David Oates, himself a superb deliverer of Cornish dialect stories, brings us an article about Herbert Lean who he describes as the master storyteller. To back up this claim he includes an audio recording of Herbert telling the tale of the Penponds Outing. Penponds Outing – Herbert Lean The dialect stories of Herbert…Continue Reading “Herbert Lean”
Close to 200 years after the first Cornish miners came to the wilderness of the Keweenaw peninsula on the shores of Lake Superior, seeking a better life than the lives they had left behind in Cornwall, a group of Cornish men and women of the twenty first century re-traced their footsteps and uncovered tales of…Continue Reading “Far From ‘ome – Part Two”
In this article, frequent contributor, David Oates steps across “The Pond” to bring us a compelling mining story with a very strong Cornish connection. In 2001 and 2007 I visited the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan with the Holman-Climax Male Voice Choir. The second visit was for the gathering of the Cornish Cousins of…Continue Reading “Far From ‘ome – Part One”
David Oates – a Camborne man, born and bred, reflects on an era now sadly come to an end and talks about the impact of a famous engineering firm on the Cornwall of the past two hundred years. A gold watch beside me as I write, engraved with the distinctive “H” logo and the…Continue Reading “Holman – Echoes of an Age”
David Oates continues his story of Gwithian Tin Sand Works with a reflection on the Processes and People. In part 1 we saw how ancient geological forces coupled with the industriousness of man over the centuries led to this part of the Red River Valley, and the adjacent shoreline, becoming a depository for tin ore,…Continue Reading “Gwithian Tin Sand Works. Part Two – Processes and People”
David Oates is a frequent contributor to Cornish Story and here he turns his attention to Cornwall’s industrial past as he begins the story of tin extraction at Gwithian. Part two, Processes and People, will follow next month. Tin streaming rates as one of the oldest of Cornish industries with a pedigree stretching back into…Continue Reading “Gwithian Tin Sand Works. Part 1 – Location and Recovery”