HRH The Duke of Kent visits Geevor Tin Mine in Pendeen

HRH the Duke of Kent visited Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen on Monday 26 July where he unveiled a plaque to commemorate the conferral of Cornish Mining World Heritage Site “Key Centre” status.

          The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, comprising ten distinct former mining areas, was awarded World Heritage status in 2006. Geevor Tin Mine is at the heart of one of these districts - the St Just Mining Area – and it has been recognised as World Heritage Site “Key Centre” after a rigorous assessment of the quality of its visitor facilities and displays.

          During a tour of the mine the Duke visited the new World Heritage Interpretation and Orientation rooms with new interpretation panels explaining the significance of the Cornwall and west Devon Mining Landscape.

          The interpretation panels and information have been funded by a European Union and Defra grant through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). It is part of the Discover the Extraordinary Project, a three year programme of investments across Cornwall and Devon developed by the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site Office to enhance the visitor experience in the World Heritage Site.

          The RDPE funding has been awarded through the Sustainable Rural Tourism theme, managed by the South West RDA, which aims to assist the growth of environmentally sustainable tourism in rural areas. Leach Colour produced the interpretation panels, following extensive research by staff at Geevor Tin Mine.

          His Royal Highness was met by Lady Mary Holborow, DCVO, Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall who introduced him to Councillor Dave Stevens, Mayor of St Just and his wife Mrs Dot Stevens; Mrs Elaine Baker, Town Clerk of St Just Town Council; Cornwall Council cabinet member for Historic Environment Julian German; Mr William Lakin, Chair of Trustees, Pendeen Heritage Community Trust and Mr Michael Simpson, Site Manager at Geevor Tin Mine.

          Within the World Heritage orientation rooms, Mr Lakin introduced HRH to World Heritage Site Co-ordinator Deborah Boden who explained the Heritage Centre and its links with the World Heritage Site.

          After an informal reception in the Exhibition Gallery where His Royal Highness met invited guests, the Duke was invited to unveil a commemorative plaque conferring World Heritage Site Key Centre status on Geevor Tin Mine.

          Cornwall Council cabinet member for the Environment, Cllr Julian German, said: “I congratulate the staff and volunteers at Geevor Tin Mine on this important achievement. World Heritage Site status requires us to provide a high level of care for our internationally important landscape asset, whilst at the same time attracting more people in to learn about and enjoy our world-changing mining culture.

          Ours is a complex World Heritage Site, the largest in mainland UK, but its dispersed and diverse nature offers unique tourism opportunities – many places for the visitor to engage with it, and across these a variety that offers something for everyone, whatever their interests.

          High quality visitor attractions such as Geevor Tine Mine are vital in presenting the World Heritage Site themes to the new audiences we are reaching out to. They have to deliver high standards if we are to meet the high expectations that people have of World Heritage Sites.

          For this reason the World Heritage Site Office has been working with a consortium of attractions, the Cornish Mining Attractions Marketing Association, in creating the Discover the Extraordinary programme to improve standards of interpretation, visitor care and joint promotion. The concept of Key Centres is a principal element of this integrated approach – a small group of attractions that meet a range of challenging criteria and have passed a rigorous assessment process to ensure the highest quality of experience for the visitor”.

Funding for the World Heritage Site interpretation has been provided by the Rural Development Programme for England

For further information on Geevor Tin Mine please see the website: www.geevor.com

Countdown to opening at Heartlands

The Robinson’s Shaft site at the former South Crofty Mine in Pool was the centre of a major media launch on Friday 23^rd July marking the commencement of work to construct a new urban park with a significant mining heritage focus.

          The Heartlands project will create a major green space for the village of Pool while consolidating the hugely significant Robinson’s Shaft Engine and associated complex of buildings.

          Constructed at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Robinson’s Shaft site retains its 80 inch cylinder steam pumping engine, built by Sandys Vivian and Co, Hayle, in 1854, and which last worked in May 1955. Put into mothballs at this time, the Robinson’s Engine was to be the last Cornish pumping engine to work at a metal mine and was 101 years of age when decommissioned. The Heartlands project will renovate the engine and also enable this important piece of Cornish industrial heritage to be put in motion once more.

