We were expecting horrible weather today after dire warnings from the Met Office yesterday but so far it hasn't appeared, we've had a couple of squalls but nothing more serious. We decided to have another go at the South Caradon Mine exploration that we started on Friday and aborted because we missed a turning and ended up on the top of the hill by the masts. That day we had to come down the track to Minions and home without any idea how we'd gone so wrong.
Some detailed map studying has revealed to us that we should have turned off the track before passing the old counting house which is now the Wheal Tor Pub so we thought with the benefit of our newly acquired knowledge we would have another go at the trip.
Once again we have returned home without the full walk under our belts because this time we got as far as Holman's Shaft and saw thick black rain clouds swooping over the valley below us. The moor is a very bleak place when there is low cloud and rain (as anyone who has read Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier will know) so we decided not to risk getting fogbound and turned for home.
David is pictured looking out over the valley towards the bad weather though the rain clouds themselves are not visible in the picture. It's an amazing place to be. I know I've used many such superlatives to describe it but I am still being dazzled by the wildness and the feeling of being on top of the world. You can stand there and feel the wind whipping through your hair and around your body and truly believe that you are a part of the hugeness of the scene. It's quite something.
After taking this picture we had another little adventure because we decided not to go back the way we came but to try to find a crossing on the river Seaton so we could climb the bank on the other side and get back home more quickly. We found ourselves a crossing made with an old railway sleeper though it doesn't look old enough to have been a part of the Liskeard and Caradon Railway structure and anyway, we know the sleepers for the railway were made from granite with iron fastenings holding the rails to them because much of the structure is still in place and clearly visible in the Gonamena Incline (a very steep incline that the engines had to be pulled up by rope).
Each day we find something new - today we have found a shortcut onto the hill and some new shafts and buildings.....obviously they're only new to us - they've stood untouched for around a hundred years or so.
Recently South Caradon featured on 'Restoration' - a brilliant programme on BBC TV where each week three buildings from a part of the country that have been allowed to fall into rack and ruin are explored, described and their history shown to the watching public, along with heart-felt pleas from the buildings sponsors to vote for their sponsored building. Each week a winner is chosen to go to the grand final and the ultimate winner gets three million pounds towards the cost of restoring it to its former glory. We have been hooked on this programme from the start but when 'our mine' was on we galvanised all of our family and friends to vote for the mine but it didn't even win its heat let alone win the final. The fact that it is in such a poor state of repair is criminal in itself. Apparently the land is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall......and who is the Duke of Cornwall? Yep, Prince Charles himself - the one who claims to care about this country of ours.
