Geevor Tin Mine

On a pretty dreary day, on our way to St Just, we passed a sign about a tin mine. I'd been in mines before, but knew the kids hadn't, so after a quick vote, we turned round and headed into the Geevor Tin Mine Museum.

I hadn't expected much and was so pleasantly surprised and delighted with the displays and experience we had. The Geevor was a huge mine, running tunnels under the sea from and  through the cliffs. It ran from the very early 1900s and closed in 1986 after the price of tin fell through the bottom of the market.

I was incredibly impressed at the level of detail the museum staff who set up each area had gone to. We were able to go into the dry dock - where the minors changed out of their civies and into their mining gear, get showered etc. The lockers have dirty clothes flung inside them, the showers have soap and flannels hanging there as if the miners are about to turn up from a shift at any moment.

Throughout the displays there were points you could see or hear old minors giving their versions of events or stories. There really were no detail left unexplored. There was tea still in pots, the time cards in the machine and half eaten pasties on desks in the supervisors table.

There was plenty of hands on experiments to explain the methods used to separate the tin from the rocks and even dress ups in a little area.  I had to laugh at the kids as they did the smell test - smells from different parts of the mine had been recreated - they both said the dry dock ( where the men showered) was the stinkiest.. no comment..

We had three other people on our tour down into the mine closest to the cliffs. They were hand hewn tunnels and very wet.  the head guide was brilliant at explaining how to tell the difference between hand and machine based tunnelling and how to tell which way the tunnel had been made.  All such simple little things - but unless explained and demonstrated, you wouldn't pick it up.

I hope the kids took in alot - there really was an overload of information both in the museum and on the tour.  For a little side trip I thought would be a bit naff.. it was well worth the effort and entrance price..Oh  and better yet - I have a year long pass.. so may actually come back in the summer... grin.