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Cornish history wins student prize

University of Gloucestershire student Jack Miles has won the Conrad Tipping Memorial Prize for his study of Cornish local history.

Awarded at his graduation ceremony at The Centaur in Cheltenham, on November 26, the prize is in recognition of the best undergraduate dissertation in the study of local history.

Jack, from Bude, is currently working in a surf shop before going travelling in January, and is hoping to start a Graduate Diploma in Law in September.

With a lifelong interest in Cornish history, he focused on Cornwall but more specifically on how Cornwall has been represented in travel writing.

“It touched on various subjects,” Jack said, “such as Cornish nationalism, Celtic revivalism, and Orientalism as well as a wider history of Cornwall. I attempted to place the research I’ve conducted in local archives into a wider, international context.

“I was very surprised to receive the award,” he said, “I knew that there were many excellent history dissertations and for mine to be recognised specifically in such a way was quite humbling.”