          Musicians, dancers and other performers were on hand to help celebrate the event which included the “Great Heartlands Balloon Race” where over 800 balloons were released. Each of these came with an individual "Hope for Heartlands" message from the many students who have been involved in the Heartlands project to date and a prize is being offered for the balloon furthest travelled.         

Work on the Heartlands project is due to be completed later in 2011 and to find out more please see the Heartlands website:

www.heartlandscornwall.com

William West Reflections – Photographic competition and exhibition

The call for entries for the recent William West Reflections photographic competition brought forth considerable interest from members of the public with each taking a particular inspired view of the varied mining landscapes in the Liskeard area.

          Organised to coincide with the William West Exhibition, celebrating the life of the great nineteenth century Cornish engineer and currently being held at Liskeard Museum, the competition was open to all with the goal being to build up a collection of images that will inspire the public and form an archive for the future.

          The entry categories were Photographic, for film cameras, and Digital Enhanced, for digital images post-processed using computer software. In addition the "Rob Frost" prize was offered to younger photographers under the age of 18 who fancied trying their luck.

          Organised by Cheryl and John Manley of the Trevithick Society and held at Stuart House, Liskeard, the competition produced a very high standard of entries illustrating well the degree of interest that exists in mining heritage in the Liskeard area. Four descendants of William West were also on hand to give prizes to the lucky winners who were, in the Photographic category:

          1st Barbara Willcocks
          2nd Bill Mammait
          3rd Barbara Willcocks 

And in the Digital Enhanced class:

          1st Peter Levers
          2nd Peter Levers
          3rd Barbara Willcocks
 
          Bethany Luscombe won the "Rob Frost" Young Photographers Prize with her particular engine house study showing an excellent use of depth-of-field in composition. Bethany’s prize is a professional photography tutorial and she will be joining Liskeard-based photographer Rob in his studio and on location where she will have the opportunity to improve her already considerable landscape photo skills.

The William West Exhibition is on show at Liskeard Museum & Information Centre until the end of July and to find out more click here.  

Liskeard & District Museum gains national quality standard

The Liskeard and District Museum and Information Centre has recently been accorded the prestigious Accredited museum status by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The Museum is the Area interpretation centre for the Caradon Area of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site and provides visitor and local audiences with an introduction to the Site and the importance of metal mining to Liskeard and surrounding communities during the nineteenth century.

The MLA’s Museum Accreditation Scheme sets nationally agreed standards for all museums in the UK. Liskeard and District Museum’s award demonstrates that it performs well, meeting the guidelines on how it is run, how it looks after its collections and the services it provides its visitors.

Andrew Motion, Chair of MLA, said: “Being awarded Accreditation is an impressive achievement. It recognises the high standard and service that Liskeard and District Museum provides and acknowledges the hard work of its volunteers.”

A delighted Heather Medlen, Honorary Curator of the Museum, said “the award proves that the museum has developed an excellent standard of working, meeting the guidelines on how it is run, how it looks after its collections and the services it provides for visitors”.

The above photo shows Heather, second left, and other volunteer staff receiving the award from Lady Mary Holborow, Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall (left), and Councillor Mrs Pat Harvey, Chairman of Cornwall Council (far right).

The Museum is also a member site of the Cornish Mining Attractions Marketing Association (CMAMA) which is grouping of visitor attractions which have metalliferous mining as a central theme in their visitor experience. The World Heritage Site is delighted that the museum has been recognised in this manner and congratulates all the dedicated volunteers for their hard work and efforts in delivering an excellent museum service.

