A surprising bit of honesty from the BBC concerning the pathetic vandalising of Launceston Castle recently.

First we have "Vandals have damaged part of a Cornish castle dating back to the 11th Century". Note the use of 'Cornish castle' instead of a Cornwall castle or a castle in the West Country.

Then I almost fell out of my chair when I read the following: "English Heritage, which maintains and runs the castle on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall, said the stones were smashed and impossible to repair".

Is it me or have I never seen the BBC, or other establisment body for that matter, admit that the Duchy owns sites such as Launceston Castle?

Is it that our letters and e-mails of complaint are actually having an affect? All the more reason to continue.

Why do we need subcontractors like the Historic Buildings and Monuments Trusts, aka English Heritage, in Kernow in the first place? Surely the Duke could invest some of his massive profits to create a Cornish Heritage organisation charged with maintaining sites owned by the Duchy in the Duchy for the people of the Duchy.

Our own Cornish Heritage can be found by clicking here.

marhak said:

Road to Damascus or Momentary Lapse?

Good question! But what is sure is that none of this would have come to light if it hadn't been for the work of the Stannary, TGG, Angarrack, Andrew George and others who have kept the pressure up.

Another faceless undemocratic body from England running our affairs.

Dream on.  I will never be English as long as there's a hole in my arse pointing south.  Nor will Cornish sites and monuments ever be the heritage of an entirely unconnected people.  Nor is Cornwall a 'county' – it is a Duchy descended from a former kingdom, and should be referred to as such (Royal Commission on the Constitution 1973)  Get over those, ole pard.

So eager are you to grovel to Anglo-Saxon indoctrination, that you are completely missing the point that the heritage is NOT being protected by these people – quite the opposite.  It is being destroyed, altered, manipulated and misrepresented by political agendas that are not concerned with conservation or scholarship.  Read the Save Penwith Moors threads.  Examine the Save Penwith Moors website (www.savepenwithmoors.com)  Look at the record of "English" Heritage in Cornwall which is shameful at best.

David Cameron wants to reduce the number of Quangos to save money this country can no longer afford to spend.  Cornwall, like other regions, has its own professional archaeological service which is rather better qualified to conserve its own heritage than a bunch of pumped-up suits in London and Bristol.  What is the point of this two-tier set-up?  Get rid of EH and devolve its powers to the vastly more capable regions.

Same applies to Natural "England" (formerly the Nature Conservancy Council, then "English" Nature, as Anglo-nationalism re-emerged, just as it did with "English" Heritage – properly the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission – thanks to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu).  We don't need, and can't afford, that upper tier.  We have a perfectly capable and vastly more knowledgable Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

So there are two overpriced, overblown and totally unnecessary Quangos we can be well rid of.