Cornwall's Rich Mining History and a Theatre

Today, we drove south and west of Penzance (and we are already about as far south and west in Britain as you can be!) to an area famous for its tin mines.  This part of the Cornish coast was designated a UNESCO WHS.  From that website is the following information:

Much of the landscape of Cornwall and West Devon was transformed in the 18th and early 19th centuries as a result of the rapid growth of pioneering copper and tin mining. Its deep underground mines, engine houses, foundries, new towns, smallholdings, ports and harbours, and their ancillary industries together reflect prolific innovation which, in the early 19th century, enabled the region to produce two-thirds of the world’s supply of copper. The substantial remains are a testimony to the contribution Cornwall and West Devon made to the Industrial Revolution in the rest of Britain and to the fundamental influence the area had on the mining world at large. Cornish technology embodied in engines, engine houses and mining equipment was exported around the world. Cornwall and West Devon were the heartland from which mining technology rapidly spread. 

There are a number of mines in Cornwall that you can visit.  Some of them include Levant, a National Trust property; Geevor which is run by a charity and came highly recommended; one called Poldark that garners kudos, perhaps because of the name but is considered more touristy; and, a private one but where you can book private called Rosevale in Zennor.  

We made our way to St. Just where some of them are located along a very dramatic coastline and our first stop was Levant.  We only took photos there although, in hindsight, maybe we should have visited it.

Where we did stop was the Geevor Tin Mine.  It was quite a thorough visit and it included lots of information.  What surprised me is that this mine only closed in about 1987.  During the visit, we went through a number of buildings included where the ore was crushed and where, using running water, the minerals (which included tin, iron, arsenic, and lead) were separated from the sand and other "junk".  What I found amazing is that these mines  extended underground several kilmometres out into the ocean.   After visiting the "above ground" buildings, we had the option of going through some of the tunnels which we decided to do.  We had to wear hard hats and were encouraged to wear a coat to protect our clothes from the tunnels.  Walking through the tunnels brought home what a difficult existence the miners had.  What really brought the visit to life was the men there operating as guides.  They had actually worked in the mines or the ancillary operations.  During our walk through the tunnels, I was glad I had the hard hat on.  At 5' 2", I rarely have to remember to duck my head when I am walking anywhere.  When I was walking through the tunnels, aside from the fact they were very narrow (I needed to turn sideways several times), I banged my head (well, actually the hard hat) more than once.  Good thing hard hats were mandatory!

Here are some photos of the crushers, separators, the surrounding landscape, the tunnels (not particularly clear, sorry), and the mine exit.

During the visit, as I mentioned, we got to talk to various men who had worked in the mine or above ground in the other operations.  One of the most interesting ones was a guy named Martin Orchard.  He told us he'd worked in the mine for 11 years about 30 years ago and, surprisingly, he said it was the best years of his life.  He was fascinated with geology as a kid and couldn't wait to work there.  I asked him if he came from a mining family; he said no.  His family were cider makers (hence his last name).  He said the best part of the job was the camaraderie among the teams of men.  He also said if the mine reopened, he would work back there in a heartbeat.  He said it was good honest work.  Knowing that he was older now although he didn't look more than about 50, he said he would love to share his knowledge with younger people (men) if they wanted to work there.  

Earlier, I had asked the guy demonstrating the way the ores were separated from the other stuff why the mine had closed.  I expect it to be about safety and new methodology.  Actually the answer was about how the price of tin plummeted and the Cornish mines couldn't compete with similar mines in southeast Asia such as in Indonesia.  I was also surprised there was a market in arsenic.  I was told most of it was shipped to America (aka USA) to be used in pesticides to kill the boll weevil in the cotton fields.  Another sobering fact was that in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, most miners didn't live much beyond their mid-thirties.  At least two of the former employees we talked to said, if you need proof about that, just check out the church graveyards in the area.  

We were both really pleased to have visited the mine and I can say I learned a lot!  Next up, however, was something completely different - although it still involved rock!

From St. Just, we headed to Porthcurno where the Minack Theatre is located.  We had hoped to see a live production while we were in the area.  However, first off, the weather isn't exactly cooperating so we weren't sure we wanted to attend an outdoor performance; secondly, the current production (Sister Act) is sold out.  So, our alternative was to visit it during the day for 5 pounds.  The road there is very narrow (not quite as challenging as those Devon one-track lanes but a challenge nonetheless).  The location is not far from Land's End (give that a miss and don't be tempted as it is nothing more than a large parking lot where you pay 6 pounds and then get to see souvenir shops and take a few photos over the most western part of England.  Whoopee!  Just a couple of km north, you can stop at Sennen Cove and see some very spectacular scenery.

At the Minack Theatre, we learned the amazing story about this place and how yet another strong (physically as well as mentally this time) and independent woman shaped the coastline into an outdoor theatre one stone at a time.  From Wikipedia:

The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea (minack from Cornish meynek meaning a stony or rocky place). The season runs each year from May to September, and by 2012 some 80,000 people a year see a show, and more than 100,000 pay an entrance fee to look around the site. It has appeared in a listing of the world's most spectacular theatres.

The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade, who moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point for £100.  In 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in a nearby meadow at Crean, repeating the production the next year. They decided that their next production would be The Tempest and Miss Cade offered the garden of her house as a suitable location, as it was beside the sea. Miss Cade and her gardener, Billy Rawlings, made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below.  In 1932, The Tempest was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Miss Cade resolved to improve the theatre, working over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life (with the help of Billy Rawlings and Charles Angove) so that others might perform each summer.  In 1944, the theatre was used as a location for the Gainsborough Studios film Love Story, starring Stewart Granger and Margaret Lockwood but inclement weather forced them to retreat to a studio mock-up.  Since 1976, the theatre has been registered as a Charitable Trust and is now run by a local management team.  Rowena Cade died on 26 March 1983, at the age of 89.

