The Cornish Pasty

The Mexico connection

16 Aug 2009 - click here

9 Sep 2009 - click here

This page brings together the several mentions about the Cornish pasty and Mexico as well as some new ones.

The Cornish Pasty/Mexico connection is profound and will become more so as we learn more about it:

• Page I of the Origins of the Cornish Pasty touches on extra-terrestrial origins. This sounds far-fetched but strange things happen and later prove true. This goes back to the asteroid impact near the Yucatan peninsula, MEXICO 65 million years ago, resulting in the extinction of the dinosaurs:

  • The page also links to NASA (National Aeronautical & Space Administration, USA) information that describes how the seeds of life could survive entry through our atmosphere by meteor or asteroid HERE, HERE & HERE (or how the first pasty tree seeds could have reached the earth).

  • The page also mentions how genetic material could have come from another world in the same way that moon rock has reached earth afterwards as a meteor, including pasty tree material. This would occur following an impact on another world, such as the newly discovered most-earth-like planet - Gliese 581C or some pasty-bearing planet yet to be discovered.

• Origins of the Cornish Pasty: IV: Recent times recounts gigs from Scilly and Cornwall sailing to Mexico to bring back young pasty trees after the pasty tree clearances went too far.

• Talking Pasty tells the story of Esperanto and how it would be the international language of pasty tree trading when the gigs were in Mexico.

• Mexican Pasty talks about a Mexican mining region with strong Cornish influences from emigrant miners, now wanting to set up twinning with Cornish towns (last paragraph on the page).

• Geevor Tin Mine Museum now offers a visit underground to the old Wheal Mexico adit mine that was lost long ago and only rediscovered in 1995. Direct link - Wheal Mexico.

Looking out of the entrance to Wheal Mexico (direct link to Wheal Mexico)
Photo kindly provided by Geevor - Tin Mine Museum

• Hayle - Pasty Capital of the World has some mentions of Mexico and Mexican connections, also .....
   

  		A road sign at Phillack, Hayle Also leading to Mexico Close, although there seems to be no road sign
  		House name in the Hayle area Acknowledgement: Thanks to the owner for permission to use it. I hope the family in Australia get to see it
  		Mexico Cross A largely forgotten granite cross believed to be from the 8th Century Source: The Book of Hayle, by Harry Pascoe, Published by Halsgrove, 2005, ISBN 1 84114 409 6, page 38. There is a photo on page 67 Directions: The cross can be found by walking up Mexico Lane - it is in a field behind the first houses on the left. Follow the lane around to the left at the top and proceed to a farm gate on the right, just near the end of the lane. Just right of the gate, enter the field over some stepping stones. Turn left and follow the hedge around, first keeping the houses on your left, passing a watering place in the hedge for cattle (serving two fields) into the next field. Turn left at the gateway into the next field, follow hedge around until it bends sharp left at a corner. The cross is about a yard before the turn in the hedge (when I found it it was completely hidden by ivy) GPS-determined position: SW 56240 38414
  		Mexican Pillar Plant A rare specimen of Echium simplex in flower at a secret location near Hayle (1st June 2007). It is also known as the Tower of Jewels or Mexican Pillar Plant and occurs mainly in Tenerife today. The connections between Tenerife (Canary Isles), Spain and Mexico need not be elaborated here, they have a common language from the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The "Mexican Pillar Plant" name comes from its being a co-pollinator of the pasty tree, sometimes brought from Mexico with replacement pasty trees. It was grown as a companion plant in case the Black Nights failed in their annual migration from Columbia and did not perform the usual night-time pollination (see THIS PAGE) - then pollination would be done by bees in the day-time, although the pasty trees had to be in very close proximity to the Mexican Pillar Plant for cross-pollination by the bees. The alternative was to pollinate by hand, as described HERE. The bees were tricked into doing this by the scent of the pasty tree flower and the pillar plant flower being indistinguishable and flowering at the same time. If you happen upon this plant, look around you in case there is a pasty tree near by!
  		Closer view of the Mexican Pillar Plant flowers
  		Close view of the flowers
  Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number 100047373.   The old map of Hayle above clearly shows "Mexico" (in the centre) The nearby "New Inn" has reverted to its old name - "The Bucket of Blood" Acknowledgement: Thanks to Sister Kay for the old map. Some old maps show "Mexico Towans" - mentioned here, in Wikipedia. The name is also mentioned in a modern review of local surfing beaches. 16 Aug 2009 Map of Hayle beaches courtesy of www.cornwallbeachguide.co.uk A modern map of Hayle beaches shows Mexico Towans   Hayle has a range of "towans" - sandy beaches backed by sand dunes up to 52 m/170 ft high ranging up to Gwithian. These have had various names over the years, starting at the Hayle end ..... Harveys or Hayle Towans Riviere Towans Mexico or Common Towans Phillack Towans Upton or Dynamite Towans and Gwithian Towans (list may be revised because sources do not agree although all the names have been used). Also, see Cornwall Wildlife Trust - Upton Towans Nature Reserve & Wikipedia - Hayle
  Something important at Mexico "The Bucket of Blood" refreshment for the traveller This is a friendly Cornish pub with a good selection of beers - there is "Cornish Cream" at one end of the taps and pumps and "Proper Job" at the other. For the life of me, I can't decide which I like best, but I'll be back to test them again .....
  Why "Mexico" in Hayle? I have heard two explanations ..... The Book of Hayle, by Harry Pascoe, Publisher Halsgrove, 2005, ISBN 1 84114 409 6, page 38 (same page referred to above) says: "It was named after the men who returned from that country, having failed to settle out there while working in the mines". the seed for the short grass that grows behind the sand dunes was brought back from Mexico - not the marram grass that stabilises the wind-blown dunes. Acknowledgement: Thanks to Cousin Anne for this information
  	Phillack Cross By the lych gate into Phillack Churchyard This cross is believed to be 9th Century and has nothing to do with the country of Mexico although it is literally just down the road from Mexico Lane, Hayle. It is too interesting to ignore ..... it unusually bears a human figure, depicted as in crucifixion. Both this and the Mexico Cross (above) are early forms of the Celtic cross or high cross. They are deemed "early" in that the circle encloses the cross completely.
  Old mining map of the Hayle area, showing Penpoll, Millineer, Trelissick, Tolry and St Erth Village - see enlargement below for the Mexico connection. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number 100047373.
  Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number 100047373.   This portion of the map shows Trelissick and the old mining area near what is now called Cledma Bank with the "Mexico" shaft of the West Wheal Alfred mine (near bottom, centre). Acknowledgement: Thanks to Cousin Nancy for providing the above map.
  Image courtesy Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance (KH 26Mar2008)		Another piece of local and family history. This tin ingot, stamped with the Cornish lamb and flag mark to signify good quality tin, is from the tin mine at "Mellanear". This was on Trelissick land, just to the top right of the farm marked on the first map above, before you reach "Millineer"
  		Wheal Alfred a name still in use in the Hayle area

