View from the top of Stowes Hill (behind the farm)
across Bodmin Moor
Bodmin Moor, a large tract of beautiful moorland, rich in history and legend, has been the heart of Cornwall since man made his first primitive home here almost seven thousand years ago.
The rugged boulder strewn Tors have changed little over the centuries, Stone Age man, Roman trader, Dark Age Saint, Saxon Chieftain, Norman Earl, Medieval farmer and even King Arthur himself would feel at home were they to return to the heart of the moor today.
Minions, Cornwall's highest village
The area around Minions, the highest village in Cornwall, is steeped in mining history. In 1837 James Clymo a mine captain found rich copper ore deep in the rounded hill of Caradon. The ore was so rich and plentiful that within a few years more than twenty mines crowded the moor around Caradon. A railway line was brought up to the eastern moor extending on granite sleepers (still to be seen outside the rear).
The Cornish miner had a very hard life, the search for copper took him deep under the earth.
At the end of an exhusting shift many had to climb a thousand feet of ladders, numbed and tired fingers fumbled the ladder rungs and falls were a daily occurrence. At the height of the mining boom the average age of those buried in St. Cleer churchyard was no more than 21 years. Thirty struggling years later it was all over trance to Cheesewring Farm around the slope of Stowes Hill to Kilmar Tor.
The Cheesewring above the Quarry
Cheesewring Quarry
Stowes Hill, behind Cheesewring Farm is the site of the Cheesewring Quarry. Stone taken from here was used to build Westminster Bridge and parts of the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth and many other projects throughout the British Isles.
Now silent, the mines and quarries have been taken back by Mother Nature. Sheep and cattle graze contentedly on the grassy slopes and buzzards fly overhead, while climbers from around the world hang off their ropes on the 100 foot granite faces.
Peace has returned.
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Cornish History
