Congratulations &
Many thanks
Many thanks
The Cornwall Railway Society funds have benefited considerably to the tune of £314 from the efforts of Christine Simmonds and Roger Winnen who spent two full days at the Bodmin Model Railway Exhibition on our bookstand - many thanks to you both for a wonderful effort. Thanks are also due to Gerry Chandler who provided transport for Christine and the books on Saturday and also to Tony and Sue Wright who returned Christine and the book stock home on Sunday. Thanks also to Mr & Mrs Fred Elton who provided transport for Roger.
Roger Winnen and Christine Simmonds at the CRS Booksales table at Bodmin Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 28th October 2017.
A tale of the Poldice Tramway
Roy Hart
Roy Hart
In the 1950s my late father (Leonard Hart) was curator of the Holman Museum at Camborne. The museum was the brainchild of the late Treve Holman, Managing Director of Holman Bros.
Treve Holman devised the plan to buy and re-erect the Cornish beam winding engine from Rostowrack china clay works and re-erect it running under compressed air, at Camborne. Holman’s plan was to have the beam and wheel exposed over the outside street, but the Council vetoed it, fearing road crashes from distracted drivers! Dad and the team rebuilt the engine though, but inside, in 1953.
In about 1957, a wagon (sometimes called the ‘directors’ wagon, because it had seats) from the Poldice to Portreath tramway was discovered in a barn at Scorrier and Treve Holman gave it a home in the Holman Museum. It had to be mounted on track, so Dad and a colleague (and me) were dispatched in a Holman van with picks and shovels to Mawla, to dig up sufficient granite setts to make a stretch of genuine tramway in the original style. There is no closing date for the Poldice to Portreath tramway, but we know from newspapers and other sources that it was abandoned and unused by about 1866. The granite setts on which the ‘plates’ were laid are still visible in many places today.
Holmans’ foundry made the appropriate ‘L’ shaped rails (‘plate’, I suppose, is the proper term = platelayers) and the wagon stood resplendent in the museum until it closed in the 1970s. The wagon (and ‘our’ track) now reposes at Truro museum.
The Holman museum was a sad loss: the Rostowrack engine seems to have been lost, too.
Roy Hart
Many thanks for that Roy - I remember your father, he used to do quite a bit of walking - usually to Tesco's to keep fit. This article is, in a way, a tribute to him. Any idea from anybody where the Rostowrack engine is?
Treve Holman devised the plan to buy and re-erect the Cornish beam winding engine from Rostowrack china clay works and re-erect it running under compressed air, at Camborne. Holman’s plan was to have the beam and wheel exposed over the outside street, but the Council vetoed it, fearing road crashes from distracted drivers! Dad and the team rebuilt the engine though, but inside, in 1953.
In about 1957, a wagon (sometimes called the ‘directors’ wagon, because it had seats) from the Poldice to Portreath tramway was discovered in a barn at Scorrier and Treve Holman gave it a home in the Holman Museum. It had to be mounted on track, so Dad and a colleague (and me) were dispatched in a Holman van with picks and shovels to Mawla, to dig up sufficient granite setts to make a stretch of genuine tramway in the original style. There is no closing date for the Poldice to Portreath tramway, but we know from newspapers and other sources that it was abandoned and unused by about 1866. The granite setts on which the ‘plates’ were laid are still visible in many places today.
Holmans’ foundry made the appropriate ‘L’ shaped rails (‘plate’, I suppose, is the proper term = platelayers) and the wagon stood resplendent in the museum until it closed in the 1970s. The wagon (and ‘our’ track) now reposes at Truro museum.
The Holman museum was a sad loss: the Rostowrack engine seems to have been lost, too.
Roy Hart
Many thanks for that Roy - I remember your father, he used to do quite a bit of walking - usually to Tesco's to keep fit. This article is, in a way, a tribute to him. Any idea from anybody where the Rostowrack engine is?
Hayle Wharves
Roger Winnen
Roger Winnen
Hayle Wharves with a Ground Frame Cast Iron Sign attached to the hut on the left. May 1972 Copyright Roger Winnen
Roy Hart advises that this is the ground frame which protected the north end of the swingbridge. Centre right is the gate which was closed and bolted when the bridge swung. Out of picture to the left was the catch point protecting the bridge from the wharves direction -normally kept in the closed position, of course. The GF had the annett's key which when the gate was bolted and the catch point opened, released the bridge to swing. Many thanks for the info Roy.
Swanage
John Cornelius
John Cornelius
Copyright John Cornelius