Report - Cligga Head Tin Mine, Perranporth, Cornwall, Dec 2011

[Styru]

Visited in the most excellent company of Collingwood (who gets first billing for his chauffeur duty ) and Urbanity.


Cligga Head is one of Cornwall's most impressive tin mines for two reasons, firstly its scale and variety, and secondly for it's truly, truly, spectacular location and views.

I'll leave Urb' or Collingwood to provide external shots (and hopefully more internals), as my external pics were truly crap, and in no way do it justice.

Situated right on the coast the cliffs in which it is cut rises over 600 feet and contains mine workings on three distinct levels, connected by multiple ore shafts and a vertical central contact shaft that is 550 feet straight up, down, or up and down - depending which level you are on!

The presence of tin, iron and wolfram within the local geology provide for some spectacular colouring.

On with some pics.

The scale of the place is hard to visualise without something for scale - see pic below for Urbanity providing such scale!

Local wildlife (Some Cornish explorers)

Exit onto cliff face from the middle level.

Urbanity gets a flash of inspiration!

Collingwood looking cool - and inches from a verrrry long drop!

Top level..

A great days exploring, in great company - cheers guys

.

 

[diehardlove]

Nice work and nice fake floors drops of death ftw.

 

[Styru]

Nice work and nice fake floors drops of death ftw.

Yep, and if you know this place then you know this report desparetly needs some external shots to show the amazing location - hopefully Collingwood and Urbanity will do the honours (I was using a different camera outdoors - with disappointing results )

 

[diehardlove]

Yep, and if you know this place then you know this report desparetly needs some external shots to show the amazing location - hopefully Collingwood and Urbanity will do the honours (I was using a different camera outdoors - with disappointing results )

Yes get the beach pics up.
Thats a shame that the outside ones came out not as you wanted i bet there not that bad

 

[d86]

very nice......

you should have said would have fancied a trip DOWN to the beach....!!!

t...

 

[REEF]

Top job, there's some amazing colours in the rocks.

 

[Collingwood]

Thanks for a great day out fella's, we must have walked for miles inside those cliff's!

To try and give it all some kind of sense of scale, this first pic is taken from the top of the next cliff along.....

Those cliffs are about 20 floors high! Just to the left of the white boulders on the beach below (boulders is a good description aswell!) is an access hole...

This is beach level, from there you climb through the lower, middle and top levels via a series of very sketchy ropes and ladders. The top level can also be accessed from the cliff path half a mile along the coast path!

The small bit of grass half way up the left hand side of the cliff is a small ledge (ideal for camping!)....which can only be access from the middle level of the mine.

These pics give no real sense of scale to the place, or to the hypnotic qualities of the sight and sound of a 10ft North Cornwall swell, them waves were big!!


C.

 

[Styru]

Cheers for adding those - that was what was desperately needed to show the place - I totally f00ked up my externals - had that bloody compact set up wrong.

 

[Squirrell 911]

These pics give no real sense of scale to the place, or to the hypnotic qualities of the sight and sound of a 10ft North Cornwall swell, them waves were big!!

Noiiice. I remember coming out of that hole all bleary eyed after a trip down there. Did you climb back up the cliffs to the top then? Turkeys camera fell over in there and he bust his new lens (we didnt laugh.........much! )

 

[Styru]

No, we still had unfinished business back inside on that level.

 

[Squirrell 911]

Coool. We had unfinished business in the bar and had waaaaay too much Rattler. Poorly squirrell the following day too

 

[Speed]

very nice, id like to get back in here one day, even the walk down to it is worth another trip!

 

[turkey]

You got some good shots there fella! This is one of my all time favourite places, the location is awesome, and even though the second time I smashed my camera, didnt lose my shots.

Just a couple of people shots from when we went...note the look of reclined belly holding from le'squiz. (he's from ooop north, he can't help it)

turk

 

[urbanity]

Collingwood and I had been before, so it was quite amusing watching Styru's face when presenting him with various non-existent descent options. Sketching around in the gullies above the adits isn't necessary - once you're on the miner's path its a ... path.

 

[Horus]

very nice guys, that place looks huge