In 1970 a farmer was driving out in his fields on his tractor and he fell through the ground into an old tin mine tunnel. I don't know what happened to the farmer, but the government excavated until they had uncovered all the old mine tunnels to make sure there were no more cave-ins and to seal up possible emissions. Poldard was a working tin mine only from 1720 - 1780, when they closed it down because the ore was pretty poor quality. They've turned it into a great museum now, and there are tours that sound great but unfortunately my borderline claustrophobia was activated at 19 feet below surface level, so I didn't get to see much. They go down to 135 feet, but even in the entrance the ceiling was less than six feet high and the granite walls that had been dug out by hand were way too close for comfort. There were areas where kids could pan for tin with shovels, just like you can pan for gold up in the mountains. There was a tin shop and places to make colored sand mementos and a continuously looped newsreel about tin mining and so on. It is one of the first "touristy" places I've seen, but very rustic and low-key compared to our glaring commercialized style of presentation.
During the war (per programming on Foyle's War) the British took down all their road signs to better confound the enemy in case of invasion. I've decided that they still haven't put them back up! There is a place called Flambard'sVictorian Village just outside of Helston that was on my list. I saw a sign that read "Flambard's 800 yards" but never saw another sign or any part of the replicated village, shops, rides, gardens, etc. Now how and why did they manage to hide all that when I know I got within 800 yards of it? I am sort of weary of looking for things and juggling the gear shift, parking and slinky roads, so I decided to go back to the hotel and take it easy for the day. It looks like rain anyway, and there is a miserable wind blowing.
I've said how sorry I am that TomTom doesn't break into applause when I cleverly follow her directions exactly, but I realized today how happy I am that she doesn't yell at me when I screw up.
I did come back, it did rain, and I took a hot shower and made myself a cuppa and had a lazy afternoon. Of course, I forgot to turn the outlet on so I had to wait about 30 minutes for the water to boil. Oh well, it was delicious.
I have a reservation tomorrow in Dorcester. I will leave pretty early so I have time to walk a little in Dartmoor. May is the time when all the public footpaths have to be claimed by the villagers walking over them so they won't revert back to the barons and earls, so I hope to see lots of people trudging along with their hiking boots and walking sticks. I don't think I am going near the prison, but who knows?
I'm not looking forward to packing up and leaving this wonderful hotel. This hotel has been top-notch in every way, and I will miss the room, the water pressure, the food and the helpful staff.
Goodnight, dear diary.
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