MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Big Kev]

Was it the last operational tin mine?

[Tizer]

It was a tin mine and closed in the late 1800s but, sadly for you Kev, it was not the last.

[Steeplejerk]

Was it the 1st with a steam pumphouse.

[Stanley]

Was it the deepest mine? Dolcoath?

[Tizer]

No, Tom, no, Stanley. All good suggestions though. Keep trying!

[Stanley]

Wheal Tolgus?

[Tizer]

No, wrong location. Don't worry so much about location, concentrate on the engine house. I'll be back in the morning to see if anyone has solved the puzzle.

[Stanley]

Did it contain a Bull engine and not the conventional beam?

[Tizer]

No, it did have a conventional beam engine but you are right in thinking the beam is involved in the interesting story of this engine. Have a look again at the picture and think about the design of a Cornish engine house and see if you can spot the difference. It's staring you all in the face so perhaps you need to google Cornish engine house and click on images to see some typical ones! (I'll bet Gloria would know but she must be too busy with Xmas. Same for Tom.)

[Big Kev]

Is it the location of the chimney?

[Tizer]

Spot on, Kev! Now what's different about the location and what where the implications. And perhaps you could also find the mine's name and/or location?

[Stanley]

I noticed how close it was to the end wall and implied that the boiler was in the house.

[Tizer]

Think about where the chimney is usually located on a Cornish engine house.

[PanBiker]

It's on the end rather than on a back corner.

[Tizer]

Exactly! Thanks Ian. As far as I know it's the only Cornish engine house with that configuration. It was a mistake, a very big one too, someone must have got into serious trouble. Now, why was it such a major problem?

[Big Kev]

Spot on, Kev! Now what's different about the location and what where the implications. And perhaps you could also find the mine's name and/or location?

Batters Engine House, West Chiverton

[Tizer]

Correct identification, Kev, well done. Any ideas on the problem it caused?

[Big Kev]

Correct identification, Kev, well done. Any ideas on the problem it caused?

Unfortunately not.

[Stanley]

Batters' Shaft, West Chiverton
Great West Chiverton mine was a rich producer of lead, silver-lead and zinc, once employing around 1,000 people. This well-known local landmark on Batters' Shaft housed an 80" cylinder pumping engine from 1869. The house is unusual in having the chimney built into the centre of the back wall, meaning that the large cylinder doorway had to be built into a side wall (the other side of the house from the camera position). The engine was designed and built by Harveys of Hayle and considered to be one of the best ever made. West Chiverton was closed in 1886 but the engine went on to be used on two other mines.

[Tizer]

You've got most of the answer there, Stanley - well researched. They also may have had a problem getting the beam in. Here is the caption to the photo which is in `Mining in Cornwall. Vol.2. The Country Explored', JH Trounson & LJ Bullen, page 90, a reprinted edition from 2010 by The History Press, Stroud.

[Stanley]

What is it?

[plaques]

Bob's garden railway.

[Big Kev]

Bob's garden railway.

[Big Kev]

It looks like Richard Travelsick's steam locomotive. Sure I saw this, or one very similar, at Blists Hill Museum.

[Stanley]

You've got it right first time Kev....