Up until about 1850 china clay was dried in open-sided sheds known as air drys. This was a slow process: in winter, it could take as long as eight months.
From 1845, pan kilns were developed and became standard in the 1860s and 70s. Flues led beneath a floor of porous tiles on which the cream-like clay slurry was dried. The moisture was drawn down into the hot fumes and vented from a chimney.
The tower on the headland opposite is the Gribbin daymark.
The 84ft tall tower on Gribbin Head was erected by Trinity House in 1832 as a daylight navigation aid for shipping, enabling ships to distinguish Gribbin Head more easily from other headlands along Cornwall’s south coast. It is now owned by the National Trust and can be climbed on some Sundays during summer; a flag is flown to show when it is open.
The upper part of the beach is sandy and there is a beach at all states of the tide. At low tide, a rock platform is revealed with rockpools. The beach faces south so it gets the sun all year. After storms, the beach is strewn with seaweed ripped from the rock platforms by the sea. On the headland on the left side of the beach there's a WW2 pillbox.
Golf developed in The Netherlands during the Middle Ages and was introduced into Scotland towards the end of this period where it evolved to its present form. The word golf is thought to be a Scots alteration of Dutch colf meaning "club". Golf is first documented in Scotland in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, prohibiting the playing of the games of gowf and futball as these were a distraction from archery practice.
The main line railway through Cornwall was originally conceived as a means to link the port of Falmouth to London. However, whilst funds were being raised for the railway, much of Falmouth's Packet trade was transferred to Southampton. The line was built to Truro instead but initially failed to make money and was bought up by Great Western. Once established, the new railway allowed rapid exports of perishables to London including fresh flowers and fish. It also made large-scale tourism possible and the term "Cornish Riviera" was coined.
East Crinnis was a copper and tin mine which was operating by 1820. By the mid 1820s it included a mineral railway. Work stopped in 1841 and it was combined with Pembroke Mine in 1852 to form South Par Mine. It worked again for roughly a couple of years in the 1860s but was idle by 1864.
Lamellyn was originally called Nansmellyn, recorded in 1296, which means "valley mill" in Cornish. It's one of several place names including Lanteglos church at Camelford where the initial "N" in nans has been replaced by an "L" once understanding of the meaning of the original Cornish words began to fade.
There are over 280 species of hoverflies in Britain. As the name of the family implies, they are very good at hovering completely stationary in flight and can switch from very fast flight to a perfect hover in the blink of an eye.
Extracts from ivy were used in herbal remedies and still form the basis of some modern-day cough medicines. It is said to have both antibacterial and antiviral properties. A study for English Heritage also found that roadside ivy absorbed particulates from the atmosphere which may lead to its use in improving air quality.
Ash trees can live for over 400 years and the life of the tree can be prolonged further by coppicing. Ash was traditionally coppiced to provide wood for firewood and charcoal. It is unusual in that it can be burnt green (without requiring seasoning first) as the living wood has a very low moisture content.
Young beech leaves can be used as a salad vegetable, which are described as being similar to a mild cabbage, though much softer in texture. Older leaves are a bit chewy, as you'd expect.
Magpies sometimes venture from the fields to bird tables in the residential area.
Since members of the crow family will eat the eggs and chicks of other birds, there has been concern that magpies might have an effect on the songbird population. However, an extensive study by the British Trust for Ornithology using 35 years of data found that the presence of magpies appeared to have no measurable effect on songbird numbers. It is thought that availability of food and suitable nesting sites are probably the main factors limiting songbird populations. Hedgerows are a particularly important habitat.
The first record of the settlement of Biscovey is from 1169 as Botscalvai. The name originally started with bos - the Cornish word for "dwelling". In 1210 this was more clearly recorded in Bosconevey and again in 1310 as Boskenvay. The remainder of the place name could possibly have been based on a personal name.
Something you may have noticed is that all A and B road numbers in Cornwall start with the number 3. For A and B road numbering, England and Wales are divided up into 6 segments a bit like an orange, radiating out from London. Zone 3 covers the South West.
Par was created as a new parish in 1846, from part of St Blazey and part of Tywardreath. St Mary's church was built in 1847 and consecrated in 1849. Unfortunately, the stone chosen is porous, causing water to run down the inside of the tower when it rains.
The spore from a fern doesn't grow into a fern. Instead it grows into an organism resembling a liverwort (i.e. a small green blob). Instead of producing spores, these produce eggs and also sperm which they interchange with neighbouring blobs to get a new mix of genes. The fertilised egg grows into a new fern and so this alternating process of ferns and blobs repeats.
The woodland to the left merges into Tregrehen Gardens.
From Tudor times, Tregrehen House was home to the wealthy Carlyon family whose land contained many of the rich copper and tin deposits. The gardens were created in the 18th and 19th Centuries as the family's wealth reached its peak with exotic plants from Japan and North America being incorporated.
