Our Work & Projects
Bewnans Kernow is in the process of establishing a new Cornish history and culture venue in Penzance - 'Cornish Heritage in Penzance'. Please click link for more details
Below we include some of our previous work strands of more recent years.
Projects
The Penwith Points of View Project
The Bewnans Kernow Penwith Points of View Project took place between February 2014 and February 2016 in Madron near Penzance. The project was funded by the People's Health Trust and was designed and delivered by Jane Howells to celebrate and develop Cornish culture, heritage and identity, local history, and community well-being. The project had two main parts - weekly local history meetings for people from Madron and a series of 16 Cornish culture courses.
What participants thought:
“The project has brought us so many interesting speakers and given us such comradeship. It has been great”
Madron
The history of Madron parish was an important part of the project. From prehistoric sites to influental residents and from distinctive cultural traditions to engineering excellence, the vast and fascinating history of Madron was always interesting to participants.
Weekly 'Points of View' meetings
From April 2014 to March 2016 nearly 100 weekly local history meetings were held for people from Madron Parish with over 50 individual speakers plus films, debates and discussions. The subject was always Madron Parish - its history and its people past & present.
Cornish Culture Courses
Many Cornish cultural organisations, academics and specialists provided a series of courses on Cornish culture and history. The courses were free to attend and were a substantial learning experience for those attending.
The course topics were:
- Cornish Culture
- Cornish Language
- Cornish Mining
- Cornish Wrestling (x 2)
- Cornwall's Maritime History
- Traditional Cornish Pub Singing
- Cornish Surnames
- Cornish Comedy
- Cornish History
- Farming in Cornwall
- Running a Cornish Heritage Project
- The Plen an Gwari
- Guided walk to Mulfra Quoit and Bodrifty
- Medieval Cornish Churches
Film
An important series of 4K films recording many of Madron's long-standing residents were made as part of the project by local film-maker Orson Cornick.
School resources
The project provided St Maddern's School with:
- A series of Cornish language lessons
- A Cornish language resource pack
- Cornish Wrestling training
- A Cornish culture costume making workshop
- A series of artist-led workshops to make mosaics based on historic local sites
Research Group
A small group of volunteers met regularly throughout the project to research the history of the parish and prepare publications.
Events
The Penwith Points of View project held a number of events including a busy Open Day, anniversary dinners for members and joint meetings with the Carfury Antiquarians.
Training and Networking Project 2012-2013
This was a 12-month project to provide a series of one-day training courses for Cornish cultural organisations delivered by sector specialists. The courses were:
- Fundraising
- Governance
- Copy writing and Report writing
- Communications and social media
- Project management and event management
The project also organised networking events across Cornwall for Cornish cultural practitioners and provided online resources
Click link to see - The Penwith Points of View Project - Through Images
Reports
Bewnans Kernow has published a number of reports relating to the recognition of the Cornish under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). These include:
Reports include:
- Bewnans Kernow Preliminary Report on the Cornwall Council Core Strategy
- Bewnans Kernow Report on Cornwall Council Local Plan
- Shadow Report on the UK Government Fourth State Report under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
- The FCNM and the 'Cornish Distinctiveness Report'
- Report on Disparities and Cornish Ethnicity
Consultation
Bewnans Kernow has close connections with Cornish cultural practitioners and, when views are needed, has organised consultation events on matters of Cornish culture, heritage and identity, often in conjunction with the charity Cornish Quest.