BBC Cornwall:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25796289 

It irritates me how people confused 'great consols' with Wheal Maid. Wheal jane in the 80s referred to the whole of consols/united as 'wheal maid' on their plans. Maid was on the hill on one side of consols. If anything, that end of things should be referred to as wheal Virgin.

I gather from one of the chaps who lives down the bottom that this was a bit more than you'd expect police response wise

Poor chap. A sad story.

When they say "in the copper mine", was this an underground accident or a surface accident near the mine? Or just a typo by the BBC.

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If you haven't been up there, the wheal Lovelace section of consols has been sculpted into a complicated series of bike jumps. They have been doing some serious work up there. I assume matey had an accident on this. All of the shafts are secure up there. I'm not sure of the whole 'what they've been doing up there, leaving it and how this fits with the landlord's duty of care to the public, including cyclists'. I think they had it right in the 60's. 'United downs is dangerous, stay well away' I suppose you could extend that to beaches and cliffs. All in all, it's better to stay indoors.

I wonder if the earthworks will now be bulldozed

I am familiar with Wheal Maid, some of the jumps are pretty crazy and could easily catch the unwary out.

Even if you get it right the landing areas are littered with rocks ranging from pebble to small boulder size.

I gather there were similar "earthworks" in Unity Wood and the landowner destroyed them.

This is an interesting "minefield". I'm not sure whether it is the title holder of the land's responsibility to remove dangerous features present on their land (even if they were added by others). Regarding public open spaces, I am sure there will be some sort of requirement to see that the open space is monitored for hazards and those removed.

There has been enough work up at consols to see that hole related accidents are unlikely. I'm not sure about the jumps. When I lived locally, I went through the course on my bike and did a bit of flying. Some of the jumps are pretty bloody ridiculous and it is quite possible for someone like me (having a bit of a go) could get into a world of poo by not carrying enough speed. It isn't the sort of thing which has a sign saying "you need to walk the course first to see that jump which requires you to be going over 20mph " Some of them are ridiculously dangerous (for an inexperienced rider).

The truths are:-

"Some cyclists have installed some bloody dangerous jumps which require experienced riders to successfully complete"

"Inexperienced riders also ride through the site"

"Some of these inexperienced riders will be tempted to have a go at the exciting looking course"

"The landowner was quite aware of this installation and made no efforts to remove it".

In my estimation, the death (as we gather it to have been) was avoidable.

If someone comes into my garden and digs a big hole and someone comes into the garden (trespassing) and falls in it. It will be me who gets it in the neck.

I like to see people making use and enjoying "outdoors" (as long as they don't destroy any artifacts) but really, something like this does need a bit of care to see that people don't go putting themselves at risk by "unwittingly doing the cycling equivalent of the Cresta Run"

I think any of these activities falls within the realms of "hazardous activities" in which case as I understand it the landowner/occupier bears no responsibility unless they do something to deliberately endanger persons undertaking those activities.
It's been refreshing to see quite a few legal actions of this sort including some taken by the HSE against landowners/local authorities failing in recent years. It seems in the legal profession common sense prevails, unlike the press!

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Police-release-identity-man-dead-near-mines/story-20471678-detail/story.html#axzz2r1aOplxG 

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72. Quite a good age for a cyclist.

So, missing bike and missing car.

I'd go and have a look in Wheal Jewel for starters and then the scrapyards for seconds.

I think any of these activities falls within the realms of "hazardous activities" in which case as I understand it the landowner/occupier bears no responsibility unless they do something to deliberately endanger persons undertaking those activities.
It's been refreshing to see quite a few legal actions of this sort including some taken by the HSE against landowners/local authorities failing in recent years. It seems in the legal profession common sense prevails, unlike the press!

Yes quite, and there is a landmark case in Tomlinson V Congleton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomlinson_v_Congleton_Borough_Council 

Quite interesting from our own mine exploration perspective

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I think any of these activities falls within the realms of "hazardous activities" in which case as I understand it the landowner/occupier bears no responsibility unless they do something to deliberately endanger persons undertaking those activities.
It's been refreshing to see quite a few legal actions of this sort including some taken by the HSE against landowners/local authorities failing in recent years. It seems in the legal profession common sense prevails, unlike the press!

I wonder if allowing cyclists to erect 'dangerous' jumps on their land constitutes any sort of negligence/liability?

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72. Quite a good age for a cyclist.

So, missing bike and missing car.

I'd go and have a look in Wheal Jewel for starters and then the scrapyards for seconds.

