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

Bromley is actually quite genteel compared to some other areas of London

Yes, even the locals.

Some will be buy to let landlords and that leaves a shortage of properties to rent in Cornwall so people can neither buy or rent. My DC’s friend and partner live in a tourist city and they have just received an eviction notice from their landlord because they are selling the house to someone who wants a second home/holiday let. Both are nurses and they will leave the city and jobs as it has become very difficult to find anywhere to live due to holiday lets/second home owners.

I recently moved South to North.

I actually think it's an overcrowding issue generally.

Places like Cornwall are designed for pony and trap travel, fishing communities and a small population.

Putting 1000s of extra people in during the summer is always going to be pure hell.

Cornwall has been over-developed.

I live in a Northern seaside town. It has proper roads, good infrastructure for schools, hospitals etc, most people live here year round. There are some holiday lets but not enough to cause carnage.

You couldn't pay me to leave in the South again.

The irony is that the economy in Cornwall is very much dependent on tourists.

I went once, and found it expensive and overrated. It's cheaper to go to Europe and get nice accomodation in a beautiful area, or an all inclusive holiday.

Some of the locals made it very clear as well how much they resented tourists. Including one shop who tried to charge more, compared to their already overinflated prices, as a 'tourist tax'. But this wasn't mentioned until the check out. We left, at the principal.

Yes it's pretty in parts, but the locals need to not make tourists so unwelcome, if they want their money, which they are quite happy to take.

Probably is the reason 😊

I have a friend who has lived in Cornwall for years, but has retained his Midlands accent. He's had trouble being served in some local places, as they presumed he was a tourist.
And there's the whole 'emmet' business as well.
The journey down there is too much trouble generally. I'd rather go to Wales/anywhere else.

I agree. I can't buy a house where I grew up because it's a big student area and all the available properties are bought up by investors for student housing. Lots of the schools have shut as families are priced out. That's just the market that we live in.

My DH is from the Lake District which is where we live now. Without the tourists the local amenities would be completely unsustainable. They bring a lot of money and investment and are needed.

How can they tell who is from London, I'm not asked where I'm from everywhere I go

Maybe it's your accent? Or could you think you don't have one?

Ah and then the typical English xenophobia and prejudice finally comes shining through.

If you said that about an other recognised national minority then you would rightly be called out for it.

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

Save your breath; this has been mentioned numerous times, and still no response to "and who sold the properties to the outsiders"

Funny that ...

I don't notice my accent. I grew up in London suburbs but now live in a commuter town outside the M25. But my accent is not dissimilar to my dad's (Kent) , or friends who grew up in Bedfordshire, Bucks, Surrey, Herts, Essex (do they all count as London?) or the Isle of Wight....so I'm not sure how you tell

You mean it took "ex locals" (or sometimes dead locals). They aren't "local" if they have sold the house and don't live in cornwall are they?

What do you mean by “economy”. Do you mean the people that live there need tourists to get a salary? I'm sure some do but would they need such a high salary if accommodation costs weren't so high because of tourists? Probably not. Also, given that many people work from home nowadays lots of jobs could be done in Cornwall without relying on tourists at all.

No,tourism benefits relatively few locals. The jobs are seasonal and low paid, there few affordable homes for locals. Tourists can be arrogant narcissists who think locals should be grateful, this thread being a pretty demonstration of that.

So, "arrogant narcissists" et al shouldn't visit Cornwall?
Ok, what do residents consider to be a solution? Maybe all or some of the following - property only to be sold to locals, only for residential purposes, traffic and parking severely restricted, only access to certain spots carrying a prepaid card? What would work?

I don't think this is fair

Yes there has been a lot of publicity about the housing crisis in Cornwall. However it has been given the publicity - Cornwall isn't going to turn that away if the opportunity presents itself. That amazing chap Don in Camborne for example - he's not going to say to Simon Reeve when he and his film crew come knocking "No please go and report on food bank use in other areas" is he?

They aren't "local" if they have sold the house and don't live in cornwall are they?

Well no; if they've made their money from the property and used it to move out then clearly they're not local any more, but they once were - or at least the original owner who chose to sell to outsiders was, even if it was years ago

Granted there'll be some where executors live elsewhere and have little connection beyond some elderly relative being in a holiday area, but I hope nobody's going to suggest this accounts for all those sales ...

But Cornwall is in England? Wales, Scotland and Ireland (which isn't even in the UK) are not.

I'm from one of the above countries (with an accent to match) and I also live and work in London, so where I fit in I have no idea. Luckily there is no chance of my ever setting foot in Cornwall, so it doesn't matter 😁

I have a caravan in Cornwall so am here regularly. I fell in love with it over 40 years ago, when I came as a child with my parents. Coming here as a child, teenager, young adult, adult and now parent at all times of the year, I have met so many locals and tourists. I think the article is a bit misplaced.

In my (what I consider) vast experience as a ‘regular, friendly emmet’, the biggest issue comes from those who move down as young children with parents that fall in love with the place and want a more laid back way of life for their families. They (the parents) have jobs, love the beaches and the land and treat it well.

Their children on the other hand, had the place forced upon them so didn’t appreciate the views and magic of the place. As teenagers & young adults they become completely disenfranchised. There is little work for them, so they hang around drinking and terrorising tourists and being overly smug that they’re not emmets. I have often seen groups of them leave litter after a beach/park party and blame the tourists.

Their behaviour is actually emulated by teenage and young adults all over the country, but many locals (their parents) don’t realise that and blame tourists.

On a positive note, in my experience, many of these young locals will often then move up country, get a job, realise what an amazing place they lived in and move back with a much nicer attitude.

And WTF is an 'emmet'? Is it like a weegie?

@MattDillonsEyebrows - no one in Cornwall is disenfranchised. At 18 everyone can vote. So maybe they need to vote for different people if wrong decisions have been made? They haven't had a vote removed!

The Cornwall of 20/25 years ago was very very impoverished. It was one of the poorest areas in the whole of Europe. I remember working there a lot. The European Union designated it an area in need and poured money into the area. It ended up connecting it much better to the rest of the country through road-building and also enhancing its economy through tourist projects. Unfortunately, this had unintended consequences in terms of making Cornwall even more accessible to tourists and the benefits have started to recede with a deluge of tourists. I don't know what the answer is as Cornwall was so deprived and an awful place (with some isolated ok bits) to live in terms of accessibility and jobs before, I think people might be idealizing what it was like before this influx.

This type of article, and lots of these comments piss me off. Cornish people are people (not some other breed altogether called 'locals'). Some are lovely; some aren't. Some are friendly; some aren't. Some are great at reversing down lanes; some aren't. A bit like Londoners, Northerners or anyone else really.

Cornwall has some social and economic problems as a result of its geography and location, as do many other places. This othering that takes places from both sides is deeply unhelpful.

(Colours to mast - I'm northern-born via a decade in London and have lived happily in Cornwall for almost 20 years with my Cornish-born husband and kids. Really, all the places I've lived have far more in common than you'd think from the tone of the conversation about Cornwall.)