Oliver's Cornwall
Museums & Galleries
& industrial 
history
In a county with so strong a maritime and industrial heritage, sea and mines are well represented.  Major maritime museum is the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth;  another is in the small former china clay port of Charlestown.  Whilst I describe only a few industrial museums as such, there are many other tin and copper mining sites with easy access - and I have included some of these.  Other museums include the important Royal Cornwall in Truro and several about modern communications.  Important artistic colonies in St. Ives and Newlyn have given rise to major galleries and to art and craft studios and galleries in St. Just, St. Agnes and elsewhere.

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ON THIS PAGE

Maritime Museums
Industrial History & Museums
Other Museums
 Art Galleries


CORNWALL REVIEWS INDEX and SITE CONTENTS

Introductory Guide
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Oliver's Cornwall Walking Pages
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© Copyright Oliver Howes 2016
Page updated 20 May 2021



Maritime Museums
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Charlestown and the Shipwreck Museum
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National Maritime Museum Cornwall

Hot 2003 museum news was the opening of Cornwall's brand new National Maritime Museum in Falmouth.  Until 2002 a small maritime museum was oddly tucked up an alleyway on the landward side of Market Street.  But in 2003 it moved, to become part of a brand new major Maritime Museum, on the waterfront by the docks.  By 2004 it had settled in well.  No local museum this, however, rather the most comprehensive small-boat maritime museum in Britain, housing, amongst many other exhibits, the national collection from Greenwich.  In a vast but handsome oak-clad modern building, not unlike a ship-building shed with a lighthouse tower on the end, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall Charitable Trust has assembled a most impressive collection of small boats and of  technological and inter-active displays.  Here are not just the artefacts but the complete maritime story in a dozen purpose-built galleries.  The two most striking features come at the beginning of your visit.  After enjoying  a superb showcase of scale models, you find yourself on a ramp leading past the screens of a vast audio-visual theatre telling the story of the sea – with impressive lighting and sound effects.  Then, as you continue up, you find yourself alongside the ‘Flotilla’, a comprehensive small-boat collection spanning 150 years and including racing dinghies, record breakers, working boats, fishing vessels, canoes, punts, rafts and coracles.  Simple interactive displays offer more information.  A gallery is home to works by the Royal Society of Marine Artists and to an exhibition on the packet boats that sailed from Falmouth.  At the top of the tower - reached by stairs or elevator - is a viewing gallery with telescopes and local displays.  In the basement you are underwater with related displays.  At ground level you will find a 'pilchard cellar' from the original Falmouth museum, sail loft, working boatyard where craftsmen work on restorations - and even a pool where children (of all ages) can try their model sailing skills. 
Observation Tower
April 2007 - Revisit - 'Flotilla' revamped: new, better inter-active displays
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Charlestown

Charlestown may well be familiar from such TV and movies as ‘The Eagle has Landed’, ‘Poldark’, ‘The Onedin Line’ and ‘Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle’.  The harbour and picturesque village were the work of engineer John Smeaton - who built the pier at St. Ives, several canals and the famous lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks, now replaced and standing on Plymouth Hoe.  He built Charlestown in 1801 for local industrialist Charles Rashleigh, mainly to export the china clay from the hills above St. Austell.  China clay is no longer exported from here and now the harbour is owned by a company called Square Sail who provide ships of all periods for movie-making;  their small boatyards operate on the western side of the harbour and a couple of their tall ships are usually moored by the quay.  Unusually for Cornwall the harbour has a sea-lock keeping it, like Padstow, in constant water.  Beech trees line the approach to the village and colourful Georgian cottages line the harbour and fetch premium prices.  A Shipwreck Exhibition has a vast collection of shipwreck artefacts and displays on diving and ocean liners.  There are a couple of pubs;  the Rashleigh Arms, on Fore Street above the harbour, is preferred.  A restaurant, in a former boathouse, is open all day and serves good local produce.  Charlestown gets busy, so best to avoid school holidays.
 Outside Shipwreck and Heritage Museum
Charlestown is signed from the A390 in St. Austell
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Industrial History and Museums

Cornwall has an incredibly rich industrial history.  Tin and copper were mined from the bronze age right through the to the end of the twentieth century.  Gold, silver, lead, arsenic and tungsten were found, too.  Mining gave birth to a major engineering industry which included inventors like Richard Tevithick and engineering companies like the Cornish Copper Company and Harveys Foundry - both of Hayle.  Harveys built beam engines, locomotives and even ocean-going ships.  The remains of the mining industry can best be seen in West Penwith, near St. Agnes, in Pool, around the Great Flat Lode Trail and on south-east Bodmin Moor.  China clay was discovered in 1746 by William Cookworthy.  The industry is Cornwall's largest;  its museum is at Wheal Martyn.  Granite is still quarried, primarily at De Lank near Blisland.  In the 19th and 20th centuries Cornwall again led, this time in modern communications.  Cables linking Britain with the empire were laid from Porthcurno, where you can visit a museum in original buildings.  Marconi made his first radio transmission from Bass Point on the Lizard and his first transatlantic transmission from Poldhu Point;  both have small museums.  The first satellite signals were sent to the USA from Goonhilly Earth Station on the Lizard;  visitor centre here too. 
Levant Mine on a clifftop near Cape Cornwall
Industrial History and Museums Index


INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
World Heritage Status
Heartlands
Richard Trevithick - Inventor
Harveys of Hayle - Engineers
South Caradon
Botallack Mine
Wheal Peevor
Upton Towans
Kenidjack Valley Mines
Kennall Vale Luxulyan Valley
Tregargus Valley
Prince of Wales Quarry, Trewarmett
Man Engine

INDUSTRIAL MUSEUMS
East Pool Mine
King Edward
Levant
Geevor
Poldark Mine
Tolgus Tin
 Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum
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Industrial History