In 1850 one of the Carlyon family emigrated to New Zealand. His son returned from New Zealand to take over the estate and planted every new plant he could get hold of, forming the backbone of the gardens today which has been added to by more generations returning from New Zealand to run the estate.
95% of all plant life on Earth, including trees, relies on a symbiotic relationship with fungi. It is thought that without fungi, land plants could not have developed at all. Fungal mycelium often grows around or actually within the roots of plants and give the plant access to water and nutrients it couldn't otherwise obtain easily from the soil. In return, the plants provide the fungi with sugars produced through photosynthesis.
By using their tail as a parachute, squirrels are able to survive falls from high trees. This allows them to attempt risky jumps between treetops that don't always work out. They are one of the few mammals that can (but not always) survive an impact at their terminal velocity i.e. if a squirrel jumped out of an aeroplane, it may well survive.
The Eden Project was conceived by Tim Smit after his involvement with the restoration of the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Work on the Eden Project began in the late 1990s and the visitor centre opened to the public in May 2000 followed by the main attraction in March 2001. The biomes are effectively giant bubble wrap, with each panel containing an insulating gas bubble sealed within plastic. This allows a tropical climate to be maintained in one where nearly 4 acres of rainforest thrives. The Core building was added in 2005 to provide an education facility which includes classrooms. The Eden Project is run as a social enterprise by the Eden Trust - a charitable trust dedicated to educating the public about the natural world.
The collective noun for a group of crows is a "murder". The term has been traced back to around the 15th Century, originally as a murthre (which was a Middle English word that meant "murder"). It is thought that the expression may be based on crows scavenging carcasses.
If you have secateurs, it will help to keep the path from getting blocked if you give any brambles encroaching onto the footpath a good snip on your way through.
Bramble roots are perennial but its shoots last just two years. In the first year, the shoots grow vigorously (up to 8cm in one day!). In the second year, the shoots mature and send out side-shoots with flowers.
St Blazey Church dates from the 15th Century but it may possibly be on the site of an earlier mediaeval chapel mentioned in 1281. The church was heavily restored twice during in the 19th Century. The tower and south porch survive as 15th Century structures.
Until the 16th Century, the valley below St Blazey was an estuary and St Blazey was at the lowest crossing point on the river. Tin streaming on the moors filled the estuary with sediment and, beside the river, what would have been the surface of the land in mediaeval times lies around 8 metres under the soil. A bridge was found buried 25 feet under the soil at Ponts Mill.
National Cycle Route 2 runs for 361 miles along the south coast from St Austell to Dover but at the time of writing, several sections including the one between Par and Plymouth (using the Cremyll ferry to cross the Tamar) haven't been completed yet.
The Par river was diverted to create a canal from the Fowey Consols mine to Par docks by 1830. In 1835, this was extended to Ponts Mill to connect with the horse-drawn tramway being planned for the Luxulyan Valley. However due to the labour-intensiveness of transferring cargo between the trams and boats, the tramway was extended all the way to Par harbour in the 1850s, running alongside the canal.
The River Par rises on Criggan Moor near Roche and flows through the China Clay areas around Bugle before descending through the Luxulyan valley and meeting the sea at Par. The river is fast-flowing and once ran white from the suspended china clay; it now supports a healthy fish population.
Before 1800, the village of Par was just a small group of houses below the cliff overlooking the mouth of the River Par. By the 1880s, as well as a railway and canal, there were two inns, a customs house, post office, school, chapel, Sunday school and a large locomotive shed (which is now the Roundhouse business park) but Par was still tiny in comparison to Tywardreath.
The name Par is thought to be a corruption of Porth, which is how it was recorded in 1327. In the 1880s, a few houses behind the harbour were recorded as Porth which is now the location of a 20th Century china clay dry.
In the 1820s, the ferry at Par was replaced with a bridge and work began on the construction of the harbour, which was completed in 1840. Since the main export from the harbour at the time was copper which needed to be taken to coal-rich South Wales for smelting, the location on the Channel coast was not ideal as ships then needed to make the treacherous journey around Lands End. Consequently work began on a tramway to replace Par with Newquay as the port for export.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, china clay took over from copper as the most profitable mineral to extract in Cornwall and Par harbour gained a new lease of life. A pipeline for clay slurry was built to the harbour, driers were built on the docks and China clay was exported all through the 20th Century until 2007. At the time of writing it is still dried at Par but then sent to Fowey to be shipped.
Par Consols Mine was located on the hill on the opposite side of the road from the car park. The Par Inn is tactically located next to a path leading from the mine to Par that would likely have been walked by miners just after they had been paid.
Several smaller mines were consolidated into Par Consols which itself later became part of Par and St Blazey Consols. It was one of the richest mines in the world, extracting copper, zinc and tin. 200,000 tons of ore were produced in the 19th Century.
