6 Things You Didn't Know About Cornwall!

1. Cornwall has it's own language!

Kernewek. The Cornish language is a Celtic language and was first spoken long before any of us were born! Unfortunately, due to population increase, and the Cornish speaking English, the language started to die out around the 18th-19th century.

Despite this, the Cornish community have been keen to keep their language alive and therefore some schools are starting to teach children it.

2. Cornish pasties have a deeper meaning than we think...

It's no lie that Cornish pasties are a delicious invention but the creation of them actually mean more than we think...

The pasty was first created for the miners so they could have something filling and yummy to keep them going whilst working hard hours in the mines. Although they quickly realised that they needed something to hold on to so their food didn't get dirty. So, along came the crust. The crust is many peoples favourite part of the pasty but the miners actually threw away the dirty crusts after they finished their pasties!

3. Cornwall has the longest coastline out of all counties in the UK

Many visitors come to Cornwall for our beaches and coastal walks. Anyone who has visited Cornwall has noticed there is a lot of beaches. Thats because 80% of Cornwall is surrounded by water! The ocean covers 3 sides of our beautiful county and our coast line is a whopping 1086km long.

This long and attractive coastline challenges hundreds of walkers each year to try and complete the whole distance! A very hard task but also a very rewarding feeling.

4. There's a huge variety of marine life

Cornwall has a lot of ocean surrounding it and with this comes a lot of ocean life. Most people know that we have the classics like fish, coral & seaweed but we actually have much more interesting marine life.

Some of our more common sea life that you'll see on a nice day are dolphins, seals, crabs and lobsters. It's so fantastic to be able to see these animals and it truly is an amazing experience. However, we actually have some very unexpected animals in our oceans. Such as:

• Gigantic sun fish

• Leather back turtles

• Fin whales

• Basking sharks

• Blue whales

Blue whales! If you ever spot a blue whale in Cornwall you would be very lucky. It's so rare to see them but they definitely have been spotted further out to sea!

5. Cornwall isn't actually in England

This definitely is a very controversial subject that sparks some healthy debates. Many people actually argue that Cornwall is not in fact apart of England but should be considered a 'home county'- like Wales and Scotland.

People believe this because Cornwall has its own flag, language, we used to be a Celtic nation (along side Scotland, Wales, Isle of man, Brittany and Galiciaand once used to be considered 'separate', up until 1500.

Therefore, Cornish nationalists argue that they should have greater autonomy. But i'll let you decide whether you agree or disagree with this.

6. Cornwall has over 300 beaches!

No wonder we attract so many surfers each year. Along Cornwalls 433mile long coastline, there is over 300 beaches!