Yep all starting to look slightly suspicious and wouldn't surprise me if there is a wheal Jewel connection.

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The WJ lot have got special permission to do what they like. If anyone stops them, it's racist. I had a unit in United Downs for a while and the tales of "stuff" were pretty mind boggling.

I can quite believe the rumours that the police won't go in there without a major tool-up.

It is quite incredible. You take a load of people who have decided it is their cultural right to live outside the law. You give them a piece of "public property" (a historical mine site). They rip out the pipes/wires from the facilities which cost several hundred thousands of pounds (of taxpayers money). They turn the site into a no-go area for law inforcement. Some of them operate their criminal activities out of the site like ghosts in a pac-man game. Nobody is allowed to say anything, or do anything about it because it's "racist", or for fear of the consequences.

I remember next door had a delivery of stuff on a big flatbed lorry. He "accidentally" made the huge error of driving down WJ and as he desperately tried to do a 10 point turn, feral kids jumped on the flatbed and started unloading the truck.

If anything did happen, I can quite see the authorities brushing it under the carpet.

However, it could have been some other chancers in the area.

Edited to add:- Not everyone in WJ is bad, there are some very nice people there.

Further to all this about 'bike jumps' etc...there is nothing that indicates that this cyclist was anywhere near the jumps when he had his 'accident'.
It seems his body was discovered by the concrete dam at the bottom whereas the jumps are mostly way over up at the higher areas of the tips a considerable distance away.
This may be a bit of a red herring implying that this OAP was doing the jumps.
But hey what would I know about OAP's and jumps!!

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Strange bike to be off road on, the latest from the police is that it has drop handlebars and he cycled there from Falmouth (They found his car). This suggests that the bike is a road bike, at risk of sounding ageist - that is much more likely to br the case considering the age of the rider.

Very strange!

Further to all this about 'bike jumps' etc...there is nothing that indicates that this cyclist was anywhere near the jumps when he had his 'accident'.
It seems his body was discovered by the concrete dam at the bottom whereas the jumps are mostly way over up at the higher areas of the tips a considerable distance away.
This may be a bit of a red herring implying that this OAP was doing the jumps.
But hey what would I know about OAP's and jumps!!

i know this area like the back of my hand having lived nearby for years , anyway . indeed i saw the bbc reporter at the dam wall end saying he was found floating in the drainage sump i could quite easily see how u could over balance and end up headfirst over quite a drop there , one assumes they searched under water for his bike , i expect if it didnt dissolve in said sump of acid water somone made off with it . anyway a fact about being alive lol theres a certain risk ur gonna die . that said poor chap rip fella .

I wonder if this will be the thing which gets Consols fenced off. "They" are already irritated with people with 4x4s and trials bikes running roughshod over the excellent moonscape. You see the "contaminated land" notices.

I raise an eyebrow at the earthworks constructed by cyclists. I know it's a bit of brownfield wasteland, but they are tearing the hell out of the site (coming a close second to Jane's activities there with the tailings dam and the decline). It pains me to say it, but wheeled activities off the paths should be stopped in the name of preservation and safety. They have gone a step too far IMO.

I wonder if this will be the thing which gets Consols fenced off. "They" are already irritated with people with 4x4s and trials bikes running roughshod over the excellent moonscape. You see the "contaminated land" notices.

I raise an eyebrow at the earthworks constructed by cyclists. I know it's a bit of brownfield wasteland, but they are tearing the hell out of the site (coming a close second to Jane's activities there with the tailings dam and the decline). It pains me to say it, but wheeled activities off the paths should be stopped in the name of preservation and safety. They have gone a step too far IMO.

I couldn't agree more, it's not all about engine houses and chimney stacks

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I will hold my hand up and say that I very very very nearly fell down Pearce's Engine Shaft a few years ago (this has subsequently been properly fenced).

In my opinion, Consols was the apex of Cornish Mining and everything before or since has been a sideshow. DGC is widely regarded as the richest copper lode, but the production from Wheal Virgin from 1757 to 1819 is ignored in the calculations.

If you look at the old sections, there are 2 colours, ground already stoped and stuff the new company did. The amount is phenomenal.

I have asked this question many times and I wonder what lies in the buller/trounson collection. Since the earliest photograph of Cornish mining (that perranporth one at about 1850), it follows that there was a good 20 years of continued massive mining at United/Consols and I for one would be very interested in seeing some pictures of it. The Pool area was snapped to death, but Gwennap seems to have largely escaped it, which is a shame, because it's one of the most interesting areas in Cornwall IMO.