Ivy is a creeping vine which is well-known for being able to climb up almost anything. With good support, an ivy plant can climb as high as 90ft. A plant can live over 400 years and on mature plants, stems can reach a diameter of over 10cm.
Ivy has two types of roots. The "normal" roots extend into the soil and collect nutrients. At intervals along the climbing stems there are also aerial roots which attach the plant to a surface. As they come into contact with a surface, the roots change shape to anchor the plant. They then produce hairs that wedge into any crevices. The roots also exude a chemical compound which acts as a glue.
There are two types of ivy leaf. Those on creeping stems are the classic ivy leaf shape with 3-5 triangular lobes - they grow towards shade to find a tree to climb up. However, more mature ivy plants grow aerial shoots with a completely different (teardrop) leaf shape. These are the shoots that bear the flowers and fruits and are typically located in a sunny spot such as on an upright ivy bush or top of a rock face. The reason for the different shapes is that the larger, multi-lobed leaves are able to catch more light in shady areas whereas the smaller, stouter leaves are more resistant to drying out.
Since the multi-lobed leaves are found in shade, whist the teardrop leaves are found in sun, this allows the leaves of ivy plants growing up trees to be used as a compass. Unless something is in the way then the sunniest side of a tree is to the south and the shadiest is to the north.
Ivy is rarely a threat to healthy trees. Ivy is not a parasite. Since it has its own root system, it absorbs its own nutrients. It simply uses a tree for support. The main risk to trees is during strong winds when the surface of the ivy can act as a sail which, together with the extra weight from the ivy, can cause a tree to fall.
The effect of ivy on buildings is controversial as it depends a lot on the properties of the surface it adheres to. The rootlets wedge into any cracks in the surface and so on surfaces that are fragile, ivy will cause damage. A study for English Heritage found that on hard, firm surfaces, ivy did little damage. The blanket of leaves was also found to have beneficial insulating effects and protect the masonry from water, salt and pollution.
Ivy is unusual in that it flowers particularly late in the year - from September to November - and therefore provides vital nectar for insects such as bees and moths. Ivy berries are an important winter food source for birds and will remain on the plant all the way through the winter until spring. The berries also have a high fat content so provide a dense source of energy at a time when animals need lots to keep warm.
Extracts from ivy were used in herbal remedies and still form the basis of some modern-day cough medicines. It is said to have both antibacterial and antiviral properties. A study for English Heritage also found that roadside ivy absorbed particulates from the atmosphere which may lead to its use in improving air quality.
During the Second World War, about 28,000 concrete fortifications were built across England and around 6,500 of these still survive. The hexagonal blockhouses known as "pillboxes" are assumed by many to have been named after similarly-shaped containers for medical pills. However, commentary on early models during the First World War suggests the origin of the name is actually from "pillar box", based on the slots for machine guns resembling a postbox.
Kelp is the name given to a group of seaweed species. The most common in Cornwall is Oarweed - a leathery brown seaweed with finger-like strands. It grows at an impressive rate of around 5% per day, doubling in length in about 2 weeks and can reach up to 4 metres in length.
Kelp is high in sodium carbonate and was burned during Victorian times to harvest the alkaline ash which could be used in soap and glass production. Kelp also contains significant amounts of iodine and was used as a source for this too. In 2010, researchers found in laboratory trials that alginate, the soluble fibre substance in kelp, was better at preventing fat absorption than most over-the-counter slimming aids.
Oystercatchers are recognisable by their black-and-white bodies, their long, straight red beaks and loud, piercing call. In flight, the white markings form an image of a white bird towards the back of their otherwise black backs which may have evolved to confuse predators.
The long beaks are adapted to open shellfish - mainly cockles and mussels - "cocklecatchers" would be a more accurate name. They can also use their bill to probe for worms.
Chestnut trees deciduous but when in leaf, are recognisable by their large, long leaves with serrated edges. In September and October they can also be recognised by the nut cases which are spiky all over (conkers have infrequent spikes with bald areas in between) and the spikes are sharp.
The chestnut tree originated in Sardinia and there is evidence of its cultivation by humans from around 2000 BC. It was introduced into Britain by the Romans who planted chestnut trees on their campaigns to provide an easily stored and transported source of food for their troops.
In England, the chestnut was originally known as the chesten nut. Both this and the modern French word châtaigne descend from the Old French word chastain.
Unlike many nuts which are designed to last through the winter and then germinate in the spring, chestnuts germinate in the autumn and waste no time putting down some roots. The leaves and stem follow in the spring and their established root system gives these a head start.
Since chestnuts don't need to hang around for a long time on the ground, they are nutritionally more similar to a cereal - containing principally starch and sugars - than a typical nut. They contain very little fat and are consequently much less calorific than other nuts: the kernels contain around a third of the calories of a similar weight of other nuts.
