Cornwall

Visitors to Cornwall should at all times be aware of the unpredictable and dangerous nature of some of the tides and currents around the Cornish coast and seek advice from local lifeguards before swimming or surfing. It should also be noted that there is a small chance of getting great white or tiger sharks off the south coast, but don't let this worry you as they are very very rarely seen, and there have been no known attacks.

Be very alert when driving at night as some roads, especially the A39 in North Cornwall, contain sudden hairpin bends that are deceptively sharp and are not illuminated by street lighting. There is also a risk of running over nocturnal wildlife. Use your headlights' full beam where possible and err on the side of caution.

Newquay in the summer attracts tens of thousands of tourists, and with that inevitably comes increased crime during the months of June, July and August. Particularly assault and muggings occur, usually at night and often down on some of Newquay's many beaches.

Crime rates are mostly low in Cornwall, but there are some impoverished areas of some towns where crime is more common. Occasionally, outsiders can attract attention in local pubs, but this is no worse than in other areas of the country.

villages

Cawsand

Boscastle

Luxulyan

Minions

Mousehole

Pendeen

Polmear

Polperro

St Buryan

St Levan

Tintagel - legendary birthplace of King Arthur and seat of the Kings of Cornwall

Veryan - Carne Beacon is one of the largest burial mounds or ‘barrows’ in Britain.

Zennor

talk

Everybody in Cornwall speaks the English language as their native tongue. Centuries ago people in the Duchy were monolingual in Cornish, a Brythonic language, which is closely related to Breton and Welsh. It survived as a first-language tongue until the 19th century. Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole, who died in 1777, was the last person thought to have been monolingual in Cornish. The publication of Henry Jenner's "Handbook of the Cornish Language" in 1904 caused a resurgence of interest in the Cornish language, and it is now increasingly used. Several thousand Cornish people speak the language fluently, and several young people have grown up bilingual in both Cornish and English. Increasing areas of Cornwall have bi-lingual road signs in both English and Cornish and there is a full time language staff at Cornwall Council.

towns

Bodmin

Bude

Callington

Falmouth

Fowey

Hayle

Helston

Launceston

Liskeard

Looe

Lostwithiel

Marazion - Home of St Micheals Mount Pictured

Mevagissey - picturesque hillside fishing village

Newlyn

Newquay - surf capital of the UK

Padstow

Penzance

Redruth - world capital of tin mining

Saltash

St Austell

St Columb Major

St Ives - home to a branch of the Tate Gallery

St. Just in Penwith

Wadebridge