We came home from the Godolphin Woods taking a detour via The Great Works Mine, where Betty's ancestors worked - I gather at one time they employed around 3,000 there. Looking on the map of the area there are mine shafts everywhere - they were certainly busy underground.
Unfortunately when we got there it was badly overgrown with a veritable jungle around it - I remembered the ground being cleared all around it.
It was so overgrown I had to step backwards to take this - Ouch ! straight into some nettles !
Not the prettiest Pumping Engine House I've seen, but it was build to do a job not look pretty. It's built of cut granite blocks rather than just granite boulders as the chimney.
Very well protected from explorers !
Was here some yrs ago...nice to see it again, colors in the wood are lovely SueK
ReplyDeleteThink that the rain and the cutbacks on anything that isn't vital have been left to go wild, but we like the woods as even if it's raining it's never as bad as out by the coast on a bad day. Sue
DeleteThe woods are very pretty. Hope there are clear tracks for walking. You wouldn't want to fall down a mine shaft or trip over a mullock heap!
ReplyDeleteHard to believe how busy it must have been around the engine house in days
gone by.....looks rather forlorn now. Thanks for taking these shots. Very interesting to see what it looks like.
Thanks for your comments on my blog post. It's just beautiful there and I'm looking forward to visiting on a sunny day sometime soon.
Fortunately the paths in the woods are fine - but the one from the Great Works side of Godolphin Hill was really overgrown. I too was amazed to see just how many people worked in the various shafts and associated works all around Godolphin House. So sad that Cornwall really never found any big employment to replace the mines - only Tourism I suppose !
DeleteI loved the photos on your blog such a beautiful place with wonderful plants and what looked like spectacular trees.