just following the thread over on ME about the last Holmans building being demolished.

being sufficiently long in the tooth to remember it at work, I'd say this was a great shame because (a) it's a handsome building and a serious bit of industrial heritage and (b) considering the amount of time and effort I've put into conserving and reconfiguring such buildings over the years ( for money, not for love; gutting and rebuilding such structures isn't easy and at some point you either need a steel frame temporary structure, to undermine and underpin the substructure, or both; enter Your Humble Narrator ) I'm sure something worthwhile could have been done with it.

that said, I think the demolition of the old CSM building in Fore Street was an early indication of how such matters were likely to play out.

it must also be said that quite a few of the engine houses demolished in the 70s were all but falling down anyway. Botallack would probably be in the sea by now without the action that was taken. Cornwall's climate isn't kind to neglected, incomplete structures, especially over that sort of timescale.

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I guess the cost of demolision/rebuilding is cheaper than restoration. It is shame the only grants availble to make up the difference are from groups such as the lottery fund, which is oversubscribed.

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usually it's only the facade which is kept, the interior configuration is usually quite unsuitable and the problems involved with power, water and sanitation are such that a new building is easier.

you also tend to find that the quality of the facade on such structures is much higher than the main part of the building. I've seen a good deal of this in Bath; the building would have been essentially sold as a facade with the main structure to a separate specification

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Unfortunately the really ornate granite topping and clock housing was removed years ago which was a real shame.

Might be something to do with the "knacked bal" menatality prevailent amongst the powers that be in Cornwall. I get the feeling that there is a large degree of embarrasment about industrial / mining heritage in Cornwall. The county is marketed on "sun, sand and surf" - past mining / industry does not tie in with this. Symptomatic of this is the under promotion of the Cornwall and West Devon World Heritage site.

Given what has happened with the Butterley works in Ripley where the sites tie to the towns history is recognised after all, even by amber Valley, then I don't get why they would demolish Holmans?... were the local mining groups hammering on the Councils door, if so what was the reason given for demolition!

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shame 😞

Carbis Bay is a huge beach, but the trek over the Towans at Hayle used to put a lot of people off. I don't know if its any different now?

I tried, some good few years ago, to walk the Cornish Coast Path from Hayle to Lizard. The actual result was that we spent more time on the road than anywhere else, because so many sections were blocked or ( more typically ) overgrown into a man-high tangle of brambles between two 'Cornish hedges'. Very disappointing after the previous year's walk, from Bournemouth to Lyme Regis.

the thing my kids remembered more than anything about Big Pit, was going in the cage; again, there's a tender doing the rounds at present for additional development work on the underground section at NCM. Nothing comparable in Cornwall, and how much of a brand image would that be?

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They could have probably had a similar set up to Big Pit at Geevor if they hadn't turned off the pumps and gained their funding a little earlier. From what I know they only pumped overnight and only used one pump down there... correct me if I am wrong.

Just imagine how amazing it would be to walk through Geevor to Levant? Shame they lost the oppertunity when they did. Glad they are changing the set up now though, just a pitty that it wont be a journey on the cage really, it will probably be something more like the small lift at crofty.

The loss of the buildings at Holmans is a great shae and it WILL be regretted in future. It's just a shame that nothing was done sooner to stop it from being demolished. As always... too little too late.

I did some market research back in 2006 on promoting the potential of the various attractions comprising the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site (WHS). What emerged from this was:

Industrial heritage is seldom represented in pre-existing promotional regional or national marketing;
Information obtainable via the Internet or brochures is inadequate and not pitched to make industrial heritage an exciting proposition;
There is a confusion of various regional, sub-regional and local brands;
The World Heritage Site brand is weak in Cornwall as it is in other parts of Britain;

Two main recommendations were made:

Cornwall and west Devon’s rich mining heritage needed to be inserted into pre-existing mainstream and established marketing. Greater emphasis needed to be placed on the destination ‘product’; this is the WHS Landscape with its internationally recognised mark of quality and the commensurate kudos that this entails. Agencies such as VisitCornwall had to be encouraged to shift away from purely marketing surfing, beaches and attractive fishing villages.

