Marazion Beach and Red River
Looking out over 'Red River' as it flows across Marazion Beach. As you can see it isn't very red any more - it was originally named because of discolouration from mining spoil.
Oh, and there's St Mic...
Marazion Beach
The western end of Marzion Beach as it blends into Longrock beach and curves around to Penzance in the distance...
Broken Down Old Hut
I believe Stonefly posted a photo of this same old broken down old building a couple of years back.
Anyway, here it is again!...
Yes after all i could do something far more constructive like bum around websites making childish comments completely lost in the value of my own sense of humour.
Is your time of such little value to you?
Oh well at least its good to see the youth of today using the Internet.
Anyway another letter from the DCA: http://www.dca.gov.uk/
I am sorry that you found Mrs .......... letter unhelpful. For clarity, the matters you raise are not the responsibility of this department. Whilst we do indeed deal with Constitutional issues i.e. devolution, crown dependency and royal and hereditary, it is the responsibility of the Office of the Deputy Priminister to determine - for the purposes of government - the 'status' of Cornwall. As such, i understand Cornwall is treated as an administrative and ceremonial county of England. The local people in Cornwall will elect Members of Parliament to the United Kingdom Parliament and will pay taxes to the British Exchequer. Equally, laws passed for England are deemed to take effect, and are enforced, in Cornwall.
In so far as the documentation that you enclosed with your correspondence is concerned, as this is not a matter for the DCA i can only suggest you contact the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for further interpretation of the law as it stands. the alternative would be for you to challenge the legal status of Cornwall through the Courts.
So there you have it the governmental office for constitutional affairs cannot answer the question "What is Cornwall" taking into account all the evidence. In fact if i want just an answer, just some clarity i am advised to take my own government to court.
What sort of state is this?
PS the enclosed document referred to by the DCA was a photo copy of the article from the autumn Cornish World examining Cornish history and the Cornish constitution.
If everyone had your childish apathetic opinions in Kernow, nothing would get done and Kernow would fall into the oblivion of an English South West region. Luckily most of the Kernewek have not fallen into the good old Kernewek disease of apathy which had a tight grip on most of Kernow once and now we are getting things done for the good of Kernow. If you really care about Kernow, do something for her, not go on message boards and slag off the people who are.
Dyalor,
probably the foremost references are the Cornish Stannary Parliament and the Tyr-Gwyr-Gweryn sites:
http://www.cornish-stannary-parliament.abelgratis.com/
and
http://www.kernowtgg.co.uk/index.html
Hadn't heard of that. Where did that come from?
Perhaps it's to follow the lead of "English Heritage" (GOD I HATE THAT NAME!!!) who are raising an order in Council to change their name to "Natural England". Just fine for anywhere over the border
The only problem is that the DOC is not answerable (exempt is their wording) to the Freedom of Information act and your democratically elected local MP is not allowed to ask questions of the Duke or the Duchy in the House of Commons.
(Barry Winetrobe, secretary to the House of Commons library).
The DOC (as a private estate? [I don't think so]) has over 105 Acts of Parliament and Statutes to support anything they wish to do in Kernow. to the detriment of the indigenous Cornish poulation.
To recap i contacted the Duchy and the Department of Constitutional Affairs to ask them about the constitutional status of Cornwall and its relationship with the Duchy of Cornwall, with reference to a list of historical and legal facts which can be found on this thread or on this website: http://www.kernowtgg.co.uk/
The Duchy wrote back saying that the Duchy and the County of Cornwall are two different things, the Duchy being a private property company. They however at no time tried to address the facts provided. I wrote back thanking them for their responses but asking that they address the points raised, i still await their response.
The DCA wrote back saying that they treat Cornwall as a ceremonial and administrative county of England for the purposes of their office but that the points i raised where outside their remit to address. they forwarded me to the office of the deputy priminister local government division.
At one point they also suggested i take the government to court if i wanted to change the legal status of Cornwall, something i never even hinted at doing, i just want to know the true status of Cornwall.
ODPM said they treat Cornwall as a ceremonial and administrative county of England for the purposes of their office but the points i raised were outside the remit of their office, they referred me to the DCA.
Do you see where this is going? So that's it, this is the reality of the UK government when questions are too tricky to answer in a reasonable way they simple choose not to answer them. There is only transparency and openness when it suits them. This is an important lesson for us all to learn not just people in the Cornish movement but all UK citizens!
I really don't know where to go from here accept demanding a different department to communicate with or forwarding all the correspondence to NGO's responsible for monitoring governmental transparency; bodies in Europe spring to mind.
latest letter from me in response to the farce described above:
Policy Advisor
20th of November 2005
Dear..................
Thank you for your letter dated the 11th of November 2005, your ref:...............
I would like to start by apologising to you, I believe in my last letter I made a complaint against you in person. I would like for it to go on record that I retract this complaint without reservation, I understand that you are acting in the only way your department will allow.