UNESCO World Heritage Status for Cornwall and West Devon Mines
In 2006 many of the mining areas of Cornwall and West Devon were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO.  As a result many projects have been completed to conserve - and improve public access to - what are considered to be the most important 'heritage' sites from the period 1700 to 1914.  Ten areas selected for their mine sites, landscapes, towns and villages, include St. Just in Penwith, areas around Helston, Camborne, Redruth, St. Agnes, Luxulyan, Caradon and Devon Great Consols in the Tamar Valley around Tavistock.  Also included are the ports of Hayle and Charlestown and historic Perran Foundry between Truro and Falmouth.  As part of the improvement of access to these sites, Cornwall Council has created new Mining Trails to add to the previous Coast to Coast and Great Flat Lode trails.  The new trails were finished in 2010 and include a Tehidy Trail, a Portreath Branchline Trail, a Redruth and Chacewater Railway Trail and a short Tresavean Trail to the south of Lanner.  During 2006 and 2007 I explored what I could of the new routes.  In 2010 I walked all the Mining Trails (formerly Mineral Tramways) in full.  My detailed reports on them appear on my Trails pages. 
Botallack calciner and its tall chimneystack
Cornish Mining - Links to Mining Heritage and trails reports
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Mining Heritage - links to Mining Trails & Mine Sites and Museums


In 2010 I re-walked all the Mining Trails.  I had previously visited major conserved mine sites and museums.   Here are links to them all.


Carn Brea - Guided tour of Carn Brea and two mine sites
Coast-to-Coast Trail - Portreath to Devoran 
Geevor Mine - Important museum at a recently closed mine
Great Flat Lode Trail - A circular route around Carn Brea 
Heartlands - New for 2012.  Museum and 'Diaspora' Garden
King Edward Mine - The best of all the mine museums, working mill
Levant Mine - Restored mine workings and working beam engine
Poldark Mine - Important mine musem with working engines
Portreath Branchline - Portreath to Brea Village and Great Flat Lode
Redruth and Chacewater Trail - Redruth Churchtown to Twelveheads
Tehidy Trail - Mostly country park but begins on the Portreath Incline
Tolgus Tin - Restored tin streaming works 
Tolgus Trail - Never built but I have devised a route for walkers
Tresavean Trail - Short 2 mile trail near Lanner, opened in 2007
Wheal Peevor - Guided tour of a major restored mine site 
Wheal Peevor Engine Houses framed by Calciner Ruins

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Man Engine

Cornishman Will Coleman is author, film maker, musician. educationalist and former director of Cornwall's renowned Kneehigh Theatre.  He is also funder of Golden Tree Productions which promotes Cornwall and its history.  He is also an enthusiastic promoter of the Cornish language and has published a book about the Plen-a-Gwary, Cornwall's medieval amphitheatres.  A talented engineer, too, in 2016 he and his team created Man Engine, a 33 foot high mechanical puppet of a Cornish miner.  This was first unveiled in Tavistock in 2016 and has since toured the country.  We were lucky enough to see Man Engine in early April 2018 on the Wadebridge Showground.  I say lucky but the weather was dreadful, the ground soggy and the site sufficiently awkward that good view of the action were not always to be had.  That didn't prevent us from enjoying Will's show.  He is a great showman and an entertaining raconteur.  The original Man Engine was the device of ladders and platforms that transported miners as much as 1600 feet down mine shafts.  The performance of Will Coleman's  Man Engine was remarkable for such a giant robot.  In addition a young lad, perched precariously at the top of a 40 foot ladder, gave an inverted demonstration of the use of the ladders and platforms of the real-life man engine.  It may have been wet and muddy on the Showground but it was well worth tolerating the conditions for Will Coleman's great show. 



Will Coleman
Man Engine
Lad on Mine Ladder

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Heartlands
Camborne, Pool and Redruth suffered badly from mine closures.  The Heartlands project has been central to plans to regenerate a run-down part of Pool.  Completed at a cost of £35 million, largely lottery money, it was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall on a soaking wet Monday 2nd July 2012.  Jane and I were luckier, we had been there the day before in sun.  Heartlands is on the redundant site of South Crofty mine's Robinson's Shaft;  we had walked there from Tuckingmill Valley Park by way of the Portreath Branchline Trail, taking us right past South Crofty's New Cook's Kitchen Shaft, where re-opening is expected in 2014 or 2015.  This is quite an extensive site and, apart from parking and food, is free.  Many old mine buildings and offices have been restored and house important machinery and exhibitions covering geology, mining and social history.  There is a 270 degree wrap-around mining history film - we found it a bit 'arty'.  To see the magnificent beam engine in Robinson's Shaft engine house you will have to join a guided tour but I don't think you will see it working.  Highlight outside is the imaginative Diaspora Botannic Garden with individual gardens representing the countries to which Cornish miners emigrated in hard times.  Already good, when mature this large and varied garden should be something special.  There are also extensive lawns, a row of craft studios and shops and an impressive Adventure Playground, designed by local children.
More information, including special events, on Heartlands web site
Robinson's Shaft Engine House
Red River Café:  We were disappointed in the much vaunted Red River Café in the former carpenter's work shop.  Counter service was slow.  The menu on the wall was largely hidden by the serving counter.  The specials menu was difficult to read.  Prices are fairly high.  Jane thought her egg mayo sandwich was good but my cheese and pickle sandwich - stale bread and a tiny amount of grated cheese - was awful.  And what idiot would put grated cheese in a sandwich so it falls out as you try to eat it; it's no more than an excuse for saving on materials.  Presumably the sandwiches had been prepared off site as they were packaged in thin cardboard - but undated.  Heartlands needs to do better than this for catering. 
Other very local mining and mining related sites:  Within half-a-mile are two related National Trust sites, once known collectively as Cornish Mines and Engines, now known as East Pool Mine.  Two Mining Trails pass close by here:  the Great Flat Lode Trail is within quarter-of-mile to the south;  the terminus of the Portreath Branchline Trail is about half-a-mile away at Brea Village
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Richard Trevithick

