This Cornish Tin Pasty keyring has an amazing story to tell. There aren't any working tin mines here now. As the mines closed thousands of miners set off all over the world to make their fortune. They were experts in their trade and their knowledge and skills were second to none. The Cornish pasty also became famous as the recipe travelled with the miners. The pasty was the original takeaway food and the hard outercase of pastry wasn't designed to be eaten as it is now. Instead it was to protect the meat, potato and swede inside when it was dropped down the mineshafts. The outer crimping wasn't for decoration. It was a handle to hold as well as a life saver. It stopped the poisonous arsenic transferring from the miners dirty hands to their mouths as they ate underground.
Share this link: