The team behind the creation of the Cornish food and drink visitor attraction called Cornucopia – which is set to become home to the UK’s very first Cornish pasty heritage centre when it opens in July 2017 - yesterday announced that it is twinning with its counterpart in Real del Monte, Mexico.

Situated inside Cornucopia at the St Austell Bay Retail and Leisure Park, the new pasty heritage centre will tell the story of the pasty’s development and how the Cornish copper and tin miners introduced to them to far-flung corners of the globe as they sought work in overseas mines. 

This influence is illustrated in Mexico, where the world’s first Cornish pasty museum was established in Real del Monte, a mining town north east of Mexico City – an area nicknamed ‘Mexico’s Little Cornwall’ due to the heavy ties with the county.

This link can be traced back to the 1820s when some 130 men, women and children set sail on a gruelling journey from Cornwall to help the struggling silver mines in Mexico. 

Announcing the link-up between the two organisations, Lord Lee of Trafford, chairman of WMC Retail Partners Plc, the company leading the Cornucopia development, said: ’Whilst the twinning process was initially focussed between our two organisations, in conjunction with St Blaise Town Council, we have started the process of a more formal twinning arrangement between the wider communities both here and in Real del Monte.’

St Blaise Mayor June Anderson said: ’This is just the beginning of what we hope will be a lasting friendship and, moving forward, there will be an ongoing collaboration and sharing of our mutually-rich culture and heritage that will undoubtedly help forge stronger links between our respective countries.’