Devon engineer Thomas Newcomen devised the original steam-pressure beam engine, Scot James Watt first refined it, but it was the high-pressure engine of Cornishman Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) that enabled the Cornish mines to flourish, pumping deep shafts and raising the tin and copper ore.  In 1801 he built a steam-powered road vehicle, known as 'Captain Dick's Puffer'.  In 1802 he built his remarkable 'London Road Carriage' and in 1804 his 'Penydaren' locomotive hauled 10 tons and 70 men for 9 miles near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.  A model of 'Penydaren' can be seen in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro;  a replica is at Cyfarthfa Castle in Wales.  Born at Illogan, Trevithick was raised in Penponds, off the Helston road on the southern edge of Camborne.  His childhood home, cared for by the Trevithick Trust, is open only on Wednesday afternoons from April to October.  The little thatched cottage is filled with memorabilia.  A small memorial to him stands on a road that passes to the east of South Crofty mine, not far from the Heartlands and Cornish Mines and Engines sites and his statue overlooks the junction of Commercial Street and Church Street.  However his true memorial is 'Trevithick Day', celebrated in Camborne on the last Saturday of April, when the town takes to the streets to enjoy brass bands, choirs, dancing and a parade of steam engines.
Trevithick's Penydaren Locomotive
Trevithick Day report below
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Trevithick Day in Camborne
We would have gone to Trevithick Day in Camborne in 2005 but the steam parade had been cancelled for 'health and safety' reasons.  Happily, such nonsense didn't happen in April 2006 so we went then.  From early morning to late afternoon the central streets were closed to traffic.  The Camborne Town Band led dancers through the town;  a static steam traction engine display later trundled smokily throught the streets;  in Town Square we were treated to a pipe and drum band, the Holman Climax Choir, the Praze and Hayle Male Voice Choir, a circus clown, a saxophone quartet and a samba band.  We also saw a rousing steel band, fairground organs, vintage fire engines, classic cars, military vehicles and a Punch and Judy show.  The parades of traction engines and their miniatures were the true highlights but our small personal highlight was sitting in Town Square, eating Rowe's fine pasties whilst enjoying multi-instrumentalist Graham Hart playing and singing his rousing version of 'Going up Camborne Hill, coming down' - which commemorates the first trial of Trevithick's 1801 Puffing Devil road loco, which the crowd of fascinated spectators thought was going backwards.  A great day - both for steam and Trevithick enthusiasts and for the folk of Camborne.  We shall go again.
Photo from Trevithick Day - Captain Dick's Puffer replica
Replica of Trevithick's 1801 Camborne Road Loco
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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.
In 1779 Gwinear blacksmith John Harvey started a small works in Hayle to make hand tools and pumps for the mines.  Three generations of Harveys built the country's greatest engineering company, employing geniuses like Richard Trevithick to build beam engines, locomotives and packet ships.  Beam engines were the company's best known product and included the largest ever built, draining a polder at Cruquis in Holland and still in working order 150 years later.  Cornish examples can be seen at Levant Mine and at Taylor's Shaft in Pool.  Most remarkable ship that Harveys built was the Cornubia, an iron-built paddle steamer, originally operating as a Bristol packet boat, bought by the Confederacy as an American Civil War blockade runner, captured by the Union and used by them as a blockader of Gulf ports.  Harveys final throw was to build 2nd World War landing craft. 
Part of Harveys Hammermill & Ropewalk complex
Remains of Harveys in the area known as Foundry in Hayle
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South Caradon Mine

