Portal:Cornwall

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Flag of Cornwall Porth Kernow a'gas dynnargh!
Welcome to the Cornwall Portal!
Satellite image of Cornwall

Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north 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 has a population of , covering an area of [convert: needs a number], and its administrative centre and only city is Truro.

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Cornwall during the time of the Celts was a part of the Brythonic area of Britain, separated from Wales after the Battle of Deorham. The Kingdom of Cornwall often came into conflict with the expanding Saxon kingdom of Wessex, before the boundary between English and Cornish people was set at the Tamar. The Cornish language continued to be spoken until the 18th century, although a recent revival has seen the number of Cornish speakers increasing over the past few decades.

Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and diaspora, and is considered one of the six "Celtic nations" by many residents and scholars. Cornwall continues to retain its distinct identity, with its own history, language and culture. Cornwall's economy struggles after the decline of the mining and fishing industries, and has become dependent on tourism. The area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its extensive and varied coastline, home to a variety of flora and fauna, as well as its mild climate.

Selected article

A Cornish Rex

A Cornish Rex is a breed of domestic cat, with no hair except for down. It has a genetic mutation that originated from a litter of kittens born in the 1950s on a farm in Cornwall, UK (hence their name). One of the kittens, a cream-colored male named Kallibunker, had an extremely unusual, fine and curly coat; and was the first Cornish Rex. Most breeds of cat have three different types of hair in their coats: the outer fur or "guard hairs", which is about 5 cm long in shorthairs and 10cm+ long in longhairs; a middle layer called the "awn hair"; and the down hair or undercoat, which is very fine and about 1 cm long. Cornish Rexes only have the undercoat. The cats were later brought to America and crossed with Siamese, giving them their long whippy tails and big ears.

Selected biography

Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 - 22 April 1833) was a British inventor, engineer and builder of the first working steam locomotive. He was born in Tregajorran, in between Camborne and Redruth, which at the time was a rich mining area of Cornwall. The son of a mine 'captain' and a miner's daughter, as a child he would watch steam engines pump water from the deep tin and copper mines.

His first job was building and modifying steam engines, and as he became more experienced, he realised that improvements in boiler technology permitted the safe production of high pressure steam, and that this could be made to move a piston in a steam engine on its own account. In 1799 he became the first person to make high pressure steam work, and started building his first models of high pressure steam engines.

Trevithick built a full-size steam road locomotive in 1801 on a site near the present day Fore Street in Camborne, the 'Puffing Devil', and demonstrated it by successfully carrying several men up Fore Street and then continuing on up Camborne Hill, from Camborne Cross to the nearby village of Beacon. This event is recognised as the first demonstration of steam powered transportation, and it later inspired the popular Cornish folk song "Camborne Hill". Trevithick went on to work in Shropshire and then in Wales, where he designed and successfully tested the world's first railway locomotive.

Selected image

The Scillonian Cross

Photo credit: Severecci

The Scillonian Cross, an unofficial flag of the Isles of Scilly, and the result of a campaign launched by Scilly News in early 2002 for a design.

Did you know?

Selected quote

David Cameron
I think Cornish national identity is very powerful – people feel a great affinity with Cornwall.
David Cameron, UK Prime Minister

Things you can do

Things you can do
  • Illustrate the new Russian article Корнцы if you can work with Russian Cyrillic script
  • Translate the Cornish Wikipedia article Skriforyon yn Kernowek into English
  • Expand Alfred Aaron de Pass and add more info on him to the institutions he donated art and money to in Cornwall (RIC, Falmouth Gallery etc.
  • Translate the Cornish Wikipedia article Can an Pescador Kernûak (Song of the Cornish Fisherman) into English.

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  1. ^ Jenkins also wrote Cornish verse: Ellis, P. Berresford (1974) The Cornish Language and its Literature. London: Routledge; pp. 110-11