Bedruthan steps near Newquay
A small county on a long promontory on the south west tip of England which terminates at “Land’s End”. The County is bounded on the east by Devonshire whilst on the north, south and west there is sea.
The Cornish language, no longer spoken is preserved in place names within the county and in old books, many of which are in the library in Penzance, Cornwall. There are many archaeological treasures and early English ruins attracting many tourists..
Picturesque cliff scenery and a rugged coastline with rocky promontories which shelter peaceful bays leading gently to green meadows on higher land, made a natural haven for pirates and smuggling in earlier times.
The fishing industry is important. whilst the Cornish tin and copper mines have been
there since ancient times although most are now closed. Around Redruth, where the Mills family originated there were mines and John Mills worked there.
Tin and copper, the essential metals of bronze, began to be mined in Cornwall in the Bronze Age. With the coming of the Celts the industry developed and tin was shipped from Cornwall all over Europe and, of course, to the rest of lowland Britain. Tin lodes are found Within Cornwall‘s granite rocks, mostly in a belt stretching from near Land's End to Camborne and Redruth, and copper deposits are found in the nearby shale. From the medieval period right up until the middle of the Victorian era, tin was Cornwall’s chief source of employment and prosperity. In the 1860's, though, many of the older mines were worked out, and competition from southeast Asia and South America crippled the industry. Thousands of out-of-work miners emigrated to the colonies, leaving gaunt ruins at places like Botallack, pictured below, and Camborne near Redruth (above) all over the area. Efforts to revive the industry have not been successful.
The occupation of 'miner' who worked in Cornwall is described as Poorer classes who
sought work wherever it was available. If they didn’t have a trade then they would
drift into whatever was available in their area. A miner did not need to be educated
or need a trade or apprenticeship. Women were employed to work above ground.
The early "tinners" as they were called, or miners worked in the open gathering tin from the rocks where the ore was exposed. The lighter waste washed away from the gravel, whilst the heavier stones were pounded into powder and taken to the furnace for smelting.
These men had the right to search for tin and work the site, on any waste land, paying the lord of the manor a toll thus establishing himself as his own master. If he found the ore a profit was made, if not he was a loser. This put him in a unique position amongst his fellow men. He was not a serf, servant or hired labour but a free man working for himself alone.
Once the tin had been smelted it was taken to a "coinage" where it was weighed and
stamped by an Officer of the Crown, to be sold to foreign traders, any profit going to the miner himself.
They continued to work in the open, using pick and shovel, changing their work place as deposits became exhausted. Sometimes these deposits would be a considerable distance from the village, then they would build themselves a moor-house near their work. These moor-houses were bare and sparse ~ one long windowless room where they ate and slept, with a hearth where they could burn turf, placing turf or heather on the dirt floor to sleep on at night. The winter days would be hard beyond belief, with strong winds driving the rain across the moors and it would be dark by half past four in the afternoon. If the food they brought with them ran out, they would then have to trap rabbits, or shoot wild bird life that came to feed beside the pools and marshes, then in their rough shelters cook their catch. They would then sit around telling each other the legends of the past.
Tin and copper mining below the surface began about the middle of the 15th century. As shafts were sunk deeper and tunnels grew longer so the work became harder and more dangerous. The miners had to crawl along the tunnels, working half bent at times with a candle fixed to the brim of his hat, for as long as eight hours a day in hot stagnant air. The sinking of the shafts, the use of timber ladders and ropes, candles, moving of the earth itself, the danger of accidents to life and limb, were the problems experienced by the miners working underground in contrast to their previous counterparts who worked in the open air. The men had the added strain of having to climb hundreds of feet upwards on ladders, which took an estimated one third of their energy, to reach the surface. Eventually a cage-like device was used to haul the men upwards.
During the 17th and 18th century the price of tin and copper fell and the loss of the miners income was serious. Many of these came to starving point and in desperation raided farms and villages for food. The ordinary folk of Cornwall feared them and blamed them for any disturbance that occurred. They became known as a violent bunch of men, when in fact they were not.
The beginning of the 19th century saw a boom in Cornish mining. Roads improved, foundries and engineering works were built and steam engines were introduced. The mine owners became rich, whilst the miners themselves worked long hours for poor
wages. In fact it was hard to get a job at all. They had come a long way from the early "tinners" who worked on the open moors. Disease took its toll; the average life span of a miner working underground was 47 years. If he survived the frequent accidents, the heart and lung problems, the colds and chills that were common after working in the stifling heat underground, only to confront the wet cold conditions when he reached the surface. Then to end his day in an overcrowded cottage, spitting black dust; existing on a diet of potatoes and barley gruel. There was no trade union or government body to fight for his cause.
In the middle of the 19th century Cornwall was the largest copper-producing district in the world. Some fifty thousand people were working the mines. The boom reached its peak by the late 1860s when the market began to fail as copper had now been found overseas.
A third of the mining population left Cornwall taking their skills to other countries - to
America, South Africa and Australia, whilst back in Cornwall the mining towns and villages were deserted. The land reverted once more to barren waste and scrub.
Today the mines are long gone and small farming is practiced with intensive cultivation and cropping. Fishing continues along the coastal towns and tourism brings in good revenue.
Whether men worked as miners, tradesmen, farmers or shopkeepers once the mines failed their incomes were depleted and many families left their homes seeking a better life in the new country across the sea - Australia.
I could not leave Cornwall without mentioning three of their favourite delicacies —
Saffron cakes - made with plenty of currants, lemon peel and saffron.
Kiddley broth - made by pouring boiling water over pieces of bread, adding a small lump of butter and plenty of pepper and salt. It is tasty and often served for breakfast.
Cornish pasty - the usual Cornish pasty is “beef and tatty” - potato with or without onion and a little turnip.
When we were visiting Penzance, I was able to spend time with an elderly Cornish lady who told me her version of the Cornish pasty. She said that in the early days, when the men worked above ground, the women used to bake the pasties and take them to the men at lunch time. They placed the savoury mixture one end, adding jam to the other and putting two layers of pastry around it all. This gave them both a savoury and a sweet meal all in one. A billy of tea completed their meal. As arsenic was often present on the hands of the men, as they ate, they peeled off the outer layer of pastry so as not to swallow the toxic substance.
