Sick of some Cornish people bleating on as though they are the worlds only tourist destination

[Endlesssummer2022]

Just read the article below and found a few gems such as these:

’ have you ever wondered where the local people live? Or have you noticed that many of your holiday neighbours are recognisable in the narrow lanes of the pretty fishing villages because they are the same people you live near in London?’

and…

‘Despite what you may have read, we Cornish do welcome visitors and are happy to share our love of our land with you. But it might help if you do a bit of research – Cornwall is fiercely independent and has a proud and unique history and heritage…* *And try not to be rude to local people. If you’ve been asked to not drink from a glass bottle on the beach, there is a reason for that. Don’t forget to tip waiting staff. ‘

What patronising bollocks. So Londoner’s (as those are apparently the only people who visit Cornwall) are so untraveled and boorish we need to be told not to be rude to people, pay tips, not to smash glass bottles in sand, that we’ve bought all of their houses, that it’s ‘their’ land and we’re the ones who are rude?

I’d already decided I wouldn’t go back there after how some of them carried on during Covid but this article has pissed me off. Why would anyone go there when they can go to equally lovely places in the UK/World and not be treated with contempt?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/29/welcome-to-cornwall-please-dont-ruin-it-for-us-local-people

It's not ignorance when they can choose and don't. Last census only 14% of the population in Cornwall selected a 'Cornish only' identity.

Actually no.
The Cornish are treated as a minority.
The people.
Not Cornwall……the place.
Theres a big difference.

Cornish can't self-identify as 'Cornish and English' on the census, so why are you so confident? They can however choose 'Other combination of only UK identities' and 17.7% pick it, compared to the 1.6% who identify as 'Cornish and British only'.

Other options.

52.1% British only
15.8% English only
9.4% English and British only

Similar I guess. Not sure having to sigh loudly on the tube to make someone move out the way is the same as finding someone shitting in your garden though

Not understanding the congestion charge or ULEZ is unlikely to put you in a dangerous situation.

We live one hour’s drive from Disney World. We have tourists here in their hundreds of thousands all year round. Not much we can do about it. Many jobs here depend on the tourists.

We live one hour’s drive from Disney World. We have tourists here in their hundreds of thousands all year round. Not much we can do about it. Many jobs here depend on the tourists.

No there is not much you can you do about tourism but plenty of people who live in Florida do moan about the behaviour of tourists and so what if they do. Cornwall isn't unique in airing its frustrations.

This amused me

So what can those visiting Cornwall do to counteract this? You could start by visiting beaches that don’t feature in the usual guidebooks. Get exploring and discover your own private paradise; there are many coves that remain quiet throughout the year.

The locals know the best beaches and the last thing they want is a bunch of emmets discovering them and making them popular.

There is a lack of affordable housing because why would you rent out to locals on min wage or who can only find work in summer when you can rent it out for 4 x what locals can afford?

As for narrow roads being in other places, Cornwall has no motorway and very little dual carriageway.

I cone from the west... Surrounded by holiday homes.

The issue isn't 'incomers' buying houses.... It's those who don't live in them rent them out on Airbnb....

These rentals eviscerate community.

PS some of my closest local friends are 'incomers' 🙄😂

There is a reason why Cornwall is singled out and labelled in this way over and above other tourist areas. From this thread alone, the very fact that it is viewed as acceptable that a local can approve of which accommodation someone is staying in, over and above another is ludicrous.

The fact that some people describe beaches as ‘my’ or ‘our’ beach and see nothing wrong with that.

The fact that people are denying the parallel between someone not understanding the etiquette of driving on narrow roads or the tides with travelling by tube or the ULEZ. I’m sure there are some people who do understand these things, just as there are tourists who understood the tides but there are a hell of a lot of people who won’t have a clue because they’ve never been to London and might find it confusing if they do go.

But additionally (I don’t think I’ve seen this mentioned yet), the two tier pricing system for just about everything, the fact that it’s deemed acceptable that anyone not Cornish should have to prove themselves in order to be accepted. This is not something which happens everywhere.

Yes it takes longer to get places in the summer, yes some people don’t know how big their car is or how to reverse, yes some people leave rubbish (which is completely unacceptable but also no different from anywhere else with lots of people in one place and not enough bins which are regularly emptied) but as annoying as this is, it’s part of living in that county, just like pollution and crowds are part of living in London, ghost tours, race meets and queues are part of living in York, getting run over by cyclists and over privileged students are part of living in Cambridge etc.

