My Cornwall TV

A Cornwall based online television channel was launched earlier this month (2nd July) dedicated to all things Cornish.

From the Celtic League

`My Cornwall TV' is available on the internet site www.mycornwall.tv and via selected third party platforms and offers a "suite of Cornwall-themed TV channels" that will cover the latest news, sports and leisure activities on original commissioned programming. The programmes will be initially aimed at the tourist market, the Cornish community world wide and those moving to the country, but plans to also offer other channels in the near future that cover the Arts, Culture and Property.

At the date of its commercial launch, the website hosted the channels Mykernow TV, Gastronome, Adrenaline Junkie and Eden Project TV, in partnership with some of Cornwall's most well known commercial brands, such as the Hotel and Extreme Academy, Eden Project and Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen Cornwall.

Dorian Spackman, managing director of mycornwall.tv, said:

"There are an estimated 10 million Cornish descendants around the world, as well as 5 million plus people who visit Cornwall annually and over 10,000 people who relocate here every year, not forgetting the 500,000 people for whom Cornwall is already home. mycornwall.tv offers a unique way for businesses to communicate with these numbers in a sustained and targeted way, at the same time as connecting consumers with a particular interest or passion for Cornwall with the brands and companies that really matter to them.

Cornwall engenders strong emotions amongst many people and by tapping into this powerful allegiance and passion, mycornwall.tv will offer viewers compelling programming, highly relevant to their particular interest in Cornwall…"

The online TV service fills a much needed independent media gap in Cornwall and hopefully it can maintain its independent status. The Celtic League hopes that my Cornwall tv will also be hosting a Cornish language tv channel on the site in the near future too.

Links:

My Cornwall TV:

http://mycornwall.tv

Contact:

Dorian Spackman – Managing Director, mycornwall.tv
07802 796468
dorian@mycornwall.tv

(Article compiled for Celtic News by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot)

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

10/07/09

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK) 01624 877918 MOBILE (UK) 07624 491609

Internet site at:
http://celticleague.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

Whenever something is wrong, something is too big

Just finished Leopold Kohr's -The Break Down of Nations- and much of what he writes remains valid today. A long-neglected work that shows big is anything but beautiful - for nations, economies, military forces, government programs, labour unions, businesses, neighbourhoods, and all other human endeavour.

It can't be denied that the growing American and Soviet empires of the 20th century, fixated as they were on bigness, led us all to the very edge of the abyss. When one is on the edge of the abyss the only thing left to do is step back. Step back to what? Kohr responds with small states. Small nations living in confederation. No single country big enough to threaten the peace and existence of any of the others.

Would an independent Cornwall have stood much chance against Nazi Germany? No, but would Hitler have been able to menace the world if he had come to power in a small independent Bavaria? Would Stalin have been such a danger if he had been the state communist leader of an independent Georgia minus Abkazia, South Ossetia, Adjara and perhaps even Swanetia?

On Cornwall Kohr as early as 1957 wrote: "In Cornwall guide books greet the English tourist by telling him, gently and humorously, but still telling him, that as long as he is on Cornish ground, he must consider himself a foreigner".

Some of the works of Leopold Kohr can be found online here

Democratic Renewal Now

Good article here from Timothy Garton Ash on the Guardian website.

Importantly Ash is trying to keep the momentum up for radical democratic and constitutional renewal in the UK. All strength to his arm and wouldn't it be good to see our Cornish reformers, human rights and democracy campaigners coordinating activities in the Duchy.

Ash writes:

Meanwhile, outside parliament and its television studios, there's a plethora of initiatives fizzing off in all directions. This evening you can attend a rally in Westminster's Methodist Central Hall, organised by the Vote for Change coalition, with music by Billy Bragg to stir your stumps for electoral reform. The Unlock Democracy campaign has a draft bill to empower a citizens' deliberative convention to decide on a set of major reforms. 38degrees.org.uk aims to create a British online community for change, like MoveOn.org in the US. A new initiative called Real Change (on whose steering committee I sit) aims to launch a thousand small civic meetings across the country, probably leading on to a reform convention this autumn.

A choice of projects to engage with. Take your pick.

Annual General Meeting, Celtic League (Kernow)

Details below of the Celtic Leagues AGM in Cornwall.

Venue : The City Inn, Pydar St, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3SP (01872 272623) (separate conference room and can provide food and meals at lunchtime and in the evening for the delegates. It is central to road and rail links, and with easy access to parking at a multi story car park 20 yards away)

PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS.

Friday 17th July, 2009 - 4pm :

Tour of Skinner’s Brewery, Truro http://www.skinnersbrewery.com/

Skinner’s is a Cornish success story that is known worldwide for their naturally produced real ales. The tour consists of a trip around the brewery, a free pasty, and a free bar for the tour's duration!

