Last time I was in Camborne I noticed that Fore Street now bore a plaque informing all and sundry that it was the famous "Camborne Hill" and I see there are also videos on youtube showing a traction engine procession along that route.

When I was at CSM in the 1970s, it was generally believed that the "Camborne Hill" referred to ran up from the library towards Beacon - Trevu Road, that is. Of course, this may have more to do with Trevithick's statue outside the library than any actual known facts.

Does anyone know anything for certain about this?

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Not for certain, but one myth has it Camborne means double hill, ie the one leading from Rosewarne past the old CSM site and the other going up to Beacon.
The one going up from Rosewarne is the one where Richard T is said to have tried his machine - which make sense, as the other Hill is a bit longer and steeper in places.
Not sure where the Inn was that he stopped at, maybe gone now?
I always assumed Camborne Hill was fore street and Beacon Hill the other.

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Camborne is quoted in some sources as being derived from the Cornish "Cambron" = crooked hill. Considering the number and nature of Cornish facts previously unknown to man which have emerged in the last twenty years, I suppose it might even be true.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Trevithick  asserting that he drove up Fore Street, past "Camborne Cross" - which I take to be somewhere in the present Cross Street - and up "Camborne Hill" to Beacon. This does at least form a logical route and includes both versions of the story.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGGE_en-gbGB457IT461&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1138&bih=555&ix=sea&ion=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=public+house+beacon+cornwall&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=public+house&hnear=0x486b200ccaa683c5:0x81835a76cee1a4fa,Beacon&ei=0v1ET5vjBYj64QT47bCTAw&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&ved=0CAYQtgM&iwloc=cids:15996562860486313566  which further confuses the issue.

There is no Inn at Beacon to my recollection, although the Grenville Arms at Troon also lists its address as Fore Street.

So it would seem that having steamed the brute at a workshop at an unspecified location ( for the trials must surely have taken place from the place of construction ) it was then driven from a starting point somewhere between the bottom of Fore Street and Commercial Square, to a finish point somewhere between Tyacks' Hotel and Troon.

The machine was then parked in a shed, where it set fire to its surroundings while those responsible caroused.

Actually, I find it quite pleasing to think that Tyacks was already playing a role in diverting the engineering talent of Camborne from more pressing matters over 200 years ago, but there you go..

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There is no Inn at Beacon to my recollection, although the Grenville Arms at Troon also lists its address as Fore Street.

Those who go to the Beacon Inn (was it Pendarves arms in the past?) would be a bit peeved - especially the cricket team - if they read this! It has been there since the late 19th cent, before that I am not sure!. Does not look like a building that would have been around in Trevithick's time (like most of Beacon!).

Most younger guys and probably some ex CSM guys after a few beers always ended up singing a certain verse of Camborne Hill, probably not found in th elisted versions! 😉

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yer 'tis..

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGGE_en-gbGB457IT461&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1138&bih=555&ix=seb&ion=1&q=beacon+inn+camborne&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x486b2072bba68cd9:0xaaf6e1e83e888a85,Beacon+Inn,+80+Fore+St,+Beacon,+Camborne+TR14+7SE&gl=uk&ei=zglFT-OuDYOP4gScrsWaAw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CD0Q8gEwAA 

interesting the differing results produced by different search words....

The only Pendarves Arms I recall was, or is the one in Tuckingmill. Then again, Beacon was a bit off the beaten track for CSM men, even then.

available information, and the general appearance of the area, would suggest that the only buildings in the area in Trevithick's time would have been Tyacks Hotel, the church and a few scattered cottages. It's unlikely that any of the modern street names would have been current.

Tyacks' Hotel website claims that Trevithick's engine was stabled in their sheds and blew up there.

No-one seems to know where it was constructed. It appears to have been relatively small, but still a fair old drag for horses. I would tend to suspect that it was built at Hayle, Trevithick had dealings with Harvey's who were the leading builders of steam machinery in the South-West. This means that it was probably brought to Camborne by horse-draught, steamed somewhere in the Treswithian area and driven up the main road ( which is uphill, after all ) to Camborne Cross ( which appears to have been somewhere between the Church and Commercial Square, and would surely have been on the main road and thence to Tyacks, where it was parked in a shed - which as a hostel for horse-drawn traffic on the main road, would surely have existed - while "congratulations" were dispensed.

Since there seems to be no actual evidence at all, and no place known as "Camborne Hill" until the recent road sign in Fore Street, that seems at least as likely as any other interpretation?

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There is a pub in the square at Beacon. I would have guessed Basset Arms, but seeing the Pendarves Arms mentioned earlier I'm sure that's right.

Launderette next door, I wonder if that got much business from the CSM contingent at Trevu House?

Camborne is quoted in some sources as being derived from the Cornish "Cambron" = crooked hill.

Yep I believe that is correct. Cornish being very close to Welsh, it always made sense to me.....in Welsh "cam" or "gam" means "crooked" or "bent", "bron" or "bryn" means "hill" or "crest of a hill"..... :thumbsup:
"Bron" also means "breast" too but we won't go there... :lol:

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There is a pub in the square at Beacon. I would have guessed Basset Arms, but seeing the Pendarves Arms mentioned earlier I'm sure that's right.

Launderette next door, I wonder if that got much business from the CSM contingent at Trevu House?

leaving aside the obvious nasturtiums often cast on the "Trevu mob" at the time, my recollection is that the launderette in Cross Street ( near the Grenville Motors bus office ) was preferred for its proximity to Tyacks... anyway, students walking uphill to a launderette???

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Camborne is quoted in some sources as being derived from the Cornish "Cambron" = crooked hill.

Yep I believe that is correct. Cornish being very close to Welsh, it always made sense to me.....in Welsh "cam" or "gam" means "crooked" or "bent", "bron" or "bryn" means "hill" or "crest of a hill"..... :thumbsup:
"Bron" also means "breast" too but we won't go there... :lol:

I don't recall Camborne ever being referred to as a "breast" of a place, although an associated expression was heard at times... I would guess the "crooked hill" would be Carn Brea with its broken-backed profile? It could also be the bend either outside Tyacks, or at the top of the hill up from Tuckingmill, I suppose.

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Hi, "Camborne hill" (going up). is the hill going past the Old, School of Mines. I belive that there is a painting out there of the event taking place.

Hi, "Camborne hill" (going up). is the hill going past the Old, School of Mines. I belive that there is a painting out there of the event taking place.

I think that's correct. The Trevithick Memorial is set in the wall opposite nos. 33 and 35 Tehidy Road. It's a grade 11 listed monument. Here is the photo but it's difficult to read as it hasn't been maintained.

Basically it says "To commemorate the site where the first locomotive engine was assembled by him and from where it was started on its first successful run to Beacon Hill, etc".

🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-72736[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-72736[/linkphoto][/link]

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I lived in Fore Street in my first year and must have walked past that plaque any number of times and i have no recollection of it at all!

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No, it isn't very obvious set flush to the stone wall. No footpath on that side so you wouldn't be close to it.

Also the Ivy visible in the photo tends to hide it.