But who turned it into a tourist playground? I can’t imagine visitors forcibly took cottages and turned them into airbnbs and holiday cottages! It took locals to do that. And why not? Cornwall is a pretty deprived part of the country so it’s understandable that they turned to something that generates income and jobs. Really the local authorities there need to provide better infrastructure and clear planning policies / enforcement on the establishment of these types of tourist businesses in the first place. Fix the cause not the symptoms.

Some tourists, some Londoners, surely.
I am not being patronising, but surely a huge part of Cornish economy relies on tourism.
Be aware of biting the hand that feeds you.
Surely, it's the Cornish who sold their properties as holiday homes and the locals blocking affordable housing for local people.
All very hypocritical!

First I have not RTFT, but I would like to know the reason, why someone should not drink from a glass bottle on the beach. Is it because it looks bad, or what?
Now, if the sign said, make sure to take all rubbish home, or make sure to leave all rubbish in bins provided, etc, or make sure not to break glass on a beach, but what is the reason why one is not supposed to drink from a glass bottle on the beach?
London is a tourist trap the whole year round, though far more in the summer. I always try to be helpful to those who have come to the capital, whether from elsewhere in the UK or from abroad.

I can understand some of the issues. Too many second homes, feeling swamped by others every summer, etc. I also think there's alot of people who have moved to Cornwall who rather smugly assume that if you visit once a year , then you must be hankering to live there too. I suspect this group in particular who like to have a say on visitors.

I don't go down there as we have family in Somerset so that's normally as far as we get.

I love Cornwall. I live here too as an ‘incomer’. I didn’t write that article. Obviously. One Guardian writer did and it’s completely bonkers to assume their views are representative of everyone who lives here. One writer, not the views of the entire population of Cornwall.

Tourism has a huge impact both positive and negative. Here and in so many other popular destinations. I think we should all be a little more mindful when we visit other places as tourists.

Here, summer 2021 was awful for rudeness of visitors and fortunately it hasn’t been as bad since. Long may that continue and long may those who love this place continue to come here. 💖

Surely the thing people take offence at is the implication that a) it’s all tourists (and specifically English tourists/Londoners) b) locals never drop litter/wee in the street/refuse to give way and are all paragons of virtue who are never tourists themselves/annoy locals elsewhere and c) it’s a problem unique to Cornwall when plenty of places have a similar problem.

It’s the generalisation that gets people’s backs up. I’ve never been to Cornwall, partly due to expense and partly due to the articles I’ve read about how toxic the locals find tourism (so I’d feel bad adding to it) but I like to think if I do go I won’t turn into a lout overnight and be my usual (polite I hope!) self.

I do have a colleague who isn’t white who rotated in Cornwall as a junior doctor. They had thought about staying longterm but the level of racism was off the charts compared to anywhere else they worked (plus grief when out and about as it was assumed they were a tourist). If they went around saying literally everyone in Cornwall was a racist then that would be an unfair extrapolation and get peoples backs up similar to the tourist comments. Although I just say it’s a story in the back of my mind whenever anyone moans about health service provision in Cornwall (perhaps that’s a bit unfair of me and I’m not practicing what I preach!).

My second "it" is clearly Cornwall. The fact is some Cornish think they are different, somebody commented that they say Cornwall is an island, but it's just another bit of England. It's just the same as Devon with smaller roads, tin mines and more rocks. Unlike Wales, Cornwall doesn't have a real basis to claim individuality. I'm being really careful with my pronouns now, I can't believe anybody felt the need to point out that Welsh is not English!

Well. I think we're getting the message.
Don't go to Cornwall! 👎

I was in Plymouth this weekend just gone and observed a physical fight at a taxi rank in the city centre about midnight - a local and a tourist physically beating each other up as the tourist "jumped the queue" for the taxi.
Local saying it was "his city and his taxi".... didn't give me the best impression of the locals although the majority of people queuing were very very drunk 😂
I hate the attitude from locals in these places. There was a huge gig on and pubs/clubs were full to the brim, local hotels booked up. It must have been great for their economy.
Us Londoners do not complain about tourists and I reckon we get a whole load more than the Cornish...

