Cornwall Flashcards
Benefits of living in Cornwall
* Beach location (697km of coastline)
* Scenery - has attracted many artists (e.g. to St Ives)
* Sparsely populated – biggest town, St Austel has 35,000 people
* Superfast broadband (first UK area)
* Food and drink – Cornish pasties, over 60 cheeses, ice cream and even wine (Camel Valley wines in North Cornwall have even won
prizes)
* The Cornish language - gives the area a sense of its own identity
* High quality housing
* Climate – More sun (1640 sunshine hours/ year compared to 1420 in Manchester) and warmer winters (sub-tropical climate)
* Downside of living in Cornwall
* Remote – Travel time is high as there are no motorways in Cornwall. Closest motorway is the M5 in Exeter (Devon). * Climate – Frequent storms and high rainfall in winter
* Erosion – 2014 Railway line destruction at Dawlish (Devon) led to income loss for hotels other tourist industries.
* Lack of social opportunities - leading to a youth drain.
* Limited services – Healthcare and shops limited – many village shops have had to shut
* Cost of transport – Car ownership high (due to remote location) but cost to visit rest of UK high due to train/fuel costs
* Tourism – Poor reputation in some areas, such as Newquay, due to its beach location it is popular for Stag Weekends and brings with it
a drinking culture.
* Poor access to health facilities - Only 38% of West Cornish villages have a doctor’s surgery. The Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro is far
from some locations (e.g. 26 miles away from Penzance)
* Groups of people that might be more attracted to living in Cornwall:
* Retired people
* Families
* Groups of people that might be less attracted to living in Cornwall: * Teenagers
* Young people
* Ethnic minority groups
* What are some of the challenges faced in Cornwall?
* Demographic and economic issues:
* ‘Youth drain’ and ‘brain drain’ - as Cornwall’s young, well-qualified population leaves. This has led to a growing ageing population.
* Seasonal, low-paid and part time employment. (In some cases temporary immigrant agricultural workers are being exploited)
* In 2011, Cornwall had England’s lowest full-time average annual earnings of 25,155 pounds (77% of the UK’s average).
* Changes and decline in certain industries
* e.g. Farming: Until the 2000s, most farmland in Cornwall was used for livestock farming. However, for years, supermarkets have driven
down the price of milk (28p/ litre was being paid to farmers, whilst it costs them 34p/ litre to produce). Therefore many Cornish dairy
farmers have now switched to arable or vegetable farming.
* e.g China Clay Industry (quarrying) has seen a decline from 10,000 people being employed in the 1960s to just 800 in 2015.
