Friends of King Edward Mine.

 Newsletter.

Issue 1   October 2007

Chairman’s report:

‘This, our first newsletter, gives me the opportunity to welcome all members to the Friends of King Edward. As you are no doubt aware a small volunteer group have worked for many years restoring the mill at KEM.  Due to work commitments, distance from the site, lack of skills in restoration etc, many of us have been unable, frustratingly, to lend a hand with this ongoing restoration.  With the recently formed Friends group we are able to relieve these frustrations to a degree.  Many projects that lie in the scope of the Friends can now be undertaken, projects that we will keep you up to date with as they unfold.  Again, welcome and thank you for your support that will help to provide a firm footing for the future of King Edward.’

S H Polglase. Chairman

Current position of KEM.

Now that the Camborne School of Mines and Exeter University have vacated the site, Kerrier District Council – who support the museum – are concerned about the long term future of the Mine.  Kerrier’s Strong Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered a report; their recommendations were,  ‘Officers be authorised to negotiate with the landowner of the King Edward mine with a view to purchasing the freehold of the site’.  Before taking this positive step the cabinet at Kerrier requested a ‘full options appraisal’, and external consultants, Roger Tym & Partners, have been appointed to undertake this.  The consultants have met with KEM and should be reporting back to Kerrier in the near future.  We understand that the meeting with KEM was a positive one, and it is hoped that by the time of the next newsletter, the future of KEM will be a lot clearer.

A Good Year at KEM

As the current year of public opening draws to an end, there are good things to report:

All in all, despite the seemingly general dismal weather for the summer, KEM has enjoyed an increase in visitors.  We can report an increase of 20% over the previous year. This is good going considering that this is on top of the 37% increase achieved in 2006.

The ‘season’ started with an extremely successful Open Day at the end of April.  The sun shone on around 1300 visitors during the day, there was a wide range of attractions: Displays of vintage cars, and the ‘Puffing Devil’, himself was in steam.  Marc Kaczmarek was on hand to talk about life and work underground at South Crofty.  Throughout the day music was provided by the Helston School Jazz Orchestra and the Roskeltic dancers put on splendid displays.

This year was the centenary of the Scouting movement and the local Stenek Ha’n Mor District celebrated this with a full programme centred on KEM in mid-July.  Sadly, they did not enjoy good weather, but some 500 scouts, guides, leaders and parents enjoyed a successful day, enthusiastically taking part in several projects, including a very damp walk round the Great Flat Lode.  KEM put on special tours around the mill and the museum for the day.

Additionally, the Royal Geographical Society of Cornwall, the Trevithick Society and the Mineral Tramways  have used KEM premises for various projects.  This year, KEM was also open as part of the Heritage Open Day held in September.

The Holman Horizontal Winder Centenary.

The Scouts were not the only ones with a hundredth birthday The Holman winder again sits in splendour on the original mountings made for it 100 years ago. It was first erected on the mine in 1907, replacing the original winder.  The full story of the Holman Winder’s travels around the county has been well covered in the West Briton in recent years.  Our thanks must go to Peter Benbow for all the work he has put into this project, It would be wonderful to think that, one day, we may get a proper building for the winder to replace the one burned down in 1957.  A future project for the Friends perhaps.

The Frue Vanner.

This is another very interesting project currently in progress.  It is believed that, in the mass dismantling of the mines years ago, no Frue Vanners survived in the UK, or indeed throughout Europe.  We know that KEM mill originally contained such a vanner, and now, another is being built, ‘in situ’.   The work is being done, partly from original plans and drawings, but chiefly from the experience and expertise of Willy Uren and Gerald Bodilly. Our thanks to them. This is a most important project.  More details will be reported in future newsletters.

Friends Projects.

There are plans afoot to get some good quality all weather signage to identify the outdoor attractions of our site.  Scheduled for attention are: the boiler house, the Holman winder, the shaft site and the cages.  The signs will carry a legend to draw attention to them as having been provided by the Friends of KEM.  In the meantime, we have provided some umbrellas and a couple of stands so that visitors can get from the shop to the museum when it rains.

Finally.

We expect to publish a newsletter three or four times each year; it is produced for you, the Friends of KEM.  We welcome comments, be they bouquets or brickbats.

The Museum and Mill are often open on Sundays, between 0900 and 1300, Volunteers are in attendance working away on some project or other, or they may be just getting out of the washing up.  Come and join us.

Compiler. John Beale.  caenswood@aol.com.