Quote from
A. K. Hamilton
Jenkin
from his book
"The
Cornish Miner".
The
famous and much photographed and painted
Engine Houses of
Botallack Mine
"Cornish Tin"
it has well been said, "is the one famous product of Ancient
Britain". For tin, that pure metal which as Henry Borlase quaintly
put it, "is so excellent in Cornwall that it's only not yet silver"
this metal was much sought after by the ancients for their weapons and
their ornaments of bronze, as we of the latter day desire it for our
motor cars and for tin plating. Unquote.
The book "The
Cornish Miner" was written when he was twenty years
old. I met him the next day by coincidence after reading it in one night
from cover to cover. It was hard to believe that he had written this at
such a tender age. We met at Mount Wellington Tin Mine, which is near
Truro in the County of Cornwall. We did not have that much time to talk
as I was waiting to go underground, but he was a fascinating man to talk
to, if we only had longer.
Mount Wellington Mine was the first mine I had
ever worked in. Even then I did not want to go "underground" -
the prospect of hurtling in a downward motion, in total blackness except
for your cap lamp, was daunting to say the least but with the help of
such a wonderful bunch of men I managed to last the day out. Some men
have been so terrified to go into the cage that they went down, but
quickly came back up, changed, and then went home.
This mine was originally called Magpie Mine; I
think this was changed at the turn of the century. The deepest level
then was 400ft and gradually the mine has deepened to its present depth
of 950 metres. This was the first time I had worked at the mine and my
task was to hold a drilling machine ten feet above my head and drill a
series of holes ready to blast at the end of the shift. This was back
breaking work and in fact I did put my back out pushing a Cactus Grab
across the shaft. This machine was used to excavate the rock we had
blasted which took nearly a whole shift to complete. We eventually
drilled six foot a shift which was much quicker and we could also start
drilling before the end of the shift.
After my experience working at Mount Wellington,
I worked at South Crofty mine which lies between Camborne and Redruth.
This was a much deeper mine, the total depth was 400 fathoms, a fathom
being 6 feet. South Crofty is a much older mine - it has been worked for
about three hundred years. I worked on 335 fathom level, and my interest
in mining progressed from there. My task on this level was to dig out
and to clear the gutters that ran along the rail track. From there I
progressed to a machine man's mate; I had to learn about hard rock
mining and my teachers were some of the best miners in the world. It was
a privilege to be working with them.
We used a machine called a "303" and
an air-leg that pushed the machine into the face - a very clever
machine. This was manufactured by Holman Climax, a company based in
Camborne which started production of mining machinery in 1801, which was
shipped all over the world. In its day the firm employed about 800 men,
but as the mining has declined, so has the staff.
When man first found tin and copper they found
they had to go deeper and deeper to win the precious metal - the problem
then was water. They invented a method where they could 'de-water' the
mine by using a rag and chain operated by a donkey or pony.
Eventually, as the mines went deeper and deeper
engineers invented the man-riding platform. This was operated by a steam
engine and as the rod went up and down on a twelve foot stroke the very
tired miners stepped on to a platform which took them up or down. Before
the advent of this, they had to climb down, then back up. No wonder the
miner had a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years. Not only had they to put
up with this, they also had to endure the heat underground, especially
in the deeper mines. They also suffered horrendous accidents, often
ending in death. The most remembered accident was on October 20th 1919,
when 31 Cornish miners lost their lives when the man-riding rod snapped.
Other miners that had already ascended could hear the men screaming as
they hurtled down through the shaft. The fund that was set up after the
tragedy is still in force now. (1998).
The small village churchyards bear the names of
so many men who died in mines all over Cornwall. For instance at Balnoon
cemetery in St. Ives, there is the grave of Edwin Trevorrow, who was
killed at St. Ives Consols on March 15th 1887. There were too many
accidents in deep rock mining to mention here but it gives some idea to
the reader what the miners had to put up with. There were also accidents
on the surface with boilers exploding and a gunpowder factory blowing up
killing mostly women.
The methods of mining the ore from deep
underground has taken its toll on the surface and at that time they did
not have the technology as they do today so they just followed the lode
sometimes straight up to the surface. Even today holes have appeared
overnight, making nearby homes unsafe. Some years ago a woman was
talking to her neighbour when the ground opened up to reveal a 6ft by
5ft deep hole. She later died in hospital. Only recently a lorry was
turning round in a car park in Pendeen (8 miles from Penzance) and the
front of the lorry dropped into a hole from some old mine workings. This
area has many mines like Geevor, Levant, Wheal Edward and the most
famous and photographed mine, Botallack. This mine was visited by Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert in the 19th century. The mine is situated on
the very edge of rugged cliffs and is in fact two engine houses, one
above the other. The shaft that is on the side of the cliff extends half
a mile under the sea. The Cornish name their shafts and this one is
called Boscowen. The extensive surface workings are still there, it
makes a dramatic foreground to the raging sea - it is well worth a
visit.
The deepest mine in Cornwall and at one time the
richest mine was Dolcoath, which is situated just to the south of
Camborne. The main shaft here was called Williams, and is 575 fathoms
deep. It was brick lined all the way down to the sump. It used to be
said that it was the Queen of Cornish mines, which it was.
All the mines are now closed in Cornwall, the
last being South Crofty. The people of Cornwall tried their best to keep
it open, but in the end it closed. The senior shop steward even sat on
the very cold and windswept head-gear to stop the management from taking
the ropes and cages out, but to no avail. They even had a fund started
by local people to keep the pumps on but they still shut it down. The
mine is now slowly flooding.
The miners have now either found alternative
employment in factories or left the area altogether. Some will never
work again. Some have been lucky to find work in mining still, but when
that has finished, mining as we know it will be just another forgotten
trade. In the time it has taken me to write this, the water will have
risen another three inches. |
