East Pool Mine at Pool - formerly Cornish Mines and Engines
Camborne was Britain's major centre of copper and tin mining during the 19th century. Around 1870, as the copper became exhausted, the 'Great Flat Lode' of tin was discovered at a lower level. New shafts were sunk, more engine houses built. Sadly only South Crofty Mine (now to be re-opened) remains capable of production but substantial relics stand in their hundreds. The National Trust and the Trevithick Trust (Richard Trevithick was the Cornish engineer who invented the high pressure engine that enabled deep mining) have restored two at Pool, not far from Trevithick's birthplace. In 2002 we toured the Discovery Centre at Taylor's Shaft and were immensely impressed by the massive Harvey's Cornish Beam Engine, one of the largest ever built. Nearby, across the road, we saw the smaller working engine in steam at Michell's Shaft. We have also enjoyed seeing Levant Engine in steam at the National Trust's site, beautifully located on a cliff-top near Cape Cornwall. We walked too - up Carn Brea Hill and past other mining relics. We report elsewhere on the 'Great Flat Lode Trail', the Coast-to-Coast Trail and the many other Mining Trails in the area.
Taylor's Shaft Engine House
Michell's Shaft Engine House
King
Photographs
More in Museums & Galleries
Falmouth Art Gallery
That Falmouth's art gallery has surprisingly good collections is largely thanks to South African businessman Alfred de Pass who honeymooned in Falmouth in 1888 and built a holiday home there in 1895. An avid collector, he not only gave substantial numbers of paintings to Falmouth, he also paid for the Library to be adapted and extended to house his gifts. Other donors include the local Fox family, creators of so many of Cornwall's finest gardens, including Trebah and Glendurgan.
Geevor Mine Museum
Geevor is at the northern end of the massive St. Just complex of former tin mines that runs from Pendeen Watch to Cape Cornwall - Geevor, Levant, Owles, Botallack, Edward, Kenidjack, Cape Cornwall and many more. Although Geevor had been going in one form or another since around 1700, the present Geevor Mine was effectively started in 1911 by Cornish miners who had returned from South Africa during the Boer War. As a modern mine, it was a success all the while the tin price stayed high but, when the price collapsed in 1985, even a modern mine like Geevor felt the pinch and closed in 1990. It re-opened in 1993 as a museum.
Harveys Foundry of Hayle - The Great Cornish Engineers
Walking around the run-down town of Hayle these days, you would never guess that the industrial heart of Cornwall once beat strongest here. Yet in the mid-18th century Hayle boasted perhaps 5000 jobs in industry. The National Explosive Company, the Cornish Copper Company and the docks were all major employers but the greatest of them all was Harveys.