Bal maidens

images from A Hole in the Ground, an exhibition (in aid of NSPCC) in our parish hall of arts and crafts inspired by mining in the Tamar valley and a reflection of the harsh life of young men and women who worked in the mines locally.

hell hound returns

in the same woods lies the entrance to the Excelsior tunnel which leads deep under Kit Hill. It was used in operation Orpheus by the atomic Weapons research agency to test whether explosions could be hidden or disguised from seismographs (hence no doubt the reference to the underworld by some classicist in the Ministry of Defence). For more on this interesting part of local folklore see this link.

brimstone and fire

It was a beautiful sunny day and we went for a walk around Devon Great Consul mine workings (see my link). It is a barren place for the most part but two very early brimstones appeared to add a little colour, one of which you might be able to see below (just)

Ok, here it is, admittedly it is small and it was flying away fast

holmbush

there is no doubt that we live in an interesting place. These are the old mine workings at Holmbush, which have been restored is very well preserved and are part of the world heritage mining site, and lies in the shadow of Kit Hill.

Venterdon

Spot's house from Holmbush woods, looking North across the valleys of the Inny and Tamar, with Duchy Agricultural College to the left. Below is a picture of Spot in front of the ruins of the mine works at Holmbush which used to be a source of tin, copper and arsenic (hence the lack of vegetation under the trees) and is now a world mining heritage site.
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stackins

more catkins (nothing else wild is out yet except snowdrops, of which we have blogged enough for this year)

green tips

the greening effect of the metals in the spoil tip is very obvious at this time of year.

St Agnes in Cornwall

we spent a very pleasant day in and around St Agnes (another name on the long list of obscure Cornish (celtic) saints. St Agnes (see link)seems to be a very busy village, with a carnival that goes back a long time, and in our opinion a place that manages to look after one's spiritual needs very satisfactorily.


There is also this fascinating mining landscape (see top picture above) with mine workings all over the place. Perranporth beach is in the far distance (to the left). In the lower of the two pictures one can just make out some giant wind turbines on the horizon. Wind turbine farms are starting TO dominate our local landscape; we are not sure if they are for good or bad.


And a very pretty comma, there are two generations each year, and this butterfly will probably over winter looking like a dead leaf hanging on a twig. The second generation is darker. Usually they look a lot more tatty than this rather smart specimen.

more from the spoil heap

there are several different species of moss growing even in this hostile soil (see link).

spoil heap colours

the striking colours on this spoil heap (near Old Mill) may be something to do with the toxic metals (arsenic, copper, cadmium, etc) to be found in the waste from the mines in this part of Cornwall. The striking moss may be an ornamental escapee but it is clearly flourishing on this wasteland. Barbed wire and moss sandwich is a local delicacy.

sauron looks on

perched on the top of this ruined mine stack is a very large vulture, watching the little furry hobbits (that's Frodo Lilly and Harriet) and thinking about having a late lunch