At this time of year it seems traditional to tell tales of mysterious goings on. The following is a tale of a strange occurrence on Consols Mines at Gwennap back at the end of the '70s. The details might be slightly dodgy but the tale's true enough....read on if you dare....:o

A Christmas Eve tale of Consols Mines, Gwennap.

In the late 1970's Billiton Minerals took over Mt Wellington mill to reprocess the tailings from the Wellington mine which had been deposited in a section of the Wheal Maid valley below Goon Gumpas.

The feed material came from the tailings dam at Wheal Maid through a pug mill and via a pipeline to a thickener adjacent to the mill. The pipeline was laid along the contour parallel to the course of the old Redruth and Chasewater railway and then skirted Cusvey Mine to reach the Mount Wellington mill itself overlooking the Carnon Valley.

The process comprised digging out the settled tailings out of the tailings pond and placing it in the pug mill which was electrically driven and fed with water from Mount Wellington. A small crew worked the day shift excavating and pumping slurry through to the thickener, pumping clean water through at the end of the shift to ensure the line was clear for the start of the next day's production. The mill worked on a 24hr continuous feed from the thickener as the pug mill provided sufficient material over the day shift to keep the mill active.

During the nightshift the mill shiftboss' duties included driving out to the Wheal Maid dam along the pipelines as a security check maybe twice over the 12 hour nightshift and during the winter to check that the water feed to the pugmill wasn't freezing up. The shiftbosses were issued tiny Daihatsu 4wd trucks about same colour as the tailings – a sort of shite grey/yellow – with four enormous tyres and a tiny cabin.

The pipeline route went past a good number of shafts and crumbling enginehouses of both Cusvey mine and Consols up to the site of the pug mill....a very spooky place to be in the middle of the night in winter with no-one daft enough to be about.

Of the two or three shiftbosses there was one who would not do the inspection routine on nightshift. No way. No money would persuade him to go up there. His opposite number regularly scoffed at his skittishness and drove out over the downs without fear at any time, on any day, at any time of year …. until one night.

That night he came back into the mine yard sliding the Daihatsu to a halt. He got out. Shaking he told us what he'd seen up at one of the Consols shaft vowing not to go up there again.

“I drove over as usual along the pipeline and drove up to the big shaft where the engine house is (presumably Taylors shaft) to turn round. As the headlights shone over the shaft area I saw something inside the fencing so backed up to shine them on the shaft area again......”

“....and stood on the stonework was some **** on the very edge of the shaft with his back to me in old mining clothes – like a jacket and trousers and wide brim hat. I couldn't see his face but went to get out of the truck and tell him to eff-off out of it when he turned around and he had a candle stuck on his hat. I then got a bit spooked and decide to drive over and when the lights of the truck came up again he'd gone. I wasn't staying there so I came back here as fast as I could. And I ain't going back”.

Nobody had fallen down the shaft, no-one from Jane was around and about at that time – Wheal Maid decline was yet to start, no-one from Wellington Mill would have been daft enough to pull a stunt like that so what had he seen? The Consols ghost – the 1850s miner about to descend to his pitch?

The only thing us knaws was that it weren't Christmas Eve....and the ladderway, well, he's in Davey's shaft see.....But I tell'ee; 'tis a true tale, make no mistake. Something freaked him good and proper.

A very entertaining yarn:) but cornwall being the special place it is you can never at your peril disregard the possibility of the legend of dorcas, the spriggans and other antidiluvian miners which inhabit the dark deepest places in the mine.
:o

Those Daihatsu. 4x4 used to pass by my place every three hours. You could set your watch by them. Mostly security checks. They would come by quite slowly so as not to disturb us. It was a strange place at night. Sometimes it was ok and I would often walk back that way from Carharrack to Twelveheads. Other times it was enough to put the fear of the devil up you.
United wasn't like that at all. I would often cycle accross there late at night after visiting friends in Lanner, before the dump was there, and never felt nervy about it.

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While not a ghost story as such, here is a true account of a macabre incident that occurred on 9th February 1905, involving a Surrey quarryman (almost certainly a hearthstone miner) - as reported in the Surrey Mirror.

Suicide in a Well

An Old Man’s Tragic Death

The death of an old man named George Brown, of Tyler’s Cottages, Godstone, whose body was recovered from a well at the Quarries on Thursday evening, was the subject of an inquiry held by Mr. Percy W. Morrison at the Hare and Hounds Inn, Godstone, on Saturday.

Jane Brown, the widow, gave evidence of identification, stating that her husband, who was 73 years of age, had been employed as a labourer at the Quarries for several years. Until last year he had enjoyed good health, and then he began to worry and wander in his mind. He had, however, no reason to worry. He had complained sometimes of pains in his head and although he had never threatened to take his life he had prayed to die. He suffered from sciatica, and had wanted to go to the workhouse. On Thursday night he did not return home from work at the usual time and she asked a man named Hayward to look for him.

Albert Stacey, a workmate of deceased’s, stated that Brown had worried because he could not work as he had done. Witness saw the deceased on Thursday evening about 5.15 when the men were leaving work. Deceased, who would be the last to leave the pits, usually passed the well when going home. The well had not been used for some time, and nobody could have fallen down it accidentally. Witness joined in the search for deceased, and was present when the body was recovered. The deceased was a steady man.

George Hayward spoke to searching for the deceased at the request of Mrs. Brown. In company with a friend, he proceeded to the pits, and they heard groans from the well. The well was surrounded by fencing, the gate of which was open, as was also the covering of the well. Witness went to the quarries for help, and a man named Hook descended the well by means of a rope, and the body was recovered about 9.30. When witness first arrived at the well he saw a stick and basket inside the fence, which he knew belonged to the deceased.

Frederick Jupp, a workman at the quarries, said that recently the deceased seemed to have broken up. He spoke to having accompanied the previous witness in the search for the deceased on Thursday night. They heard a moan as they approached the well, and seeing the deceased’s basket and stick inside the fence, they concluded that he was in the well. When witness went close he heard the deceased say: “Can you do something to keep me a little warmer; I can’t stand it much longer.” The deceased then appeared to be lodged in the wall, but witness could not say how, but immediately after that he (deceased) fell into the water. It was not possible for the deceased to have fallen in accidentally, and the lid of the well was fastened back with a cord which the deceased had been in the habit of using. Witness left the well just before 8 o’clock, and went to the village for assistance.

Stephen Hook described how he descended the well in search of the body. He was let down to within two feet of the water, and after using the grappling irons, he eventually drew the body up. He hitched the deceased to the rope, and they were both pulled up. Witness was down the well for about an hour.

Evidence having been given by P.C. Erricker, who stated that from the appearance of the body death was due to drowning.

Robert Steer, the manager of the Quarries, spoke to the good character borne by the deceased, who had worked at the pits since 1896. The well, which was only used when they were cropping mushrooms, was over 33 feet in depth, and it contained about 22 feet of water.

By the Coroner: The gate could not have been open, as there was a fencing as well as a lock. The deceased could not have fallen in accidentally.

The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide during a state of temporary insanity,”, and commended Hook for his courage in descending the well.

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In the 1980s, I had the opportunity to meet and interview Frederick Jupp's grandson, who remembered Stevie Hook as Frederick Jupp's assistant when mining hearthstone in the 1920s.

The well is still there.

I used to drive along that valley back in the '70's to and fro from South Crofty to Cross Lanes just t'other side of Twelveheads, all hours of the day and night too to various other places, doing the back tracks and lanes...No road tax as yer did.

Lozz.