• The Mexico Inn, Long Rock, between Hayle and Penzance .....
   

  There is a car park at the rear, also there is street parking. Plaque in the bar, explaining the origin of the pub. The pub is well worth visiting. The food menu has traditional pub fare with locally sourced produce, including Newlyn crab, and some Mexican dishes - we had nachos, naturally!     Mural in the gents ..... ..... based on local characters!

• The real story of the Cornish miners in Mexico - a BBC News item dated 17 August 1999.
   

• The Wheal Mexico mine at Perranzabuloe - mentions HERE and HERE. This was part of the Trebisken and Trebellan mine complex, worked 1553 to 1558 and then again 1785 to 1864. It produced 1140 tons of lead ore (galena) from which 6550 ozs of silver were obtained.
  Acknowledgement - Thanks to Cousin Anne for this information.
   

• A brand new "Mexican Connection" - Ginsters Mexican pasty - "Mexican Style Spicy Chicken" - this is a chicken pasty with pepper, onions, spicy chilli, tomato and raisins in shortcrust pastry. (Seemingly discontinued from Ginsters product selector).

  • Western Morning News article - link direct to the news article from 24 April 2007 about Ginsters new international style pasties on the paper's web site .
    Sorry - this article has now 'timed-out' of their web site

The connection between the Cornish Pasty and Mexico is probably greater than you first thought!

Footnote - Crown Copyright

Most maps are subject to Crown copyright. The original sources of the old maps shown above are not known. On the assumption that they are subject to Crown copyright, we reproduce the following information from Wikipedia - Crown copyright:

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Further information can be seen here:

• HMSO - http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20021710.htm
• DEFRA - http://www.defra.gov.uk/web/copyright.htm

As the maps are published and more than 50 years old, the following applies:

"Crown copyright in published works lasts until 50 years from the end of the year in which the work was made.  In unpublished works, copyright protection lasts for 125 years from the end of the year in which the work was made or until 31st December 2039 (whichever is the longer)."

ALSO - SEE Ordnance survey.co.uk - Copyright licensing for potential mapping applications & I am a walker wishing to publish my walks on the internet - what licence would I need? (for Dartmoor CAM)

Acknowledgements
1. Our sincere thanks to the landlord/landlady of the Mexico Inn, Long Rock, Cornwall, for permission to take the photographs inside the pub that are used on this web page.
2. Our sincere thanks also to Jo Warburton and Bill Lakin, Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen, Cornwall, for various information and for providing the photograph from Wheal Mexico that appears on this web page.

So there we go again - there's always something to learn about the Cornish pasty .....