Ertach Kernow - Cornish Historic, Cultural & Environmental Blogs
Cornish Historic, Cultural & Environmental articles will be added weekly on an ongoing basis. The links are to articles written for the Voice, Cornish Times and Cornish & Devon Post newspapers, aimed at audiences who are interested in aspects of Cornwall's heritage. The website articles may include expanded information and images that newspaper space did not allow.
Recent past articles are now in a slider allowing a quicker and wider view of some from the past few months - Just click the relevant article to go to the page. For desktop users arrows are at the far left & right to navigate images, click to open. For mobile device users swipe left until you reach the image then tap to open, the title will often appear slightly before the image. All the articles can still be seen via the Thumbnails and Index pages through these blue links, or via Homepage and header index.
Ertach Kernow Articles 2022 & 2023
January to June 2022
- Saviours of the Cornish language - Early scholars preserving and translating Cornish
- 200 years of the coastguard - The early days excise duties and smugglers
- Slain by the satellites of Satan & Royal Navy Shipwrecks
- John Thomas Blight - His work and an overview of his unfortunate life
- Spreading wings - Overview of the origins of Liskeard, Looe, Camborne, Redruth and Pool
- The men behind Richard Lander's famous Cornish Statue - Lander, Monument, Neville Northey Burnard and Philip Sambell
- An Ancient History Ruan Linkinhorne - Parish, and historic families and castle
- The Birth of Tin Mining - Exporting tin through the Mediterranean to the Levant
- Songs for Cornwall - Cornwall's unique songs and music
- Hillforts and cliff castles - Visit some of these throughout Cornwall
- The Great Blizzard of 1891 - Transport, woodland, businesses and people how they were all effected
- Quirks of fate - Mitchell a Cornish Rotten Borough - The rise and fall of a historic village
- A Penwith road trip - Visiting various historic sites in Penwith with two young lads
- Digging into the past and Richard Earl of Cornwall - Evolving Cornish Archaeological Society / Commemorating 750th anniversary of the death of Richard Earl of Cornwall
- Travels around West Wivelshire - Following the travels of Tudor cartographer John Norden
- Traditions that mean Home - Celebrating Celtic festival of Beltane
- 1872 ago from historic Cornish journals - The Royal Institution of Cornwall and Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society journals
- Water water everywhere- Drought in 1976 and Cornish reservoirs and water supply sources
- Camelford History - A day visit to Camelford and something of its history
- On the edge of memory - Cornish monuments to famous people of their day and forgotten war dead
- The Hungry Forties - 19th century famine and hunger in Cornwall, Ireland and Scotland. Cornish food riots.
- The Lanhydrock Atlas a Historic Jewel - Lanhydrock Atlas and the house and estate
- How we used to work - Comparing work in Cornwall from the first modern census of 1841
- The Tudors and loss of Cornish Identity - Religious upheaval leading to near loss of Cornish language and identity
- Home sweet home through history - Cornish house construction through time
- Travels with Celia Fiennes - Celia's continuing Cornish journey in 1698
July to December 2022
- Helston early historic Cornish town - The early days of Helston
- The Rule of Law, Administering Cornish Justice - The Assizes: Where Justice was administered
- Cornwall too 'bleake' for windmills - Some of Cornwall rare windmills and their remains today
- Blisland a historic and pretty parish - Visiting Blisland and walking round looking at this pretty and interesting parish
- Cornwall's wonderful gardens - looking at some of the gardens in Cornwall their history and families who began them
- Sabine Baring-Gould and the Cornish Giant - Introduction to Sabine Baring-Gould and Anthony Payne and portrait
- Cool and Tranquil - Cornish churches cool and tranquil - St Enoder and St Julitta at Lanteglos-by-Camelford
- Growth and Decay - Tresillian and Merther two Cornish villages
- William Borlase Cornish Antiquarian - Background on one of Cornwall's most important recorders of Cornish antiquities
- Celtic Cousins - Connections to Brittany, shared heritage language roots, saints, monuments and interests
- Travels with Defoe - Daniel Defoe, travels from Fowey to Falmouth in the early 18th century
- Earls and Dukes of Cornwall - Earls of Cornwall, the creation of the Duchy, later Dukes and transfer of power
- Kilkhampton a Story of Hero's Villains and Anarchy - The Grenville Family, castle & church doings
- Cornwall, Read all about it - New books, old books, Cornish libraries
- Cornwall leading the world - Cornwall not so backward and leading the world
- The historic parish of Breage - Historic tin mine, beginning of Cornwall's china clay industry, wealthy families, haunted castle.
