Juliet had recommended that we visit the Geevor Tin Mine just over on the Atlantic coast from Penzance. It’s a mine that has been operated for about 300 years, for copper originally, then tin. It closed in the early eighties when the (controlled) tin price dropped from 10,000 pounds/ton to 3,000. Prior to that supply exceeded demand. With the boom in China at the moment, world demand has increased by about 50% and the price is apparently at about 8,000 pounds/ton and a nearby closed tin mine is about to re-open at a cost of about 50 million pounds.
A group of ex-miners have formed a trust and raised money to restore the old mill and mine buildings. They’ve converted the offices into museum space. They also do an underground tour which was reasonably interesting. To be honest, it was good to see from a research point of view but wasn’t particularly interesting and the kids got bored pretty quickly.
There are lots of Pumphouse-like buildings along the coast in various states of repair which would make an interesting place to walk and explore in the summer.
We did a runner back toward London in the afternoon and made it about half way back before dark. The roads are really crowded and narrow and difficult to drive in the daylight – and they’re just downright dangerous in a camper after dark.
No comments:
Post a Comment