We had been in this area of Bodmin Moor before, parking in Minions to visit Stowe's Hill and the local antiquities - the Pipers and Hurlers and King Doniert's Stones - but we first learned of South Caradon Mine when it became a candidate for millions of pounds in a 2004 TV show called 'Restoration'.  We decided to look for ourselves on a walk from Minions village.  Total dereliction is the order of the day now but for 50 years from 1835 this was one of the world's most prosperous copper mines.  Financed by the miners themselves, led by the Kittow and Clymo families, it paid dividends (in today's terms) of around £50 million from an investment of only £64,000!  Other mines, too, were sunk all around Caradon Hill - Gonamena, East Caradon and West Caradon.  I cheat a little by describing this as a museum since, to our delight, Caradon district council failed in its quest for TV show money.  This is one of those magic places which needs to be enjoyed for itself, not prettified to meet the needs of the tourist industry and the demands of 'Health and Safety' regulations.  The land on which the mine ruins stand is now Open Access;  while you are free to wander anywhere on this land, take care as there are open shafts.  To see how to find it, take a look at the walk Jane and I did taking in Minions, Crows Nest and South Caradon
Kittow's Shaft at South Caradon Mine
Except at the Crows Nest Inn, there is no nearby parking
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Botallack Mine
I had been here before but decided to take a closer look at the extensive remains of Botallack Mine during a walk in the area in October 2006.  I parked at Pendeen Watch and then walked the coast path to Kenidjack.  It is quite difficult to decide where one mine finishes and another begins - Geevor, Levant, Botallack, Wheal Edward, Kenidjack and Cape Cornwall - so closely are they packed together.  Indeed, after Levant closed, Geevor, one of the last mines to work in Cornwall, and the most modern-looking along here, took over some of its extensive workings.  At its most prosperous from around 1835 to 1890, Botallack was visited by Queen Victoria in 1846.  In 1865 some 500 men worked there and eleven steam engines operated.  Most impressively sited of these were the Crown engine houses, perched on a ledge above the sea.  The lower of these housed a pumping engine, the upper was the winding engine for the 1360 foot deep Diagonal Shaft.  The mine last worked in 1907-1914 when the impressive arsenic flues near the cliffs were built.  A photo of the Count House, now owned by the National Trust, is in another walk I did, also in October 2006, from Pendeen Watch.  There is also some 20th century headgear to be seen.  If needing refreshment, try the Queen's Arms in Botallack village. 
To see the area without a long walk, park in Botallack
Botallack's Crown Engine Houses high above the sea
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Wheal Peevor at Radnor near Redruth
The conservation of Wheal Peevor, located at the hamlet of Radnor on the north side of the A30 near Redruth, is clearly one of the major enterprises of Cornwall Council's contribution to the World Mining Heritage Site.  No expense has been spared in consolidating the engine houses and creating a disabled access path around the site and providing a small car park.  Apparently there could also be a small visitor centre (no sign of this in 2013).  In September 2007 work was not yet finished but we were lucky enough to be able to join a guided tour preview of Wheal Peevor, ably led by mining historian Allen Buckley, assisted by wldlife guide Rory Goodall.  Wheal Peevor, part of the great North Downs complex, is a particularly important site because of three surviving engine houses, pumping, winding and stamps.  Not only that, it also has remains of an ore crusher, buddles and an arsenic calciner - and more that will remain hidden beneath the furze and bracken.  Wheal Peevor worked intermittently for a hundred years or so until around 1890, producing vast quantities of tin.  It re-opened to mine wulfram in 1911 but soon closed again.  We felt that restoration had been a bit overdone and, while we understand the need for access, the paths looked too much like a cycle track.  And we wish the money could run to clearing furze from the lower site.
Wheal Peevor, the stamps engine house
From A30 at Redruth, take Porthtowan road, first R
I revisited Wheal Peevor in June 2008 to check on progress.  Much has been done in nine months and the site is now complete.  Good storyboards are located in key positions and viewing platforms are in place.  In addition to the east entrance, there is also a west entrance, from a track from North Country. This is a very impressive site.  My only criticism is that there are no signs from any nearby roads. 
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Upton Towans at Hayle
At the end of Sepember 2007 I did a walk from Godrevy National Trust car park - busy with surfers - to Hayle and back to investigate Upton Towans to see how much I could find of its former industry, the National Explosive Works.  I was surprised by just how much I found.  The National Exposive Works, which gave the dunes their alternative name of 'Dynamite Towans', opened in 1888 to make dynamite for the Cornish mines.  It continued in operation until around 1920, latterly producing explosives for the First World War.  To my surprise explosives were still stored on the site until the 1960s.  At first I thought that all I would see was several protective bunkers near the sea where, presumably, testing took place.  But, when I made my way towards the tall brick chimney by the Hayle to Gwithian road, I passed quite a number of abandoned buildings and skeletal ruins.  By the chimney were even more substantial remains, including what must have been a very large brick building.  This was clearly a vast works and indeed once employed 1500 workers.  Elsewhere on Upton Towans I found some of 30 odd capped mine shafts - one on Gwithian Towans too - as well as WWII pillboxes and bunkers.  While at Hayle I also sought out the power station, operating from 1910 to 1977.  At its closure the once busy harbour, which had imported the coal, also closed.
Hayle Towans, a National Explosive Works building
See also - Hayle & Harveys of Hayle
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The Gunpowder Works at Kennall Vale, Ponsanooth
I knew about the National Explosive Works at Hayle but, until a visitor to my site told me about it, I had no idea that significant remains of its precursor stood in lovely Kennall Vale at Ponsanooth.  A small works was started there in 1809 to supply gunpowder to Cornish mines but things really took off when the Fox family, owners of nearby Perran Foundry, set up the Kennall Vale Gunpowder Works.  Nature provided its location - now a Nature Reserve - a great head of water from the tumbling River Kennall to power the waterwheels, a steep sided valley to make the site safely damp and beech woods to mitigate the effects of explosion.  By 1860 the works employed more than 50 but the invention of dynamite forced its eventual closure in the early 20th century. It is astonishing how much of the site remains intact a century later, thanks to its granite constuction.  The main leat is still intact, shutes tumbling from it to power massive overshot waterwheels, all sadly missing though the double mill buildings mostly still stand.  Park in the village and walk past the shop and up the steep hill to the site to fully appreciate the tremendous head of water that made the site possible.  This is a lovely place, enjoyed by nature enthusiasts, dog walkers and those, like us, who love old industrial sites. 
Visited in September 2008.
Water tumbles down a shute from the leat
Some parking in Ponsanooth village near the shop
My thanks to the Cornish Mining World Heritage  web site for the factual information I have used.   My greatest thanks, however, go the Geoff Rogers of Penryn who put me on to this superb and important site in the first place. 
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The Kenidjack Valley at St. Just-in-Penwith
The little Tregeseal River rises somewhere around Lower Bostraze, a mile or so east of St. Just.  It reaches the sea at Porthledden Cove, below Cape Cornwall and Kenidjack Head, no more than three miles later and is still only feet wide as it enters the Atlantic.  Yet, its 300 foot descent in the mile from the hamlet of Nancherrow - which gave the alternative name to the valley - once powered some of Cornwall's most frantic tin mining activity.  In the late 18th century there were fifty waterwheels powering the mines and mills in the valley.  Even with the advent of steam power many of the mine engines only needed to work in dry weather.  Mining here more or less ceased at the end of the 19th century;  first the tin price collapsed in 1870 and then, in 1893 the river burst its banks and destroyed many mine buildings.  However, there is still a lot to see, including a great wheel pit close to the cove - which once housed a 52 foot waterwheel - and Carn Praunter, recently conserved by the National Trust along with its mill pond.  I visited the site in March 2008 and was glad to find that the NT has also cleared a lot of Japanese knotweed to make access easier - though it is still a struggle in places on the Boswedden Cliff side.  For refreshment, I can recommend the good value egg and bacon baps at the Cape Cornwall Golf Club above the NT car park.
A short walk from the National Turst Cape Cornwall car park
Carn Praunter Mine, conserved by the National Trust
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The Luxulyan Valley
The Luxulyan Valley that you see today - the couple of miles from Luxulyan to Pont's Mill - is essentially the creation of one of Cornwall's great industrialists, J. T. Treffry of Place in Fowey.  Known as the King of Mid Cornwall, Treffry had his fingers deeply in most of Cornwall's industrial pies:  copper, tin, lead, silver, china clay, granite, harbours and transport most particularly.  He constructed a canal and horse-drawn tramway linking his two harbours, Par and Newquay, with his mines and quarries.  This formed the basis of the modern Par to Newquay branch line.  The most remarkable feature of Treffry's tramway was the viaduct he built, spanning the Luxulyan Valley.  On its upper surface was the tramway, below was an aqueduct which still holds water.  650 feet long and 100 feet high, the viaduct was completed in 1844.  The aqueduct powered the Carmears waterwheel which operated an inclined plane between there and the canal at Pont's Mill.  It also supplied the Fowey Consols mine on the east side of the valley.  The Par Canal, carrying tub boats to Treffry's Par Harbour, utilised the little river that runs down the Luxulyan Valley, with a new course cut for the river.  This is a delightful valley, well worth walking in particularly when the beeches are at their best in spring and autumn.  See box for suggested route.
Treffry's amazing viaduct and aqueduct
Park at Pont's Mill, signed from A390, E of Tywardreath H'way
There is ample industrial interest between Pont's Mill and the far end of the viaduct to make a very pleasant 3 mile walk.  From Pont's Mill follow the main track along the valley floor, under Victorian railway bridges and past another of Treffry's works, the disused Central Cornwall Clay Dries.  Much of the way the route is alongside a sparkling stream in beech woodland.  Eventually you come to the viaduct and have to wind your way upwards to reach its south-eastern end.  Walk across the viaduct before returning by a high level route on the east side of the valley to see the still impressive pit that housed the former Carmears Waterwheel that operated an inclined plane that you now follow most of the way back to Pont's Mill. 
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China Stone in the Tregargus Valley near St. Stephen-in-Brannel
I knew nothing of China Stone until an article appeared in the Western Morning News.  Fascinated, I headed for St. Stephen-in-Brannel in early October 2014.  China Stone is a form of degraded granite used in ceramic production in a similar manner to ground flint.  Britain’s only source of china stone is Cornwall and the major producing area was just north of St. Stephen-in-Brannel, in the valley of the River Barn, known as Tregargus Valley.  The valley’s only competitor was Staffordshire where Cheddleton Mill produced finely ground flint.  There were once 7 working mills in this valley and another, Chapel Mill, further down-river.  Now there are identifiable remains of 5.   Locations of these, starting from the south are:  an unnamed one by Trevargus Farm at 94790/53724;  Trevear (or Treveor) Mill, under conservation in 2014, at 94980/53858;  Big Wheel Mill (or Tregargus Mill), also due for conservation, with an in-situ overshot waterwheel at 94565/58957;  remains of unidentified (by me) clay dries at 95030/54177;  and Wheal Arthur Mill, at the top of the valley, also with an in situ waterwheel, at 95030/54177.  All are passed as you follow a clear track up the valley.  The first is off to the left soon after the gate to the valley, the others are obvious.  Trevear Mill is being partly restored by Cornwall Council.  Wheal Arthur, with its in situ overshot waterwheel, still has its dries and a pit behind. 
Located due north of St. Stephen-in-Brannel
Wheal Arthur China Stone Mill
Chapel Mill is incongruously located below Hawkins Motors car park at 94841/53101, on the St. Austell road.
Wheal Arthur Mill can be approached from the St. Dennis road, a little NE of the Stepaside fork, from a lay-by at 94779/54682.  If you search behind the mill building, you wiil find its flooded pit and another in-situ water wheel. 
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Prince of Wales Slate Quarry, Trewarmett
Prince of Wales Quarry near Trewarmett opened in 1871 but was only worked for just over 20 years., extracting blue slate from the Upper Devonian Penpethy Beds.  The building housed the only beam engine in this part of Cornwall. It drove a wire ropeway that hauled the quarried slate and pumped water out of the quarry pit. When installed in July 1871 it cost £1,590.  The beam engine is long gone but the engine house was well restored in 1973 by local effort.  In 2015 the 45 acre site was sold at auction for £81,000.  A circular path leads through the old slate tips, past the quarry pit (now a lake with a small waterfall) and up to the engine house.  From the parking area head uphill, through a gate and shortly fork to climb through the slate tips.  Beyond a flight of steps, the path ends in a platform which overlooks a waterfall and the lake but your view may be obscured by growth.  Climb 59 steps to the top at a grassy platform above the engine house.  There are great views down the valley to Dennis Point and Gull Rock, and over the quarry pit and spoil tips.  For the best photographic view of the engine house, with the sea and Gull Rock beyond, go left uphill at the engine house up to about 650 feet.  To return, facing out from the engine house doorway, take the narrow path to the left, down shallow slate steps and through scrub.
Prince of Wales Quarry Engine House
More information on Slate Country - Inland Walks page
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Industrial Museums