- The Luxulyan Valley and Industrial Woodlands - a walk through the beautiful valley & Charlestown history
- Ancient Celtic celebrations and artefacts - looking at Samhain and some of the beautiful gold objects being exhibited at the RCM
- Digging in - The importance of archaeology for Cornwall - Looking at archaeology and the wider benefits to Cornwall
- Cornwall's railways; Beeching branch line closures - Branch line loss, survival and afterwards
- Portreath weathering the storms - Portreath Harbour as an important Cornish fishing and mineral port
- Vanishing social heritage - Some of Cornwall's historic pubs, existing and lost
- Sir John Betjeman, a great adopted Cornishman - How and why John Betjeman came to love Cornwall
- Marazion more than just a view - An historic trading settlement overlooking Mount's Bay and St Michael's Mount
- Researching Family History - Sharing experiences in using DNA and researching family history
- Cornish heritage recorded in art - Artists recording places, events and day to day life in art and photography
January to June 2023
- The rise and decline of Cornish Methodism - Chapels being monitored by The Cornish Buildings Group
- Celebration of Cornish Music - An overview of Cornish music and the Cornish National Music Archive
- Port Navas strikes our screens - Seen on BBC Drama series Strike the 18th/19th century Cornish quarry port of Porth Navas
- Forgotten genius Sir Goldsworthy Gurney? - Lighting, steam cars, musical instruments and all manner of ideas
- John Norden travels around the Powder Hundred - Major towns, sites of interest during Cornwall's Tudor Elizabethan Age
- Cornwall's Western Quoits - History of Cornwall's Western Quoits
- Sir Christopher Hawkins, Boroughmonger - Notorious Cornish landowner, MP and pocket borough owner
- Historic Cornish Hotels - From the early to late 19th century, many still standing and part of Cornwall's heritage
- National patron saints of Cornwall - Cornwall's triumvirate of national patron saints. St Michael, St Petroc and St Piran
- Caradon Hill - boom to bust - The short lived copper boom at Caradon Hill and the inevitable bust that followed.
- Polruan Historic Heritage - Its history as a part of the parish of Laneglos by Fowey, early trading and later shipbuilding
- Cornwall environment and culture - How Cornwall's environment shaped it's culture and heritage
- Church in a Hillfort - How a hillfort on the outskirts of St Dennis was later occupied by a church
- Cornish poets and poetry - Well-known and not so well-known poets inspired by Cornwall and its people
- Cornwall's geological legacy - The formation of Cornwall, its rocks and stone created its future story
- The logan stone of Treen - It's rocky history and how it was involved in a British national scandal
- Spring travels around Cornwall - Cornwall Heritage Trust sites, visiting Bodmin Moor, St Wyllow Church at Lanteglos by Fowey
- Porthleven History - How Porthleven evolved from a fishing village to a tourist town
- Kings and Cornish History - How certain historic English kings had an affect on Cornish history and identity
- Cornish Emigration to Australia - Convicts, Orphans, Miners all making up the Cornish Diaspora in Australia today
- St Germans a village with history and fun - This historic church village has and still enjoys festivals and fun events
- The fall and rise of Cornish woodland - Cornish woodlands diminished, gradual rebuild including lately the Forest for Cornwall
- Cornish Census and Surveys - What the census and survey records tell us about Cornwall's population
- Porthcurno. Centre of the worlds communications - World communication from Porthcurno linking Britain to its empire.
- Warleggan, once isolated and insular - The story of a village, once one of the most isolated in Cornwall and its eccentric vicar
- Cornish historic road bridges - Background to Cornish roads. two of Cornwall's historic bridges Treverbyn and Wadebridge.
July to December 2023
- King Arthur, Cornwall's Arthurian legacy - The origins of the King Arthur legend in Cornwall
- St Veep a once busy quiet parish - Riverside village of Lerryn and nearby haunting ruins of 1920's Tivoli Park
- Antique books share stories - Lost buildings, historic dance, ancient ruins. Looking at Penzance, Rescorla and Roche.
- Tamar Valley medieval jewel - Cotehele Estate with its house, gardens, woodland and quay. A terrific place to visit.
- Enjoying the Fowey Estuary - Biodiverse environment meets historic buildings and sites of interest and wonderful views.
- Climate aids Cornish farming - Cornwall's mild winters and warm damp climate with global warming aids new crops and products
- Gwennap a rich mining history - A tour around Gwennap parish its villages, and some of its many sites of interest.
- Unsentimental journey to the Lizard - Mrs Craik and her 'ducklings' first leg of their visit to Cornwall to the Lizard.
- St Mawgan in Pydar historic and modern villages - Two very different villages in this historic parish
- Trevelyan a dark history - A look at this old Cornish family and the dark side of their history including during the Irish famine
- Cardinham a parish full of history - Hillfort, medieval castle remains, historic church to crosses and inscribed stones.
- Cornwall its environment and heritage - An overview of Cornwall statutory protected areas, AONB's, SSSI's and local offerings
- Cornish fishing, the early years - Looking at fishing in Cornwall and Cornish coastal communities during the medieval period
- The Poly, encouraging innovation in Cornwall - Origins of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic in the early and mid-19th century.
- Cornish folktales and stories saved - Cornish folklore, myths and legends saved by Robert Hunt, William Bottrell and others
- Morwenstow - Cornwall's most northly parish - Hawker country, beautiful and interesting coastline and interior villages
- Bypassed but not forgotten - Often referred to as Cornwall's forgotten corner this is an interesting and beautiful part of Cornwall.
- Passed Cornish Storms - A look at some past 19th century storms that had an effect on Cornwall and some communities
- Medieval Education in Cornwall - Mostly based around religious houses the Reformation changed much to Cornish education
- Padstow Haven and the infamous Doom Bar - Padstow a port from medieval times has been plagued by the infamous Dunbar
- Cornish heritage at risk - A look at the 2023 Historic England entries for Cornwall and some of those places mentioned
- Coverack to Porthoustock a deadly coastline - Small fishing villages, beautiful scenery, dangerous coastline, death on the rocks
- Some eminent Truronian buildings - Grand buildings from the seventeen to twentieth centuries grace Truro's streets.
- Debating Cornish People - Students debate Cornish people they believe deserve greater recognition, perhaps beyond Cornwall.
- For the love of Cornwall - Reviewing 'A Cornish Chorus' uplifting poems, prose and descriptions published in 1948 (Download)
- Reviewing Ertach Kernow 2023 - A look at the wide range of Cornish historic, cultural and environmental topics covered in 2023