Cornwall voted for Brexit. This is somewhat surprising as Cornwall receives plenty of EU funding, being one of the poorest regions in the UK and qualifying for EU regional funds as a consequence. When visiting, I ran into plenty of "Funded by the EU" signs.

One part of the answer are myths about fishing rights. But I think parts of the answer are related to this world heritage site.

I had been to Cornwall as a kid and I had very fond memories of the place: It has great beaches and the weather tends to be better than in the rest of the UK. You can even find palm trees.

We did not pay attention to the decaying industrial heritage of the region, so I had to come again. I started my visit in the St. Just mining district, coming in by bus from Penzance where I had stayed for the night. The coast line around St. Just is dotted with very scenic abandoned mines on cliffs. Simply spectacular. I walked along the coast line and took picture after picture.

From there, I went to Hayle and found myself downloading the official Unesco map to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Hayle was an important town and harbour during industrialization. During it's heyday, the town was home to two major foundries, the Cornish Copper Company and Harvey & Co. You can still see their buildings in the town center. The town is now a backwater and there isn't much to see. While I am not a fan of serial sites in general (For goodness sake, just pick the best of the bunch!), it's rarely the case that seeing more components of a site make me value a site less. Hayle was such a site.

Last but not least, I went to Charlestown (picture). Surprisingly, this was the most touristy place I visited while in Cornwall. It's a nice historic harbour with cafes and restaurants. We also had great weather and kids were jumping off the harbour walls.

The question that stuck with me after I had visited all these sites was: "What happened?" How did a region with such a strong industrial base go to a backwater that depends on tourism, agriculture and fishing for income? I think this decay is what drove Brexit. In comparison, the Ruhrgebiet was subject to the same structural changes with many companies shutting down and abandoned factories dotting the landscape. But it continues to be Germany's industrial heartland with big corporations having their headquarters in Düsseldorf, Essen or Dortmund.

Getting There

Cornwall is a long way off from anywhere, especially if you plan to travel to it's westernmost tip at St. Just. There are no short cuts; believe me, I tried.

My original plan had been to fly to Bristol and then take a train. Then the airline went broke and I had to replan. I decided to travel via London and take a plane to Newquay the next day. Newquay mostly a national airport with a few international flights (Düsseldorf). From Newquay, I arranged a airport shuttle bus aptly named Pirate Bus that took me to Penzance.

Looking back, I should have taken the train from London. I had a Britrail pass anyhow. With all the time spend getting/to from the airport I don't think I saved much time (if any) going by plane. We experienced a 2h delay at Heathrow as we were not given a start slot. National flights get lower priority than international ones. To make matters worse, we had a drunk stag party on board (Newquay is popular with those) and I got to witness my first in plane arrest, which caused additional delays and nearly resulted in me missing my shuttle bus. Luckily, the guy waited one hour for me and I was his sole customer that time of day.

Getting Around

Several sites are well along the rail line. There are also regular buses roaming Cornwall and their data is available on google maps, although some of the bus stops were incorrect placed.

• St Just is best reached by bus from Penzance. I went to the final stop (Boscaswell) and then hiked back along the coast to St. Just.
• Hayle is a stop on the railway line and everything is in walking distance from the train station. Everything being very little.
• For Charlestown, I traveled to St Austell and walked.

While You Are There

Cornwall has gorgeous landscape, pristine beaches ... It's really a nice place and a visit here comes recommended. Frankly, while I have ticked this off, I would still like to see the St Agnes Mining District and a few more sites. You may also want to check out Dartmoor National Park or take a ferry to the Scilly Islands from Penzance.

Via Exeter you can connect to the western parts of Dorset and East Devon.