http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Poldark-administration-sale-350-000/story-20846136-detail/story.html 


POLDARK Mine is to be sold off after going into administration.
The long-running tourist attraction near Helston is being sold for a guide price of £350,000.
It attracts around 18,000 visitors each year.
Specialist property adviser Christie and Co has been instructed to sell the tin mine, which includes car park, museum, visitors' centre and cafe.

Unfortunately any prospective buyer will need very deep pockets and some damned good ideas to get this one flying again.
for the past 15 years our club used to do voluntary pre-season work on the site , to get the place presentable for the Easter trade.
It now looks like it will be some time before we see visitors here again: if ever.

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its a shame to see it go down the pan maybe some one will pick it up as Roy has said they will need deep pockets for this one

Went there in the 80's when you paid an entry fee which included the mine tour, then at some stage it went to free entry and the prices for the mine tour seem to go up.

Now it costs £10 per Adult for the tour vs £11 for Geevor ( which includes entry, museum and Tour). If I was in a family coming down to experience Tin mining, looking at both websites, I'd probably go for Geevor at the moment and link it to a trip to Levant.

For Poldark, the name suggests a link to the old (and soon to come) TV series, yet there is not much there to Link it to the BBC series.

Most Families nowadays want more activities and places to explore on one site for their entry Fee - The Poldark site is rather small vs Geevor and others. For me, It would need to be enlarged with more attractions, more links to the TV series (which might involve a royalty payment?) and more things to do that it currently has. All of which would obviously require investment.

But I still recall as a child being excited to go underground at Poldark and would love to see it stay open and be improved.

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The worrying thing is the future of the museum collection - as I understand it the rump of the Holman's collection is still there including (for example) Doering's rock drill.

Seems to be part of a pattern if one considers what happened to Morwellham and is happening at Heartlands. (and, when I think about it Blue Hills seems to have disappeared off the radar).

I do wonder if this is a symptom of the failure of the World Heritage site to pull the promised bunny out of the hat or is it part of a wider problem i.e. that industrial heritage in general is considered rather passe and boring by joe public?

A real shame. As already stated, it needs some money throwing at it. I visited several years ago and it was really interesting but it was a bit run-down and didn't make the maximum use of the artefacts they have on site, IMO.

The worrying thing is the future of the museum collection - as I understand it the rump of the Holman's collection is still there including (for example) Doering's rock drill.

Seems to be part of a pattern if one considers what happened to Morwellham and is happening at Heartlands. (and, when I think about it Blue Hills seems to have disappeared off the radar).

I do wonder if this is a symptom of the failure of the World Heritage site to pull the promised bunny out of the hat or is it part of a wider problem i.e. that industrial heritage in general is considered rather passe and boring by joe public?

I'd be interested in hearing more about their collection.

I think the whole industrial heritage thing is weather rather than climate, so to speak. I think we're still in a bit of transition since the "credit crunch" and things will become more settled and the clientele of SW Tourists will adjust.

Shame about Poldark, shame about Morwellham and Blue Hills, really, there is an appetite for it, people are interested, but it seems that many factors have contributed to hard times. (Contrary to what Boy George says about growth).

On the plus side, I gather that the CSL and the CRO are going to be whacked in Redruth Brewery. It would be nice if they could whack a bit of a museum on the side of it, since it will be a beacon of industrial heritage. I'm looking forward to spending many an hour in there.

Blue Hills is still producing ,Mark closed to the public last year after his father passed away last time I spoke to him he wasn't sure if he would open to the public anymore except for booked tours . the Holman collection is at K.E.M so I believe or a part of it is but I may be wrong on that one

What did happen to Morwellham, being rather off the pace about events in UK these days?

I visited the place in the mid-90s and remember my daughter loving the "Victorian schoolroom"

FWIW, my feeling is that you need serious investment to make a go of something like that. Tourists come along having already been to Beamish, Apedale or Big Pit and that's the bar you have to touch.

For me, there are only two credible locations for a serious tourist site. One is Geevor, which really needs a bigger underground visit to complement the dramatic head frame, attractive museum and unique mill; the other is the Tuckingmill Incline with its large size, modern stabilisation and position above the water table. Add in the NCK head frame, and the Pool engines and you could do a serious ride-round in shuttle buses or Land Rovers down the drift.

Isn't Morwellham still going, the website certainly is?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-26723074 

Isn't Morwellham still going, the website certainly is?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-26723074 

Morwellham is going strong and appears to have weathered its myriad storms. I was referring to that fact that we ended up in administration in 2009 - 2010.

Best underground tour in the South West in my unbiased opinion!

the mine guide is mad as a hatter :lol:

Ok, then add Morwellham to the list. The mine tour is pretty good and the rest of the site is definitely something you won't see anywhere else

Isn't Morwellham still going, the website certainly is?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-26723074 

Morwellham is going strong and appears to have weathered its myriad storms. I was referring to that fact that we ended up in administration in 2009 - 2010.

Best underground tour in the South West in my unbiased opinion!

I thought it was something to do with the BBC wanting a bit of quiet while the filming for that Edwardian Farm went on! administration was just an excuse :lol:

Re the rock drill collection, I thought the mining contractor owners were getting it all moved to KEM, its been discussed in the past. but dont quote me on that!

As a complete tangent, do we know who owns Tywarnhayle?

That could be an utterly awesome underground tourist trip (as I have seen some RSM footage from in there)

I thought the carn brea mining society had it?