Last weekend, there were celebrations in towns across Cornwall to mark St Piran’s Day. Over the past few years, we have seen a growing interest in Cornwall’s history and culture. Camborne, Redruth, and Hayle are at the very heart of this revival, and it’s great to see these great industrial towns leading the way in promoting our rich and wonderful history.
St Piran’s Day was also celebrated in Parliament with a showcase of the best food and drinks that Cornwall has to offer. The food industry is bigger than the automotive and aerospace industries combined, and we have some brilliant examples right here in Camborne, Redruth, and Hayle – from Rodda’s clotted cream to many pasty manufacturers and companies like Furniss biscuits. None of our food manufacturers could succeed without the farmers who supply them with high-quality produce. The food industry in Cornwall drives growth, creates jobs, and helps to promote regeneration.
The Taste of Cornwall showcase provides a fantastic opportunity for businesses across Cornwall to get involved and present their products to other MP’s and people who live and work in Parliament. MP’s are able to nominate businesses from their constituencies to attend these events and this year Keltek Brewery and Lynher Dairies travelled to attend the event.
Keltek means Celtic in the Cornish language and is the name given to the ancient tribes that once inhabited Cornwall. Their hand-brewed ales are a tribute to Cornwall’s Celtic heritage and celebrate the historic tale of King Arthur who, according to legend, was born at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall at the height of the Celtic age. Keltek is a family owned and run Brewery based in Redruth and is the second brewery in Cornwall to own its own estate of pubs. Keltek started life in a disused stable block on the Roseland Peninsula and they now have their own in-house bottling facilities and have won several regional, national and international awards for their beer and have then expanded to become the one of the largest breweries in the West Country. Keltek showcased some of their best beers including their Grim Reaper, Beheaded and Big Tackle at the event which were very popular with all those looking for Cornish ale and lager on St Piran’s Day.
Lyher Dairies also showcased some of their award-winning Cornish cheese at the event. Lynher Dairies is the home of Cornish Yarg, Wild Garlic Yarg, Cornish Kern and Stithians. Every wheel of their cheese is made in their small, rural dairy in Ponsanooth in mid Cornwall. Yarg got its name from the backwards spelling of Bodmin Moor farmer Alan Gray’s surname who first produced the cheese in the 1980s after finding a 17th century recipe for nettle wrapped cheese in his attic. The dairy received international recognition in when Kern won Supreme Champion at the World Cheese Awards. Kern means round in Cornish and also happens to be the first four letters of Kernow, the Cornish for Cornwall. When choosing the name for the cheese, Lynher knew they wanted it to have four letters and for it to have the same strong sound that Yarg does, so we have much to thank the Cornish language for.
Cornwall has a unique place within our United Kingdom. It was constitutionally recognised as having its own distinctive character early in our history. The Stannary Parliament gave Cornwall a veto over certain tax laws recognising that Cornwall contributed so much to the wealth of the nation. Through the Crown, Cornwall was always recognised as distinct with the Duke of Cornwall going on to become the Monarch. Cornwall is very committed to the UK union, but we are very proud of our own distinctiveness, and we should find better ways of recognising that within our Constitution.