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
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King Edward Mine near Troon
I am glad I visited King Edward Mine (in August 2007) after I had been to Tolgus Tin, which, for a number of reasons, I found a little disappointing.  Where Tolgus is now run by Treasure Park, a major 'tourist attraction', King Edward Mine is run by the enthusiasts of the Trevithick Society.  The mine has an unusual history.  Once part of South Condurrow mine, it was abandoned in 1890 only to be re-opened in 1892 as a fully working part of the Camborne School of Mines.  In 1974 the school ceased to use it but in 1987 volunteers took over, installed rescued machinery in the mill and now the Trevithick Society opens it to the public.  Unlike Geevor, there is no underground tour but the mill is capable of full operation.
The Trevithick Society has made a superb job of presentation.  Kingsley Rickard, who had guided us previously on a tramway walk, gave me a fascinating introductory talk.  I was then free to wander outside to see engine house, winding gear, a beam ready for restoration and even a cage.  On into the informative museum and a good short video before my guide Ben showed me round the mill and ran some of the machinery. I must have spent 2 hours at King Edward;  I enjoyed every minute, thank you Kingsley and Ben.  I hope to return the day after next Trevithick Day, when all machinery is operated. 
My excellent guide Ben operating the rag frame
Trevithick Society website
UPDATE OCTOBER 2009   We were at King Edward Mine again on 26 September 2009 for their Open Day.  This was held in comjunction with the launch of the new Mining Trails, held at Elm Farm Cycle Centre at Camrose on the Coast-to-Coast Trail.  Although we enjoyed wandering the King Edward site and mill freely, listening to the Illogan Sparnon Silver Band and seeing the chimneys in the valley smoking, we also had three other purposes.   To walk some of the Great Flat Lode Treil to South Wheal Frances and back, to lunch at the always excellent and good value Countryman Inn at Piece, and to meet up with friend and map maker, the late Ernie Biddle at King Edward.  Ernie had a display of several of his maps including those of Looe, Fowey, the Camel Trail and some Mining Trails.  Great maps and a good day.
UPDATE JUNE 2015:  When I passed KEM on a Great Flat Lode Trail walk in June 2015, I noticed work underway to excavate the old arsenic calciner.  It would seem that this is part of major works, enabled by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of over £1 million.  It is expected that all the core buildings will be restored: the Boiler House will be an exhibition space;  the refurbished Assay Office will include a café.  Works should be completed in 2016.

UPDATE JULY 2020:  Open Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu.  From 10.00.  Last Tour 1500.  See website for full details
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  Museum opens 1000.  Last Tour 1500.

