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Coordinates: 50°36'60?N 4°40'60?W? / ?50.6166, -4.6833
Camelford (Cornish: Ryskammel) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
The town lies on the River Camel, and its main industry was slate. It is the home of the North Cornwall Museum.
It is part of the North Cornwall parliamentary constituency, and also North Cornwall District Council, which has offices in the town.
The Atlantic Highway passes directly through the town centre.
Sir James Smith's School provides secondary education to the town and surrounding area.
[edit] History
Due to its name, it has been linked to the legendary Camelot, and even Camlann, but historians have been quick to refute these suggestions.
The town elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons. It was considered a rotten borough and its franchise was abolished in 1832.
In July 1988, the water supply to the town and the surrounding area was contaminated when 20 tons of aluminium sulphate was poured into the wrong tank at the nearby Lowermoor water works on Bodmin Moor near Bodmin. An independent inquiry into the incident (the worst of its kind in British history) was started in 2002, and a draft report issued in January 2005, but questions still remain as to the long-term effects on the health of local residents. Michael Meacher, who visited Camelford in his post as environment minister, was said to have called the incident and its aftermath, "A most unbelievable scandal."[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- , The Independent, 16 April 2006, Poisoned: The Camelford scandal
(Source: Wikipedia) |