Portal:Cornwall
 Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of 545,335, covering an area of 1,369 sq mi (3,546 km2), and its administrative centre and only city is Truro.  Cornwall during the time of the Celts was a part of the Brythonic area of Britain, separated from Wales after the Battle of Deorham. The Kingdom of Cornwall often came into conflict with the expanding Saxon kingdom of Wessex, before the boundary between English and Cornish people was set at the Tamar. The Cornish language continued to be spoken until the 18th century, although a recent revival has seen the number of Cornish speakers increasing over the past few decades. Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and diaspora, and is considered one of the six "Celtic nations" by many residents and scholars. Cornwall continues to retain its distinct identity, with its own history, language and culture. Cornwall's economy struggles after the decline of the mining and fishing industries, and has become dependent on tourism. The area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its extensive and varied coastline, home to a variety of flora and fauna, as well as its mild climate. Selected article Cornish hurling or hurlin is an outdoor team sport of Celtic origin, played with a small silver ball. Once played widely in Cornwall, the game has similarities to other traditional football or inter parish 'mob' games, but certain attributes make this version unique to Cornwall. It is considered by many to be Cornwall's national sport along with Cornish wrestling. At St. Columb Major on Shrove Tuesday a much rougher and traditional version of the game is played. the game involves a physical battle on the streets, between two teams of "Townsmen" and "Countrymen", with the shops in the town barricading their windows and doors to protect from accidental damage, which sometimes occurs. The game starts with a large scrum at 4:30 p.m. The ball is thrown to the crowd at the market square and the objective of the game is to control it possession in the town with deliberate passing and tackling. Game play in the town normally lasts no longer than one hour after which the ball may be carried towards respective goals that are set about two miles apart. Very often if a route to the goals is unpractical players may carry the ball into fields that surround the town, with the aim of to carrying the ball across one of the Parish boundaries. At 8:00 p.m., a winner returns to declare victory for Town or Country. This is followed by a visit to the public houses of the town where the ball will be dunked into gallon jugs filled with beer. Each gallon will be 'called up' and the 'silver beer' (as it is known), will be shared amongst the hurlers. Selected biographyRichard Trevithick (13 April 1771 - 22 April 1833) was a British inventor, engineer and builder of the first working steam locomotive. He was born in Tregajorran, in between Camborne and Redruth, which at the time was a rich mining area of Cornwall. The son of a mine 'captain' and a miner's daughter, as a child he would watch steam engines pump water from the deep tin and copper mines. His first job was building and modifying steam engines, and as he became more experienced, he realised that improvements in boiler technology permitted the safe production of high pressure steam, and that this could be made to move a piston in a steam engine on its own account. In 1799 he became the first person to make high pressure steam work, and started building his first models of high pressure steam engines. Trevithick built a full-size steam road locomotive in 1801 on a site near the present day Fore Street in Camborne, the 'Puffing Devil', and demonstrated it by successfully carrying several men up Fore Street and then continuing on up Camborne Hill, from Camborne Cross to the nearby village of Beacon. This event is recognised as the first demonstration of steam powered transportation, and it later inspired the popular Cornish folk song "Camborne Hill". Trevithick went on to work in Shropshire and then in Wales, where he designed and successfully tested the world's first railway locomotive. Selected image
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