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Levant Mine near St. Just in Penwith

Cornwall's oldest working beam engine lay idle for 60 years after Levant Mine closed.  Built in 1840, to power lifts taking miners down 1800 feet, and tin and copper ore up, it operated continuously until Levant Mine closed in 1930.  In 1935 an enthusiast purchased it for £25, founding a preservation group - later the Trevithick Society - in order to try to save it.  Around 1990 a group of volunteers, known as the Greasy Gang, restored the engine, said to be the only Cornish beam engine still operating in its original engine house.  The whole site is now in the care of the National Trust, which owns much of the cliff top in this part of Cornwall. Now that the beam engine is fully restored and in steam again, the site is open as a museum and is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining World Heritage Site.  In addition to the engine, you can see a restored electric winding engine and the pumping and winding shafts, take a short underground tour and see a film.  Not far south, at the old Count House at Botallack Mine, there are historical displays.  Although there is parking on the site, my own view is that the best way to visit Levant Mine is in the course of a wonderful cliff-top walk between Pendeen Watch and Cape Cornwall, offering Cornwall's finest collection of mine remains in beautiful locations.  Suggested round walk in the area.
Signed from B3306 coast road at Trewellard
Levant Mine Engine Complex
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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. 
There is a lot to see above ground.  Buildings range from the 18th to 20th century, many attractive.  Production processes are demonstrated and a major gallery, opened in 2005, has an important exhibition about the Nicholas Holman engineering company.  Underground tours of the 18th and 19th century workings are guided by former miners.  If you walk to the bottom of the site you can see the ruins of the old East Levant Mine, where the coast path crosses.  Facilities are good.  There is a decent café and a well stocked shop has mining books, prints and videos and a good range of tin and pewter jewellery.  Geevor is open every day of the year - ex Saturdays. 
Victory Shaft winding gear;  engine house to the left
Between Pendeen & Trewellard, on the St. Just road
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Poldark Mine at Trenear near Wendron
The history of this site as an industrial museum began in 1972 when Peter Young, intending to buy a wardrobe at auction, instead somehow bought Wendron Forge!  Here he set up his collection of steam engines.  Then, excavating into the hillside, he discovered the workings of abandoned Wheal Roots mine, which he opened to the public.  With the success of the Poldark TV series the name of the site was changed from Wendron Forge to Poldark Mine.  The present mining enthusiast owners took over in 1999.  The history of mining here goes back a long way.  Find a massive granite rock in the main car park and you will be looking at the famous Wendron mortar stone, where tin ore was ground before 1200BC.  Look in the museum and you will see a copy of John Trenere's 1493 lease from the Duchy of Cornwall;  outside is his original wheelpit.  Force of circumstance - private ownership, no public funding (ever) and the need to pump vast volumes of water - means that this is an odd site.  On the one hand, a genuine mine (good underground tour), wonderful machinery, a superb museum and helpful, knowledgeable staff.  On the other hand, thanks to the need to keep up cashflow, there is an assortment of craft shops, shops and entertainments to bring in the the general public.  But it's worth it for the real stuff.  Café and ample parking.
On B3297 Helston-Redruth, just north of Wendron. 
Poldark Mine and its winding gear
Update October 2014:  Poldark Mine entered administration in March of 2014 following a downturn in visitor numbers.  In October 2014 sold to "an experienced leisure operator" for an undisclosed sum off a guide price of £350,000.  Apparently it is still operating normally.

May 2020 - Poldfark Mine now has a very comprehensive and informative web site at http://www.poldarkmine.org.uk/
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Tolgus Tin - an updated entry - September 2012
A fascinating place with an interesting history, now fulfilling its great potential.  It is on Treasure Park on  the Redruth to Portreath road;  don't be put off by the very touristy aspects of Treasure Park itself.  Tin has been streamed here for centuries, taking advantage of waste washed down from the Redruth area.  The present tin-streaming works, Tolgus Tin, was started in the 1860s by the Uren brothers and continued operating on the site until the the 1980s when the price of tin collapsed.  It was acquired by Cornish Goldsmiths as a tourist venue.  The Trevithick Trust operated Tolgus Tin as a fascinating museum for a while but, when the Trust was wound up, the site became a little neglected.  Now miner Graham Williams and a young colleague Rob, with good support from Treasure Park, are working hard to restore Tolgus as a working museum.  Since late 2010 a vast amount of machinery has been restored, including the Cornish Stamps, one of only two still working.  The site has come to the point where the tin ore can now be refined to quite a high degree of purity.  Now a fascinating place, well worth visiting.  Redruth Old Cornwall Society Town Museum is also here.  You should also consider the superb King Edward Mine museum near Troon with its working mill machinery.  More info on the Cornwall Gold web siteI wish Graham all the very best with his continuing most valuable work. 
Cornish stamps and the waterwheel that powersd it
Treasure Park, signed from A30 at Redruth.  Open Apr - Oct
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Wheal Martyn Museum of China Clay

Cornwall’s tin-mining industry may be long gone with the collapse in the price of tin but, with the demand for kaolin for porcelain, paper, medical and many other applications, china clay production continues on a large scale north of St. Austell, amidst a strange ‘Mountains of the Moon’ landscape, known locally as the Cornish Alps.  Wheal Martyn, a major working clay-pit, has restored its 19th century workings to create an important museum of one of Cornwall's most enduring industries.  An excellent introductory exhibition tells the story of china clay and of Wheal Martyn.  Informative exhibitions include displays of minerals, examples of local pottery and porcelain, the great Fal Valley Oil Engine, displays on the local brick-making industry, on the cooper’s art and on tools and transport equipment.  An Historic Trail covers the old works;  along the way you see two working waterwheels, one 18 foot, the other Cornwall's largest at 35 feet, slurry pumps, settling pits, tanks and kilns.  The whole process of china clay production, from quarrying to the final product, is well explained.  A well waymarked Nature Trail runs for over a mile and shows how nature has colonised old workings and spoil heaps;  a platform above modern Wheal Martyn pit offers views of the present industry and a panorama of the Cornish Alps.  The museum is signed from the Bodmin-St. Austell road and is not far from the Eden Project.  There is a shop, a good café and ample parking.
Entrance to Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum 
B3274 at Carthew just south of Bugle.  Some Clay Trails start here
UPDATE AUGUST 2010:   The South West Lakes Trust:  In April 2010 Wheal Martyn was acquired by the South West Lakes Trust, probably a good thing.  The Trust is a charitable body that owns or manages 50 lakes in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.  It works with such bodies as the Forestry Commission, South West Tourism and various sports organisations in the areas of leisure and water sports activities, green tourism and conservation.  The list of trustees is impressive, including a former director of Imerys (the china clay people), directors from Viridor and South West Water, and the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall.  Cornish properties, owned or managed, include Argal Reservoir, Colliford Lake, Crowdy and Porth Reservoirs, Sibleyback, Stithians and Tamar Lakes Country Parks - and now Wheal Martyn.  At the latter, it is thought that the Trust may develop flooded Lansalson Pit, perhaps for water sports.  2021: no news.  Do take a look at swlakestrust excellent web site.
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Other Museums
Royal Cornwall Museum
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum
Marconi Centre, Poldhu Point
North Cornwall Museum
Cornwall Centre
Classic Air Force


Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro

Opened in 1818, at about the time when Cornwall’s tin-mining prosperity was first beginning to wane, the Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded primarily to promote knowledge about the archaeology, history and culture of the county.  Not surprisingly, its major exhibit is the internationally renowned Rashleigh Collection of Cornish Minerals - which includes the world's largest crystal of copper ore - but there are other good collections, too.  Outstanding are the De Pass Collection of English and European Old Master drawings and the collection of paintings by Cornish artists including portraitist John Opie and Newlyn School member Henry Scott Tuke.  Applied Arts exhibits include pewter, pottery, porcelain, scrimshaw and Japanese ivories and lacquer-work.  Local History and Archaeology are both well represented - highlight is three early Bronze Age collars of beaten gold, the only such ones found in England - and there is a scale model of Trevithick's 1804 Penydaren locomotive.  There is a good café (in its own art gallery) and a well-stocked shop.  Whilst in Truro you will also find a twentieth century cathedral and plenty of good shops, cafés and restaurants.
Royal Cornwall Museum
 The photo is from the museum's own web site.
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Porthcurno Telegraph Museum

Cornwall has always been in the forefront of communication technology.  The first submarine cable network, the first radio transmissions by Marconi, the first transatlantic satellite station.  It should be no surprise.  Its position - jutting out into the Atlantic - has always offered a direct route by sea and air to the rest of the world.  The first world-spanning submarine cable came into Porthcurno from India in 1870.  The tiny cove grew to be the world's largest cable station, fourteen cables coming in from all parts of the world.  The original Eastern Telegraph Company became the multi-national Cable and Wireless which remained here until the 1990s.  The original headquarters building is now apartments but the later building and its 2nd World War tunnels now house the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum.  It tells the story of submarine telegraphy and of Porthcurno's part, as a secret communications base, in World War II.  Story boards are good and exhibits - many working - fascinating.  But for us the best part was upstairs over the reception area.  Here was a comprehensive exhibit about Isambard Kingdom Brunel's great cable laying ship, the massive 'Great Eastern'.  We would have been happy if this was all we had got for the price of entry.  Later we walked down to the cove to see the old Cable Hut, climbed the cliff to visit Minack Theatre and walked the coast path to Porthgwarra.  There is ample parking.
Porthcurno Bay, where the cables come ashore
From Penzance take A30, B3283 through St. Buryan, follow signs
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The Marconi Centre at Poldhu Point on the Lizard Peninsula

Sadly, Marconi's second (but most famous) Cornish Wireless Station, from which he made the historic radio transmission to St. John's in Newfoundland in 1901, no longer exists, although the bases of the huts, in front of the former Poldhu Cove Hotel, are preserved as of great historic and archaeological importance.  Gugliegmo Marconi chose this site - for his first transmissions to Ireland and Newfoundland and for much later work - because of its westerly location, its freedom from obstruction and for the convenience of the Poldhu Hotel to house his workforce.The Poldhu Hotel may now be a care home and Marconi's buildings may have gone, except for foundations, but the combined efforts of the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club, the National Trust and the Marconi Company resulted in a permanent Marconi Centre Museum opening at Poldhu Point in 2004.  Essentially,  the Marconi Centre is home to the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club, an entirely appropriate use for so historic a site.  In the field behind the centre you can see the foundations of Marconi's buildings and a levelled circle where aerial arrays stood.  Nearby an earlier monument stands on the clifftop, commemorating Marconi's feat.  Centre opening times, found on their web site, are a bit odd and there is an uphill walk from a car park. 
From Mullion follow Poldhu Cove signs, car park behind beach
Marconi Memorial at Poldhu Point, lovely morning
Links:  Marconi Centre Poldhu website
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North Cornwall Museum at Camelford
Unusually, North Cornwall Museum in Camelford is privately owned.  Entirely appropriately for a museum that is concerned with the countryside and its trades and skills, the buiilding it occupies was originally the workshop of a maker of horse-drawn coaches and wagons.  The museum's many wide ranging collections are surprisingly comprehensive and well displayed and explained.  The period covered is very roughly the first half of the 20th century.  I visited for the first time in September 2007 and greatly enjoyed my visit. 
Trades and skills covered include farming, dairying, cider making and wagon making.  The collections of tools are very extensive and relate to the carpenter, cooper, blacksmith, saddler, cobbler, tailor, printer, doctor and quarryman for both slate and granite.  On the domestic side there is a recreation of a moorland cottage of around 1900 and collections including bonnets and early vacuum cleaners (these are a delight).  There is also some Cornish and Devon pottery and, to my amazement, examples of cloam (clay) ovens.  Upstairs is a gallery with changing art and craft exhibitions.  The museum opens daily (ex Sunday) 10-5 April to September.  It also houses the local TIC.  Free car park opposite.
North Cornwall Museum and Gallery
Approaching from the south, turn L up Clease Road, near top of hill
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Kresenn Kernow, the Cornwall Centre in Redruth
When I walked part of the Redruth and Chacewater Trail in June 2008, I had time to spare to wander around Redruth.  I was glad I did because, on Alma Place off Fore Street, I encountered the excellent Cornwall Centre.  At heart the Cornish Studies Library, with a vast collection of Cornish books, pamphlets, journals and photographs, it is much more than just that.  In the foyer is the local TIC with helpful staff and ample local information.  In a front exhibition room I saw a good display of local crafts.  For me, though, the highlights were through a door off the foyer.  A corridor and stairs lead down to Market Way and the old Buttermarket.  Along the corridor are the first few frames of the Tregellas Tapestry.  At the foot of the stairs you come to Market Way, a small mall with a mix of shops and a café (all day breakfasts).  Through the mall is the old Buttermarket.  While the stalls here were of little interest, what took my attention was a replica of Richard Murdoch's 'Flyer' steam driven road car and the remainder of the 56 frames of the Tregellas Tapestry.  Inspired and supervised by Cornish Bard Rita Tregellas Pope, the superb Tapestry covers the history of Cornwall from prehistory times to the present.  A few frames deal with myth and legend - Jesus's visit to Cornwall and the story of Tristan and Iseult.
Alma Place is off pedestrianised Fore St. near the clock tower
The Cornwall Centre on Alma Place in Redruth
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Classic Air Force - I am unsure whether this still exists at Newquay Airport
This museum was previously situated near Coventry but moved down to Cornwall in 2013.  It is now on the Aerohub site on the old St. Mawgan Airfield, on the opposite side from Newquay Airport.  Classic Air Force opened in Cornwall at Easter 2013 and we were lucky enough to be able to attend one of its free Easter opening days.  Considering how recently the aircraft had moved down from the Midlands - there were still more to come later - everything ran surprisingly smoothly thanks to the great enthusiasm of the staff running the operation.  Housed in and around a massive former RAF hangar, the collection of airplanes is impressive, ranging from simple single-engined craft such as the Auster Aristocrat and Chrislea Super Ace, through the De Havilland Dragon Rapide bi-plane, to the classic jets such as the English Electric Canberra, the Hawker Hunter and Sea Hawk, the Gloster Meteor and the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod.  Many are in flying condition and some are used to give visitors air trips.  While we have to claim supreme ignorance when it comes to aviation, we were impressed by the scope of the collection, the presentation and the sheer enthusiasm of the staff.  Pasties and relatively simple snacks were available when we were there.
One of the older exhibits, the De Havilland Rapide
A3059 from A39 at St. Columb Major, ignore Airport sign
UPDATE MARCH 2015 - CLOSURE:  Disappointing news is that Classic Air Force, closed during winter 2014, and due to re-open for Easter 2015, is not going to re-open after all.  Lack of visitors is given as the reason.  The planes will go back to Coventry.
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Art Galleries
St. Ives Galleries
Newlyn & Exchange Galleries
Penlee House in Penzance
 Falmouth Art Gallery
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Tate Gallery, Hepworth Sculpture Garden & Leach Pottery