The size of the nuts from wild British chestnut trees is quite variable but the largest rival the nuts sold in supermarkets. Nuts that are very flat or less than the girth of your little finger are not worth harvesting; anything bigger is viable. A painless way to extract the nuts is to grip the husk between your feet and rub it between your boots or against the ground. This saves having to handle the spiky husks as the spikes are very sharp and tend to break off under the skin to leave behind splinters. Often the husks contain one (fairly round) large nut surrounded by several small, flat nuts, so it's worth squeezing out quite a few husks to get the larger nuts. Discard any nuts with holes in (as they will contain maggots) or that are very dark in colour - the fresher ones will be "chestnut" brown rather than dark brown.
To roast chestnuts, prick each of your chestnuts with a skewer or slit the shell with a knife - this is vital to stop them exploding (and disappearing into dust). Bake them in a hot oven for at least 10 minutes. Wild chestnuts are harder to shell than the shop-bought variety as the shells are much thinner and the nuts are often smaller. An easier way to separate the edible part from the shell is to simply slice the shell in half and then scoop out the contents with the point of a knife blade. Also this way, the bitter pith covering the outside of the nut is left behind in the shell. The contents of the nut should be fluffy and pale yellow; discard any that are brown. Separating the flesh from the shells is a fairly tedious process, but with a few friends armed with large cups of tea, a formidable amount of chestnut can be extracted which can be used to make stuffings, soups or whizzed into flour and added to bread recipes. It also freezes nicely so it can be stored up for Christmas recipes.
Before the 19th Century there were no beaches at high tide at Carlyon Bay. The beaches today were formed from the mineral waste washed down the (appropriately-named) Sandy River and consequently the "sand" is quite gritty. By the time the first edition OS map was recorded in the 1880s, the low water mark was roughly where it is now but the amount of beach at high tide has increased further since then. Climate change may reverse that.
Carlyon Bay consists of three (now joined) beaches: Crinnis - where the path leads down from the road, Shorthorn - in the middle, and Polgaver - at the far end, which was Cornwall's first nudist beach but is a little too public for that now. The relatively chunky quartz particles within the sand, as well as being sharp to walk on in bare feet (and presumably uncomfortable for nudists), don't drift around like the more ancient fine sand found on most Cornish beaches so the sea can pile it up more easily, sometimes resulting in some steep drops in the beach gradient concealed beneath the water which can surprise paddlers.
China clay in Cornwall and Devon resulted from a sequence of events that began over 300 million years ago; molten rock cooled into granite: a mixture of quartz, feldspar and mica. As it cooled, the feldspar reacted with other minerals to form china clay.
The clay from Cornwall was found to be a much finer quality than elsewhere in Europe and also turned out to be the largest deposit in the world. By the mid-19th Century, 7,000 workers were employed in the St Austell area alone and by 1910, Cornwall was producing 50% of the world's China Clay.
At the time of writing, the UK is still the third largest producer of China Clay in the world: Cornwall produces approximately 1 million tonnes of kaolin each year. Due to increasing mechanisation and large amounts of production being moved to Brazil, the industry now only employs around 1000 people.
The word kaolin is thought to be a corruption of the Chinese for "high ridge" where it was presumably found.
The extraction of china clay has dramatically altered the Cornish landscape: it is estimated that 120 million tons have been extracted. For every 1 tonne of china clay, there are 9 tonnes of mineral waste products (a gritty sand of quartz and mica), which has led to the creation of large areas of tips. The now disused conical (or "sky tips") can be seen near St Austell from as far away as Bodmin Moor.
Due to the density of china clay pits, the area around St Austell has become known as "The Clays". This has dominated St Austell's more recent industrial history and to some degree masked the area's earlier history: prior to china clay, St Austell was an important centre for copper and tin mining.
The pure white porcelain used by the Chinese was discovered millennia ago and has always been a valuable material, appearing in many stately homes. Despite many attempts to find it elsewhere, it remained elusive until a few deposits were found in parts of Europe and in America early in the eighteenth century.
In 1746 William Cooksworthy noticed the miners repairing the furnaces with clay at Great Work Mine and how this was fired by the furnace. He developed a way to process the clay to separate the kaolin from the gritty rock and fire this into fine porcelain.
Once clay was extracted from a pit, kaolin needed to be separated from the other components of granite in the clay slurry. In earlier times, the slurry was flowed through three stepped tanks: in the first tank sand was deposited, in the second a mixture of fine sand and mica, in the third tank mica alone was deposited.
The introduction of mica drags made the process of separating the clay from the unwanted sand and mica far more efficient. Rectangular stone tanks with a very shallow gradient were divided into a series of long narrow channels. The slow flow rate down the shallow gradient caused the heavier sand and mica to be deposited in the bottom of the channels.
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