Some people on this thread who know Cornwall better than me do, describe it as insular and racist. Many Londoners are from ethnic minorities. When Cornwall locals say they hate Londoners, maybe it reveals some more disturbing prejudices?

I do think it's ridiculous when people talk about 'our beaches' or 'our houses.' I live in Westminster - we don't think it's 'our Houses of Parliament' or 'our River Thames.' Just imagine! Anyone from anywhere has as much right to be here as I do - whether whizzing through on an open top bus tour or coming here to live. People are people. Some are anti-social, most are not. That applies to Cornish people, Londoners and anyone anywhere. Cornwall is hardly the only place on earth to have tourists fgs. At least it's predominantly seasonal in Cornwall. What about small cities like Bath or York that have huge amounts of tourists all year round? Where do Cornish people go on holiday and why would they be any different to anyone else?

Actually I’ve just remembered that my friend who moved to Cornwall a few years ago (converted her own barn in the middle of nowhere) made a swift exit from a pub when her properly local date got up and pissed in the corner of the beer garden rather than go inside and use the toilet. I’m not sure you can know for certain that all the people pissing in the street etc are tourists based on this admittedly limited anecdote…

Surely the thing people take offence at is the implication that a) it’s all tourists (and specifically English tourists/Londoners) b) locals never drop litter/wee in the street/refuse to give way and are all paragons of virtue who are never tourists themselves/annoy locals elsewhere and c) it’s a problem unique to Cornwall when plenty of places have a similar problem.

It’s the generalisation that gets people’s backs up. I’ve never been to Cornwall, partly due to expense and partly due to the articles I’ve read about how toxic the locals find tourism (so I’d feel bad adding to it) but I like to think if I do go I won’t turn into a lout overnight and be my usual (polite I hope!) self.

@Salacia I think exactly the same and have made comment to the same effect. The problem is that people being rude, offensive or generally idiotic will probably garner more attention than those just behaving like decent human beings they, as they would anywhere else. (But the idiots are probably the same ones who throw litter at home, drive aggressively, make a noise when they leave a pub etc )

Although there are parallels between London and other cities that attract tourists, the major difference is the massive influx over a short period of time. One pp said they lived in a city that had similar or more tourists annually than Cornwall. But I think the cities, especially London will have tourists all year round, there will be days that are massively more crowded due to events but it's not a ghost town in the winter. And cities generally have enough stable population to maintain a decent level of services for residents. I think that is the main (but very major) iissue. The fact that massive numbers of people flock to Cornwall (and Devon and other popular areas) over just a few months mean a) a greater number of antisocial rude people b) gridlocked traffic on tiny roads that can't cope and c) the number of air bnbs and holiday lets mean that there are not enough permenant jobs, and facilities for the people that live there.

I live in a very popular part of Cornwall and have done for my whole life.

I spent my teenage years with Saturday /holiday jobs in cafes and then pubs, which had most of their trade from tourists. I’ve never liked the attitude of slagging those people off, as it’s a beautiful place and I’d like everyone to be able to enjoy it (when we were overrun by stag parties for years that was hard work, but has now reduced and more families are back).

At the moment though… it’s just TOO busy. I feel for the people who come here as they are paying so much. It’s really hard to walk in the streets, traffic jams in the heat, massive queues, crammed supermarkets and the prices are through the roof even in places like really bog standard cafes.

It used to be like this for the peak 6 weeks in summer, and locals holed up at home a bit to avoid driving or only went to the quiet spots, but it’s already like that this year. I was really shocked when I had to pop into town during half term, it’s hard to drive through when the roads are full of pedestrians that don’t fit on the pavements. Luckily we are not in the town centre so can avoid more of it.

September can be beautiful though, and I understand why people chose to visit out of season during winter too as the prices are sensible and it’s still gorgeous for winter walks.

I find myself questioning why people are “holidaying the UK to save money” (just saw that on the news) as I can’t see how that can work for families who come here, even if they self cater so reduce food out.

There is the cost of days out (so expensive again to get in to ‘local attractions’), fuel, parking charges, ice creams and bits for kids when out… without even looking at accommodation.

We usually go to Turkey or Greece for our beach holidays, for all inclusive that can be as cheap as £500 each, for absolutely everything, including kids activities and all the ice creams they can eat 😄 Every bit as beautiful as Cornwall and there is room to move there, plus the locals are friendly!

Obviously it’s more expensive in August but then it’s still relative to prices here really.