Poldark and Petrol

I have been on holiday in Cornwall and Devon so for the next few weeks I will be postings some interesting photos of my visit.

We went to the Poldark tin mine near St Austell. Originally it was called Wheal Roots.The tour guide was fascinating and told us many facts about when the mine was working and included a lot of anecdotes. 

Chimneys in the landscape used for ventilation.

Photo taken from the car window

Mining in 1720 - 1780 was very hard. Pumps were used to drain the water from the mine.

The engineering skill was amazing

Underground the tin seams were often so narrow that one man could only just squeeze through the gap.

Narrow and dark

Children as young as 10 worked in the mine.

The black seams are the tin

The only head protection the miners wore was a Tull hat made from felt dipped in pine resin.The light was provided by a tallow candle attached to the hat with a lump of clay. The candle only lasted about an hour and gave a poor light.

Such flimsy hats for protection

Woman who were only allowed to work on the surface as it was considered bad luck for them to work underground They sorted the tin ore and traditionally they wore white bonnets and were known as Bal maidens. 

 A white Bal maidens bonnet

Before dynamite was invented a hole was made in the rock. Gunpowder was put inside a birds quill then sealed with clay. This method was very dangerous and unpredictable.

Feather quills

This is an early type of fire engine.

A King Patent Fire Pump

An old set of weighing scales.

How heavy are you?

The tin ore is very heavy.

Shiny and bright

I saw some interesting petrol pumps. Some antique.

Look at the price of petrol

Sorry sold out

Other pumps are very modern.

Get charged up here

Visiting the sculpture garden at Tremenheere in Cornwall I saw.

A bulls head made of fibreglass.

Black and powerful

A reflective skip.

Mirror mirror on the skip

Jet black aeonium.

Black edges and radiating 'petals'

This succulent was so flat and compact.

A perfect circle

Since returning home the weather has turned cold with some very strong Easterly winds that have broken some of my pottery houses. I have been busy catching up on all my gardening, the weeds grow so quickly. I have dug over the vegetable patch where the peas and broad beans were. I am still picking runner beans and potatoes.

This scarecrow was outside a house as we arrived at Polruan. It does not take a lot to make you smile.

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