Tate Gallery St. Ives
Architecturally superb and beautifully located high above Porthmeor surfing beach.  Rather sadly it concentrates on the ultra-modern which, on one of our visits, bordered on the obscene.  Too rarely does it exhibit any works of  the great artists who lived and worked in St. Ives in the 20th century.  You should still visit to enjoy the architecture, the views and a good coffee shop.  Extension work started in October 2014.

Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden is only a five minute walk from the Tate.  Some of the best of this wonderful sculptor is in the studio and garden of what was her own home - small works indoors, larger works competing with the sub-tropical plants in the small garden.  For content we much prefer this to the Tate - of which it actually an outstation.
 
Leach Pottery re-opened in March 2008 as pottery school, workshops, gallery, shop, museum.
Tate Gallery above Porthmeor beach
Tate website  and   Leach website
Porthmeor beach
UPDATE 2010: At last the Tate is to be extended, having aquired the site on the right of the photo above.  Work started October 2014!!!
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Newlyn Gallery and Exchange Gallery
July 2007 - Newlyn Gallery must have come into some money recently.  Not only has it built a new café and bookshop extension to the original Passmore Edwards building on the eastern fringe of Newlyn, it has also acquired a brand new gallery in the heart of Penzance, the Exchange Gallery just off the town's attractive Chapel Street.  We can't claim that our taste in art matches theirs but we do admire the new buildings and we imagine that the cafés will prove a big attraction.  We took a look at both places when we went to Penlee House for their marvellous Stanhope Forbes exhibition, definitely our taste.  The exhibiton in Newlyn Gallery was quite beyond our comprehension;  that in the Exchange Gallery, called Social Systems, was comprehensible but hardly our thing.
Newlyn Gallery's new café extension
 Penzance's new Exchange Gallery
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Penlee House in Penzance - Home of the Newlyn School

Built in 1865, and standing in a pleasant small park near the centre of Penzance, not far from Morrab Gardens and the seafront, Penlee House was completely refurbished in 1997.  It contains West Cornwall's largest art collection, primarily the local Newlyn School of the late 19th century.  Expect to see slightly romantic views of working fishermen and locals on the beach and around the harbour.  Amongst the leading lights of the Newlyn School exhibited here are Stanhope Forbes, its best known name, Frank Bramley, Norman Garstin, Thomas Cooper Gotch, Walter Langley, 'Lamorna' Birch and Henry Scott Tuke.  We particularly enjoy the gallery's regular special exhibitions, covering differing aspects of the Newlyn School's work.  There is also a museum, founded in 1839;  this covers 6000 years of Cornish history, archaeology and commerce, and has displays of fine art and the decorative arts.  Also in Penzance and adjoining Newlyn you will find differing galleries at the Penzance Arts Club (may be closed now), the Exchange Gallery and the ultra contemporary Newlyn Gallery;  the latter tends to put on shows which are well beyond our comprehension.  More Newlyn School Paintings are found at Falmouth Art Gallery and the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro.
Penlee House, the café terrace from the garden
There is an inexpensive all-day car park nearby
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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. 
The permanent collection is mainly of 18th to 20th century works and tends to concentrate on British (including Cornish) artists and their landscapes, maritime paintings, other 'plein air' works and local topographical prints.  Notable artists represented include late Newlyn School artist Henry Scott Tuke, Frank Brangwyn and Sir Alfred Munnings.  There are some superb maritime battle paintings by Thomas Luny;  Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings by Burne Jones and John William Waterhouse;  local land and seascapes by William Martin.  It is quite pleasing to find local topographical prints and engravings (including a couple by Turner) showing a very different Falmouth of bygone days.  Amongst changing temporary exhibitions we especially enjoyed one on Portscatho artists; others may include ceramics, textiles and sculptures - but often occupy too many rooms.
 Falmouth Art Gallery
 Ask if you would like to see  permanent collection items not on show
To fill the space
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