A friend of mine said to me recently, “the best thing about Cornwall is the postcards… it isn’t the place it used to be”. Knowing him to be pretty cynical at the best of times I thought nothing of it immediately, but as I thought about it more I realized some truth in the comment. When viewed from the perspective we get on postcards Cornwall is idyllic, picturesque and inviting. This view is then networked across the country via hard copy, digital imaging and on a grand scale through the internet – creating the idea of us being able to enter some kind of “Second Eden” just the other side of the Tamar Bridge. However, is the County so utterly removed from the rest of the Country for those who live “within” the postcard, as it were?

The reality, when living “within” the postcard is, as we know, far different; low wages, lack of opportunity, unaffordable housing, shoddy transport links, etc. And yet those who live “outside” the postcard are still allowed to spend short periods in their “second eden”, whilst at the same time being largely condescending and rude to those of us who make this possible for them.

I have lived and been a part of Cornwall now for some time but am fast drawing to the conclusion that if I am to hold a better quality of life I will have to return to the city; not because of a postcard view that draws me to it, I quite simply don’t have a choice if I’m going to make a realistic future for myself financially.

Ironically, it seems that my skeptical friend may well have been, in some roundabout way, right in what he said. However, if career opportunities, affordable housing, reliable transport networks, etc, were as common and as far reaching as the huge variety of “postcards” in and from Cornwall, I’m sure we would have a brighter and more affluent future and yet still be able to keep that “Second Eden” that we all associate with this magical County. Come on……how hard can it be?!!!