However my formal complaint against the ODPM democracy and local governance division stands and I would like this to go on record as a formal written complaint.
The reasons are as follows:
Neither your department, the Duchy of Cornwall or the DCA have been able to provide a description of the constitutional status of Cornwall in the United Kingdom that takes into account the historical / legal facts I have provided.
Both your department and the DCA have responded that for the purposes of your respective functions you treat Cornwall as a ceremonial and administrative county of England. However both of your departments have failed to responded to or even investigate the historical / legal facts that severely question the bases for this assumption.
When faced with these historical and legal facts the DCA referred me to you, it seems you are now referring me back to the DCA. When faced with the information that I have provided both your departments have claimed that I have raised questions that are outside the remit of your respective offices, if that is the case why have you referred me back to the DCA and why did the DCA refer me to you in the first place?
Does anybody know who is responsible for answering this question in your department or is it that the government just does not want to answer such questions; because quite frankly that’s they way it appears?
So if neither your department, the DCA nor the Duchy can help me obtain a reasonable answer, who can? Which part of the United Kingdom government can provide an answer to one of its citizens that does address all the facts concerning the constitutional status of Cornwall?
Your department and the DCA have both denied responsibility for the question I have raised, you have both said that it lies outside your respective remits, but at no time have you provided me with the name and address of the governmental department that can answer my question, the department whose remit does cover my question.
I find it totally unacceptable that the ODPM and the DCA have failed to provide such a contact address and request that you do so in all haste.
Yours sincerely
F le Breton
CC to the DCA their ref:.....................
All correspondence to date have also been forwarded to the following: Council of Europe Secretariat - Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Federal Union of European Nationalities; EU Culture Commissioner; EU Human Rights Committee; EU Citizens Freedom, Rights and Justice Committee
I agree, have been thinking the same thing myself. OK, I removed the "God you boring idiots. " because I don't have a problem with people discussing the nature of Cornwall.
But what you're saying is true, you can discuss what Cornwall is until you go blue in the face meanwhile in the real world Cornwall has been bought up by the retired English middle classes turned into a theme park with all its original inhabitants having to dress up as pixies to make a living
Not sure what your point is really. As you know i fight on a number of fronts in the Cornish movement and i totally agree that economic and social changes need to be made in the Duchy in all urgency, that's why i support the assembly. In a wider sense that's why i vote left of centre.
Environmentally there are Cornish and global issues i pursue as well.
However this thread is about getting to the bottom of what seems to be a right royal scam!
The Duke gets all the benefits of being King of Cornwall but then can avoid all the responsibilities to the Cornish people, leaving the UK government a free hand to slowly stitch Cornwall into one of its cultural Frankenstein like creations see Devonwall or Westcountry, further denuding us of one of the facets of our cultural identity.
If we get up a head of steam and if we can prove and enforce the true status of Cornwall, then this will go a long way in stopping the cultural assimilation of the Cornish which is just as damaging as the economic and social conditions in my opinion.
After all what would Cornwall and the Cornish be if we did just become Englishmen in another English county/region, even if we did have better jobs?
Fulub le Breton said:
No, definitely not. Keep up the good work as things have never looked so good for underlying Cornish culture and self-determination.
It doesn't really matter who owns an icecream stall, etc, they have them in Torquay, Blackpool, Skegness - they're not Cornish, they're ubiquitous.
What matters are the things that make it Cornish - the language and visibility of it and the political uniqueness of Cornwall.
We have recognition of the language and money for it and a major political party supporting devolution. That's real progress. What needs to be done is to push these things forward at a higher pace.
Your contribution has been invaluable FLB in keeping things in the limelight - KEEP UP THE SPLENDID WORK - sod the naysayers
Kayaking group rescued from river
Five children and two adults camping at Cotehele Quay are rescued after getting into difficulty on a kayaking trip.
Woman jailed over brothel keeping
A woman who made thousands of pounds running brothels in Devon and Cornwall is jailed for a year.
Train line gets £8m refurbishment
Nearly £8m is being spent on a Cornish branch railway line so that trains can run every half hour.
No to incinerator
A local MP has contacted hundreds of community organisations across Cornwall, urging them to join his call for a planning inquiry into the proposed waste incinerator at St. Dennis, on the grounds is goes against planning policy.
Local emphasis for hospital meals
The people who produce Cornwall's hospital food say the meals are tastier and more local than ever before.
Free MoD cliff rescue for bullock
A bullock which plunged over a cliff in Cornwall is rescued after the MoD agreed to waive its fee.
Report highlights alcohol dangers
About 750,000 people between the ages of 16 and 65 are "hazardous" drinkers, a new report says.
Killer's sentence upheld by judge
A High Court judge has ruled a Jersey man found guilty of killing a man will serve a minimum term of 20 years.