Saturday 18th July, 2009 – 8.45am for 9am start :

Meet at the Conference room at the City Inn.

1pm - break for lunch in the pub (menu to follow), we need to know in advance for any special dietary requirements.

2pm - Resume meeting

5.30-6pm - End of (AGM) meeting

7pm - a taste of Cornish history, culture, language, and music at the City Inn. This is going to be provided by guest speakers, artists & musicians. Guest speakers

9pm - the delegates might like to sample the local night life in the Cornish capital

Sunday 19th July, 2009

1000 fifteen seater minibus to collect delegates from City Inn (Tavern An Dre) Truro

1010 same minibus to collect delegates from Royal, Truro City centre (If any delegates require transport from elsewhere, please advise us)

1040 arrive at East Pool Agar Mine, Pool, Redruth and met by mining expert, tour of EPAL mine houses, pumping and winding, film show and museum followed by brief talk on Carn Brea, the huge hill fort dominating the area and which has been occupied by humans for over 3,500 years

1315 Crowst at the Plume of Feathers Public House, Pool; a mining pub once used as a mortuary and Courthouse following the frequent mining deaths in the area, very haunted, full of Cornish mining artefacts home of the BBC series, ‘Cornish Miners’ and very busy on Sundays! Excellent roast dinner only available with vegetarian alternative @ £5 a head - please advise during Saturday if you want the meal (recommended) as it will need to be booked ahead by our contact with the pub. Real ales which are brewed locally sold and consumed here (!)

1430 Onto Gwennap Pit, Re'Druth, home of non conformist Methodism and an open air preaching - Cornish preaching pit in use, as such, constantly since 1762. The modern day proprietor of this Heritage Area and museum is a Welshman who came to Kernow and who never went home ! Lanner Silver Band will be playing and a cream tea is available.

Return to Truro

The only cost to those attending will be for the dinner (£5/person), beer, etc... All transport and entrance fees will be paid for by Kernow Branch and local sponsorship.

Each delegate will receive a pack containing a ‘Dynargh tha Resrudh’ (Welcome to Redruth) DVD, fact sheets, post card souvenirs and a book of money-off-vouchers, which can be used for other local attractions donated by Re'Druth Council and Gwennap Pit.

Support for PR from the British left.

Radical localism from the LGA

A quick post to bookmark this interesting report -Who's in charge? a manifesto for new politics- from the Local Government Association.

The usually very cautious LGA calls for such radical changes as rolling back the unelected Quango state; radical decentralisation to bring decision-making down to the lowest possible level; making local NHS bodies accountable to the electorate; a genuine power of general competence for local government, and real fiscal autonomy, including returning to councils the power to set local business rates.

One for the new Cornish council to be shown perhaps.

Where is Cornwall?

One in five school children think Cornwall is in Scotland according to this Mail Online article.

Of course it's important to ask why so many kids have such a poor sense of geography but surely the first step to a solution is being 100% honest about the facts of history.

As has been explained in detail by the people behind -Tyr Gwyr Gweryn- and -The Duchy of Cornwall Human Rights Association- Cornwall has never legally been part of the country of England. A protectorate of the English Crown and then later UK state perhaps but never part of England or a simple English shire county.

With this in mind I think It would prove far more interesting to ask why the majority place Cornwall in England. How did this situation come about? How did we loose our country?

An interesting extract from A K Hamilton Jenkin's "Cornwall and its People (1933)" indicates education as the source of the Cornish conundrum and the root of uncertainty about our Cornish identity. The extract gives an account of one Peggy Combellack in her dame-school, circa 1840:

The next lesson was in geography. This subject was regarded by Peggy as her masterpiece of learning. "Es Coornwall a naation, a hiland, or what es 'a?" she inquired on one of these occasions. This question completely baffled the whole school, putting the scholars into one continued hubbub. "Ef I aint got a hanser in five menutes, I'll give 'ee all the custis" (caning on the hands), Peggy exclaimed. "I will have horder, though the owld school do cost more in canes than 'tes worth. Now what es Coornwall, I say. Es 'a a naation, a hiland or a furrin country?" "Boy Kit" was the first to hold up his hand. "Please, he hedn't no naation, he hedn't no hiland, nor he hedn't no furrin country, but he's cigged (stuck) on to a furrin country from the top hand," came the bright reply, which was heard with approval by the whole school, Peggy herself included.

Has the Anglo-British establishment slowly removed our unique constitutional accommodation within the UK? Have our schools been used to help the Cornish forget they ever even had any special relationship with the UK in the first place? Is the question of Cornwall's constitutional history or distinct national identity even touched on in our schools today? Not a bit of it! We have a majority schools and curriculum content in the Duchy pumping out English history and culture with not even a nod to the indigenous Cornish identity or its actual history.