The day had been filled with contrasts but both were based on the amazing geography of the beautiful and magical part of England.





   

As I was going to St. Ives . . .

As I was going to St Ives,Upon the road I met seven wives;
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St Ives?

That was the nursery rhyme as it was published in 1779 although there are other versions including one with the second line "I met a man with seven wives".  The suggestion of polygamy implicit in the line is generally absent from the earliest publications but is present by 1837.  

I remember learning the rhyme as a child and I am pretty sure I learned the "polygamy" version.  

There are a number of places called St. Ives in England and elsewhere but it is generally thought that the rhyme refers to St. Ives in Cornwall when it was a busy fishing port and had many cats to stop the rats and mice destroying the fishing gear.  However, some people argue it was St Ives, Cambridgeshire as this was an ancient market town and, therefore, an equally plausible destination.  There are also several solutions offered to the rhyme based on whether, if one is going to St. Ives, any of the others were going or coming.  So, the answer may be just one - or many!  However, enough about that!

Wednesday we left Falmouth with the intent of exploring the Lizard Peninsula on our way south and west to Penzance.  Well, at least that was the plan.  When we left the lovely Anacapri Guest House, it was clear that we would not exploring much.  There was a heavy fog which made driving a challenge - the description pea soup comes to mind.  Our first destination on the eastern side of the peninsula was Coverack.  Below is a photo of the cove before we drove into the village after the ones from our Falmouth accommodation.  

Coverack

We continued to Lizard on the tip of the peninsula and its lighthouse.  It was a pretty pitiful scene as we were right next to it and could barely see it - but we could certainly hear the fog horn!  I had hoped to also visit Kynance Cove and Mullion Cove which I had stopped at 4 years ago when I was in this area with my sister.  However, we could barely see the turnoffs for them so there was no point in driving down the narrow lanes to see them.  Below are two photos I took from the last time I was here and they sure would not have looked like that yesterday!  You can see the contrast with the Coverack photo. 

So, we continued on which meant we got to Penzance just before 2 pm although we had told the owner we would be arriving about 4.  Thankfully, when we arrived, our rooms were ready and she was more than ready to help us out.  So, we settled into Camilla House which will be our home for the next four nights.  Then, we just spent the afternoon in Penzance having lunch at a pub that dates from the 13th century (1233, to be specific) and wandered along the High Street.

Thursday, amazingly, the fog had completely gone and it was warm and sunny (well, at least it started that way!)  After breakfast, we drove to St. Ives, about 25 minutes away.  We did manage to get a photo of St. Michael's Mount in the distance.  Our plan was to visit this famous site on Saturday but the tides won't be cooperating.  Last time, my sister and I walked along the cobble-stoned causeway there.  This time, we would need to take a boat so I am not sure that will happen.

We continued on to St. Ives which, I am certain, would be an absolute nightmare to visit in the summer time.  As it was, we got the last parking spot in the Porthmeor Beach parking lot and we were there before 10 am!  You could see that the beach was getting crowded and there were already some surfing lessons in progress.  

St Ives has some fabulous narrow Cornish lanes.  Unfortunately, I didn't capture many of them in photos.
The town is also filled with art galleries and restaurants.

We had read about two interesting art exhibits to see here.  One was the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden.  The other was a Tate Museum.  Our first stop was the former.

The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden preserves this 20th-century sculptor's studio and garden much as they were when she lived and worked there. She purchased the site in 1949 and lived and worked there for 26 years until her death in a fire on the premises in 1975.  Here are some of the photos I took on our visit to the garden.

After our visit to the garden, we moved on (well, actually up and up) over the hill and down to Porthmeor Beach where the Tate Gallery is located.  

Here, the main exhibition is by a Lebanese artist named Huguette Caland.  Her work is very interesting and, after watching a film about her life, we were much better informed, and impressed, about her work.  This is what we learned:

Shifting between figuration and abstraction, Caland's large, colourful canvases and detailed drawings from the 1970s and 1980s will offer a delicate balance between the suggestive and the explicit.  After moving to Paris from Beirut in 1970, Caland achieved artistic recognition with her exuberant and erotically charged paintings that challenged traditional conventions of beauty and desire. The female physique is a recurrent motif in her work, often painted like landscapes with voids and mountain-like forms.  She was born in Lebanon in 1931 and studied art at the American University of Beirut.  She lived in Paris and California for many years.  In 2013, she relocated to Lebanon where she currently lives.

When we watched the film about her, we learned that, as a child and the daughter of the president, she was overweight and consistently criticized about her looks.  So, her art often reflects some of that angst.  She also became a fashion designer in Paris.  The most compelling thing about her, from my perspective, is that she knew who she wanted to be and followed her own path to get there.  Her strength and determination in the face of all that criticism is inspiring!

When we left the gallery, the beach in front of it was packed, in spite of the clouds gathering overhead.  I don't go to the beach much (or ever) anymore so maybe I am out of touch.  However, I had never seen the kind of beach "set-ups" that were here.  They were sort of little fenced enclosures that people set up with chairs, towels and picnic baskets in them.  They were great to protect against the wind but the "princess" in me wondered what the benefit was when you could stay at home on your patio with all of the conveniences and no sand!  Guess this proves I have become old!