For further information concerning the museum and opening hours please log-on to: www.liskeard.gov.uk

For information on member sites of the Cornish Mining Attractions Marketing Association, please click here

‘Discover the Extraordinary’ – major European Union and DEFRA funding secured for Cornish Mining

The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site has been awarded almost £2million in European Union and DEFRA funding through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

            The Cornish Mining World Heritage Site has secured this funding for its ‘Discover the Extraordinary’ project – a three-year series of investments designed to enhance the visitor experience in the World Heritage Site and at partner attractions. It also aims to increase the number of tourists interested in culture and heritage who visit the Heritage Site Areas from outside the region.

The project plans a number of exciting initiatives including new interpretation of the fascinating stories behind the World Heritage landscapes and attractions, with new displays, trails and audio tours for use with mobile phones. A new interactive Cornish Mining website portal which will focus on information and interpretation for visitors to the World Heritage Site, with a link to the established regional Destination Management Systems to allow people to plan their holidays and book accommodation. This will be augmented with a number of touchscreen kiosks for visitor information on all the South West’s World Heritage Sites, including information on travelling around the Site and details of public transport.

A number of business events will also be held for the tourism sector in and around the World Heritage Site, (including accommodation providers, retail and catering businesses), to help these develop new products and services linked to the area’s World Heritage Site status. The final phase of the project will see a major promotional campaign targeting potential visitors from the UK and overseas.

The project has been in development for almost two years and involved consultation with a wide range of partner organisations such as Visit Devon, Visit Cornwall and the Cornish Mining Attractions Marketing Association (CMAMA). The Chairman of CMAMA, Richard Cox, said

“Since its formation in 2006, CMAMA has been working with the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site team to ensure that our members both support and benefit from Cornwall and west Devon’s World Heritage status. It gives us a valuable tool for marketing tourism businesses within both counties to an increasingly discerning customer base. The funding for Discover the Extraordinary will enable us to improve the service we offer and reach a much greater audience, with substantial benefits to the local economy.”

The RDPE funding has been awarded through the Sustainable Rural Tourism theme, managed by the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA), which aims to assist the growth of environmentally sustainable tourism in rural areas.

Mike Johns, of the South West RDA, said: “This initiative is just one project in a far-reaching suite of interlinked investments that are being made through Sustainable Rural Tourism which will have a really significant impact across the whole region. The funding is designed to have a lasting impact on the tourism industry in rural areas through investing in improved access to, and understanding of, the key features and rural heritage of the South West. Discover the Extraordinary also offers a tremendous opportunity for businesses in the area to become involved and maximise the benefits for the local economy.”

A new team has been appointed to co-ordinate the programme. Gary Jago, Project Manager, has extensive experience of mining heritage related initiatives, having worked on both the Mineral Tramways and Geevor Tin Mine investment programmes during the last four years. Working alongside Gary is Interpretation Officer Mary Olszewska, previously with Exmoor National Park, and Marketing and Visitor Information Officer Samantha Snow, who was formerly with Tewksbury Borough Council. 

Funding partners in Discover the Extraordinary include Cornwall Council, Devon County Council and West Devon Borough Council.

Councillor Neil Burden, Heritage cabinet member for Cornwall Council, commented,

“The RDPE investment will enable the World Heritage Site partners to realise some of the economic potential which research for the World Heritage Site bid had identified. Much of the World Heritage Site falls within the more rural areas of Cornwall and west Devon, and the businesses based here will now have a chance to benefit from the project’s aim of increasing sustainable growth in high spending, cultural tourism markets.”

“It will also provide a valuable opportunity to enhance our appeal to overseas tourists, many of whom are looking for high quality, authenticity and local distinctiveness in their holiday destinations. All these values are features of a World Heritage Site, and the project will enable us to vigorously promote them.”    

                         The Discover the Extraordinary programme is due to be completed in December 2013 and other project partners include Cornish Mines & Engines, Geevor Tin Mine, Godolphin, Gwennap Pit, King Edward Mine, Morwellham Quay, Poldark Mine, St Agnes Museum, Tavistock Museum, Trevarno House and Garden, Minions Heritage Centre, and Wheal Martyn.

                         The majority of these exciting attractions are members of the Cornish Mining Attractions Marketing Association (CMAMA) and for further information please see: mining heritage attractions