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Once one of the richest tin
and copper mining areas in the world, this is now
part of one of the largest urban areas in
Cornwall, though brooding mine stacks and engine
houses still survive.
Dolcoath mine was 3,500ft deep while South Crofty
was Cornwall’s last tin mine.
The area was home to the great foundry of Holmans,
Cornwall's largest maker of industrial equipment,
which included the Sten submachine gun. |
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Cambourne - Photo:
Toby Speight
CCL
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Cambourne Business Park -
Photo:
Toby Speight
CCL |
In 1801 Cambourne witnessed
the first-ever journey by a pioneering ‘motor
car’, the steam-powered ‘Puffing Devil’. The
invention of locally-born engineer Richard
Trevithick, it was tested on Cambourne Hill.
Trevithick, who worked for the ‘Ding Dong’ mine at
Penzance, went on to create the world’s first
proper steam engine to run on rails. His statue
stands outside Cambourne Library and each April
the town celebrates Trevithick Day. |