Secondly, visitors needed to be educated as to what a WHS was and the fact that one existed in Cornwall and west Devon. The aid of the various attractions within the Cornish Mining WHS was recommended to raise the profile of WHS status and to promote each other.

Since then some progress has been made. The Local Authority World Heritage Forum (LAWHF) approached the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and VisitBritain regarding a national WHS awareness raising campaign and the need to fund the production of a corporate brand and marketing medium for all UK WHS’ s. The UK WHS’s were included in the Cultural Olympiad for 2012 and South West Tourism is delivering a three year campaign to promote the region’s four WHS’s. Although this was initally aimed at the domestic market, it has been incorporated into their overseas marketing in years two and three.

CMAMA (The Cornish Mining Attractions Marketing Association) is taking a proactive role in ensuring that mutual promotion occurs among the various mining heritage attractions which comprise its membership. The membership of CMAMA focus on quality and authenticity of experience and its successful joint marketing initiatives and branding, based on the WHS logo, strapline and statement of Outstanding Universal Value, have already begun to bear fruit, with a six fold visitor increase and multiple site visits in the WHS celebration weekend in 2006. CMAMA projects include a successful joint marketing leaflet and quality standards training for its membership.

Establishing a WHS takes time and it will take much more time to change visitors' perceptions of the Cornish hinterland which has been shunned as post industrial and ugly. I am sorry to hear about the old Holmans building which is situated in the Central Mining District, which is promoted as the heartland of Cornish engineering; this is a vital theme in the story of the Cornish Mining WHS. It absolutely should have been retained.

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The Holman and Harvey names were the first I ever heard when I got interested in mining and I remembered both names from childhood visits to Cornwall, and it was easy to find references for both and most Cornish seemed able to tell me that they built the engines that went in the engine houses I was looking at... so if the locals knew the importance I fail to see how the Council (locals I take it?) could not know... :confused: !

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I know I've banged on about this before but I expect the Bickford's fuseworks will end up the same way. A building of importance, not only locally, but internationally, much like Holmans.

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most lightly be knocked down and more much needed retirement homes built :guns: :guns:

Driving down tuckingmill I noticed the other day that one of the string of trusses has started collapsing towards one of the front gables, should they col;lapse completley they will bring the gable down with it.

Holmans was a super building, just a really fine structure with lots of history behind it.

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Don't worry the site still houses the biggest private employer in the area! Tesco!

Its funny with this rcession we keep getting told cornwall isn't suffering as much as the rest of the country, theres a simple reason for that, we have nothing left to lose!

Its funny with this rcession we keep getting told cornwall isn't suffering as much as the rest of the country, theres a simple reason for that, we have nothing left to lose!

By whom?

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I remember going underground at Santon in the 70s via a lift in one corner of the offices.. odd sort of experience.

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Looking at a newspaper article earlier, looks like a lot more of the original is going to be saved than originally planned, as the site is now owned by a housing association rather than a private developer, other tah the camborne joinery section, all other parts of the frontages will remain.

Are there any photos of this specific building in the database?

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Too a degree, what has happened to all the historic buildings in Camborne, is one might say systematic of the regard that Camborne heritage and mining in particular is held by many. Tesco's in Camborne have done some impressive works , firstly the old CSM builing, now Argos, much of the impressive frontage of the big Holmans building in Wesley street where the 'new' Tescos stands. I'm sure that the occupants of the houses on the other side of the road are much happier since, its demise in 1988, more light etc etc. Just remember that that people in charge of the regeneration of the area, now housed in the Trevenson CSM building, were not in favour of mining restarting and some might say did their utmost to prevent it. One wonders how long before all historic buildings allied to the minerals industry are removed. Only a few generations later and many might not realise how important it all was...

The addition of the World Heritage Status has done nothing it would appear to assist in the protection of buildings ....

Its a shame, but its called progress and regeneration ... Time to move on, to rid ourselves of the chains to the past, to create a new future, to boldly turn Camborne, into ... a place with no visible past, only new roads and a few new unaffordable houses, for those who either don't know or care about the past. :curse:

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