want to be independent. They’ve faced no genuine oppression, they don’t really have a separate culture, just pasties and a black and white flag. Yorkshire has more features unique from the rest of the UK than Cornwall, start going down that line and every county will want to be a country.” The Student Room

And finally, my personal favourite for its mind-boggling stupidity!

“Cornwall’s in England, granted it has a different history and language but its English so end of story.” YouTube

*
All in all, pretty sickening eh?

BIH Withdraws Plans

So British International Helicopters (BIH), pulls out of Penzance, where it flies back and forth to the islands as it has done since 1964. Now it sells the land to supermarket giant Sainsbury’s. Apparently the only way the company can continue is if this sale takes place. Putting to one side (for the moment) the fact that Penzance does not need another supermarket, being served by no less than Co-op, Tesco and Morrisons (sometimes in multiples!), Penzance is the ideal town from which to fly a helicopter service to the islands (presumably why they put it there in the first place!). Next, it decides it wants to relocate several miles up the A30 to the small village of St Erth. The people of said village rightly say, ‘bugger that!’ and a few days after general feeling is made known through a public meeting, BIH pull their planning application and suddenly there’s talk of re-locating to Newquay airport, (where BIH already have their Navy support and aircraft maintenance services).

Call me cynical but all this smacks of smoke-screen. BIH have withdrawn too easily!  They (BIH) would hope, that the furore over in St Erth would detract from the sale of land for an erection of a Sainsbury’s and in some ways it has. Protesting, in the form of multiple banners and signage has occured along the A30 in the proposed new heliport area, while in Penzance, supermarket planning has gone through, almost as a fait accompli, with some councillors and civic leaders zipping up their collective fly and claiming no harm will come to the independent trader of Penzance.
The town is about to get the equivalent of foreign aid turning up with salt water and pirates!

From an aesthetic point of view, is another supermarket a good replacement for a vital transport link on the approach to Penzance?

You’re driving west, down the A30 towards Penzance. What are you greeted with? First off, the stench from McDonalds and KFC; then the unbelievably expensive road signs that wouldn’t look out of place on the M25, coupled with a round-about that defies all road-sense and the Highway Code. Next there’s, Morrisons, Halfords and B&Q and then… Sainsbury’s! But there will be a park and ride to save you the two minute drive into one of Penzance’s ridiculously priced car-parks!

So, the islanders who need to nip back to the mainland will no longer have the closest (and quickest) port of call. A town which is synonomous with the Islands and easy for visitors to access, will no longer have its aerial link. What it will have, is a new shopping ‘experience’ and somewhere for visitors to park their car to get bussed down the road.

Having the heli-link in Newquay is like having the ferry link in Falmouth. Ridiculous! The latter of course, was another outright lie put forth by the ‘great and good’, the former however, looks to be a reality.

The residents of St Erth were right to object – Penzance is where the helicopter should fly from, it’s just a shame that the wheels, or in this case, the blades, of big business are put above the needs of ordinary people.

Water, water everywhere…

If anyone was in doubt about the rates we are paying for water services in Cornwall, here’s a little revelation I had a few weeks ago talking to two lovely couples, one from Somerset, the other from Cumbria. The couple from Somerset pay £180 a year to their water provider, the couple from Cumbria £300 and we, in Cornwall pay up to £1200 a year?
What’s the rationale for such difference? Really… what?

As we know, Cumbria and Cornwall both have more water than Somerset in terms of lakes and beaches. Yes. Therefore more tidy up, more spending on xxx.
And clearly the usage in Cornwall rises massively during the silly season, likewise in visitor-rich areas such as the lakes in Cumbria.
It is still a massive disparity.

As we are talking water, why then, are places like Wheal Jane mine near Truro – an incredibly wet mine – under the auspices of the Environment Agency, looked after by (previously) Hyder Water, United Utilities and presently Veolia?

Is it that, with all their tireless work within Cornwall, SWW couldn’t compete with other operators around Britain? After all, they’re too busy fleecing the likes of me and you to worry about getting involved with dirty stuff! They can’t even dig the roads up anymore without farming it out to someone else!

The people of Cornwall are being taken for a ride, left, right and centre and the water problem is one of many.
I’m sure a better person than I, can and will answer the questions posed but really it comes down to the fact we’re all paying over the odds for services here in Cornwall (for the benefit of others) and water, that most of the time, tastes just like the water up Carn Brea swimming pool!

Flambards and the flag of St. Piran

Driving past Flambards in Helston the other day, I was dismayed to see, at their new entrance, five flags flying in the wind. Dismayed because out of the five, only one was the flag of St. Piran. The others? Two Union flags and two St. George Cross.
What are Flambards trying to say? ‘Hello visitors, yes, you are in England but we’ll fly this funny little black and white flag to keep the locals happy.’
It’s just not good enough!
When a lot of work is being done to get Cornwall recognition; the language back into schools and everyday life; heritage and identity promoted etc. this, from a major visitor attraction is frankly, a disgrace.
It is tokenism incarnate.

Presumably those who run Flambards, (a place that has been served well by the people of Cornwall over the last thirty five years), are unaware that Cornwall was never a party to the Act of Union in 1707 and has NEVER been a part of England.
It is hard enough to battle through the day-to-day drivel of ‘you’re English, Cornwall’s a part of England’ etc, without local businesses reinforcing the idea. The fact that that they have the Cornish flag flying in the middle, makes them seem even more confused!

To my mind there is absolutely no reason fly the Cross of St. George. Not only is it offensive to Cornish folk, it is as ridiculous as flying the French or the USA’s flag.
People understand we’re part of Britain, so the Union flag I can just about get my head ’round (I’d still rather not see it but hey!)
Other attractions around the Duchy fly the Cornish flag loud and proud, Geevor Tin Mine for example, flies St Piran’s flag all over its site and its staff!

Come on Flambards, show you’re proud to be Cornish, do away with the Butcher’s Apron and make being Cornish part of who you are because at £20 a throw, people don’t need brainwashing on top of wallet-rinsing!