There were some small copper smelting works over the years but by far the most successful one was the Cornish Copper Company 1758-1819 at Copperhouse, Hayle. There is a very good book ‘The History of the Cornish Copper Company’ by W.H. Pascoe but copies are very thin on the ground . But after that virtually all Cornish copper was smelted in South Wales although the Cornish had a very active interest in this. The tin was largely smelted in Cornwall and the last smelting works at seleggan closed in 1931.

In the Swansea region, copper smelting (and indeed much of the tin-plate industry) was in the hands of Cornish industrialists. The Williams family bought the Morfa Copper Smelting Works in Swansea in 1831. Michael Williams,1784-1858, was vested with the responsibility of the Welsh business and became High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1840. Henry Hussey Vivian (1821-1894) was responsible for the success of the family's Hafed Works, Vivian & Sons, together with much of the enhancement of Swansea as a port and the creation of a railway to the Rhondda coalfield. He became the first chairman of Glamorgan County Council in 1889 and was made Lord Swansea in 1893. Grenfell & Sons (Copper Bank Works, 1803) was where Pascoe Grenfell partnered the great Anglesey mining dynasty of Williams. Ralph Allen Daniell started the Llanelli Copper Works in 1805.

I uploaded a doc. Some time ago “The Copper Ore Trade of South West England in the nineteenth century “ if it’s of any interest.

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents/personal-album-272/Copper.PDF 

---

Gordon bleeding Bennett. Art?? :curse: :guns:

Of course I've not seen it in the flesh but I don't think I'd change my mind if I did. I'm speechless.

It could get worse. This from the Falmouth Packet last year for anyone who hasn't seen it.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/search/display.var.1449724.0.cash_wasted_on_grotesque_dogs.php 

🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-034[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-034[/linkphoto][/link]

---

I'm being thick but how do you delete a post after accidently sending it twice.
:stupid:

Well I did it but only by sending a different message.

---

Actually I think that these have at the very least some originality. I've not seen them before and they are quirky but I think they might grow on you :flowers:

Having seen the original 'Welly Dogs' made from discarded miners wellies at Geevor, I think the bronze ones in the town are a bit of fun and certainly an attraction with the tourists, even though they did cost a little more than I would have expected.
On the subject of the 'Miner' statue, it would look better in miniature as a mascot on the bonnet of a car or maybe the Murdoch Flyer? 🙂

---

Have you seen the planned sculpture for St.Just? Modern day, with machine man using a 303. going to beat the ---- off that thing in Redruth. Also all the granite used in the regeneration scheme in St.Just was from Cornwall. If you want the best come west!

Packin my bags right now Colin! 🙂

---

Roy we've got a strict imigration policy but given the current need for proper mine rescue down this end I think you'll have enough points 😉

With this discussion I thought that although maybe not quite appropriate that the "Gunnislake Miner" should receive a mention. This statue is one of the best that I've seen around. Hope I can upload the picture that I've got here.
Regards TM

Sorry don't know how to get the image up....

Hopefully this works....

http://www.devon-mining-club.org.uk/Cornish%20Mining/Images/Gunnislake%20Miner.htm 

Worked okay. I agree an excellent stature.

---

I like the Gunnislake Miner too, natural.

I agree with Tin Miner ( a rare thing) - the Gunnislake Miner and the Newlyn piece are great and really do pay tribute to the industries they represent. It does vex me so though how so much money goes into pointless or badly thought out projects.

I'm always harping on about it so forgive me if I'm getting tedious but £6m on Tamar Vally Mining Heritage Project, now projects over running, over budget, parts of the project canned altogether yet we are still forced to have a bloody downhill mountain bike track - thats really going to put people in touch with mining heritage, revitalise the local community and a boost to the economy. :curse:

I agree, with the pro-gunnislake bunch.

I think that there is too much drama associated with these projects and they are either wet, daft or both. I think the original inspiration was "Man with a plank" (aka angel of the north).

The redruth miner looks like he is in the first throes of cyanide intoxication.

The snag is artists are ten a penny whereas craftsman are not.

The GM miner was a craftsman job.

Just came across this on Google, rather liked it. It was a famous 'Cornish' Mexican mine.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5733738 

---

I agree with Tin Miner ( a rare thing) - the Gunnislake Miner and the Newlyn piece are great and really do pay tribute to the industries they represent. It does vex me so though how so much money goes into pointless or badly thought out projects.

I'm always harping on about it so forgive me if I'm getting tedious but £6m on Tamar Vally Mining Heritage Project, now projects over running, over budget, parts of the project canned altogether yet we are still forced to have a bloody downhill mountain bike track - thats really going to put people in touch with mining heritage, revitalise the local community and a boost to the economy. :curse:

Unfortunately, you can sum this problem up in two words - box ticking. Unless your project can somehow show that it satisfies the latest equality/directive/initiative/etc. fad, you don't get the money, and if you do have to make cuts, you can't touch whatever sacred cows are being worshipped by government and their quangos although you can quite merrily get shot of the core aim of whatever you were trying to do....

We had to make High Rake accessible to the disabled in order to get some of the money for it, which fortunately for us could be done by the simple expedient of putting a short path up onto the viewing platform (aka the shaft cap :devil: ) from an existing path. If we'd been somewhere steep like the side of the Via Gellia we'd have been looking at major engineering works to make it "fully accessible".

Going back to the original topic, I vote for Gunnislake too - the Redruth miner looks like he's letting rip the mother of all farts, or about to do a swan-dive down a shaft!

---

Just came across this on Google, rather liked it. It was a famous 'Cornish' Mexican mine.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5733738 

The buggers! They're at it with the portuguese granite as well!!!

Could be Welsh bronze. 😉

---

Roy’s top photo of Trevithick outside Camborne Library reminded me that I’d passed it hundreds of times without really looking at it. It’s not that easy to photo standing on a tall plynth which has a sculpture on each side. The scaffolding doesn’t help either. The last two photos are Cambornes answer to the miner. I can only assume it’s the artists idea of a modern Celtic Cross. I make no comment.
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-077[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-077[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-078[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-078[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-079[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-079[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-080[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-080[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-081[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-081[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-082[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-082[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-083[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-083[/linkphoto][/link]
🔗Personal-Album-272-Image-084[linkphoto]Personal-Album-272-Image-084[/linkphoto][/link]

---

When I was based in Kalgoorlie, we helped sponsor this statue - a bit more traditional - but it at least says what we were all about - mining!!!!

http://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/en/Kalgoorlie+and+Goldfields/Towns/Kalgoorlie-Boulder.htm  

🙂

---