Old Lead Mine Pentireglaze

12/03/2026

Join the Friday screening of "The Lost Boys of Carbis Bay" at the Tubestation tomorrow and meet Pat Moret, 59, who has spent over 35 years working in the height-risk industry, specialising in rope access in challenging environments. His work has included film safety and delivering specialist training across the Middle East. Outside of his professional career, Pat has spent 15 years cave diving in the UK, France and Switzerland. He has also taken part in two humanitarian aid runs to Ukraine and has worked in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The Lost Boys of Carbis Bay features Pat's adventures with the Carbis Bay Crew, exploring the Cornish mines beneath our very feet. He joins the Q&A panel to share insights on the hobby, and his experiences working in high-risk and unusual environments.

29/11/2025

27/11/2025

Come join a free 1812 guided walk tomorrow (Thursday) where we'll follow the precise Pentire and Pentireglaze mines and lodes marked on a rare map from that historic year.
1812 was a period of immense global change. Napoleon's ambitions reached Russia while, in the opposite direction, for Americans and Canadians it was a turning point in their relationship with each other and with Great Britain. For the Cornish on Pentire, 1812 meant a race for the copper and tin that fueled those very conflicts—the pursuit of fortunes (or not!) that shaped our coast.
By following the precise lodes marked on our 1812 map, you'll see how the geology shaped the landscape and how Pentire's mining efforts were directly linked with the great historical events of the day.

🗓️ Walk Details
Date: Thursday 27 Nov
Time: 10:00 AM
Meeting Point: By The Atlantic Bar & Kitchen, Atlantic Terrace, New Polzeath. (Parking available nearby.)
Duration: Approx. 2–3 hours

Route: Circular walk exploring the mapped mining areas up to Pentire and then across and down to Pentireglaze.

Cost: FREE! (tip appreciated but not a condition of joining!)

What to Bring: Sturdy walking shoes and clothing appropriate for Cornish coastal weather.

RSVP in the comments below to let us know you're coming!

27/11/2025

Showing in the Regal Wadebridge on the 18th Jan 2026

24/11/2025

Met these guys up in Kendal and they have been in the Pentire and Pentireglaze mines... or at least they seemed to know all about them.
Fantastic that they picked up such a top award.
Well done!

15/08/2025

The Most Dangerous Walk in the World

Get ready to walk in the footsteps of history and danger! Join me, Bill Bartlett, for a unique two-hour guided journey through North Cornwall's fascinating past.

We'll start at the National Trust car park at the Old Lead Mine, Pentireglaze, and follow a dramatic loop. This is more than just a walk; it's a deep dive into the ground beneath your feet, uncovering the secrets of one of the world's most beautiful and poisonous minerals: Cerussite, or White Lead.

This mineral, a key ingredient in "white lead" paints banned in the UK in 1992, was also the main component of Venetian ceruse, the favorite cosmetic of Queen Elizabeth I. She used it to create a flawless, pale complexion to hide her smallpox scars. What she didn't know was that the lead was slowly poisoning her, likely contributing to the loss of her teeth and hair, and perhaps even her death! While the Pentireglaze mines weren't fully operational then, our tour will reveal why this area, with its world-class examples of Cerussite, would have been a prized source for Queen Victoria's empire—who, without a doubt, would have used this dangerous mineral for cosmetics and pigments without a thought to its poisonous nature, which was a common killer of children in the Victorian era.

On this two-hour walk, we’ll take in the nuclear bunker I rediscovered for the National Trust near Pengirt, explore the stunning landscape around the old Pentire mines, and finish by coming up the Pentireglaze Valley near the New Polzeath mineshaft. Along the way, we'll talk about the dangers of the minerals we come across (from a safe distance, of course!):

Arsenopyrite & Scorodite: These two minerals contain toxic arsenic, a known carcinogen that, if ingested or inhaled as dust, can cause severe and chronic health problems.

Galena & Cerussite: The main lead ores. Lead poisoning from their dust and particles can cause severe neurological damage, especially in children, and long-term harm to the brain and kidneys.

Sphalerite: The main ore for zinc, which is often found with toxic cadmium, a heavy metal that can cause kidney and bone damage.

Chalcopyrite: A common copper ore. Long-term exposure to copper dust can cause liver damage.

Torbernite & Uraninite (Pitchblende): These beautiful green and black minerals are dangerously radioactive, emitting radon gas and alpha particles that can lead to lung cancer.

Smaltite: This mineral contains a triple threat of dangerous elements: cobalt, nickel, and arsenic.

Stibnite: The primary ore of toxic antimony, which can cause heart and intestinal problems.

The "Most Dangerous Walk in the World" is an opportunity to learn about these hidden dangers and the incredible history of the land and is particularly suitable for children!

Details:
Duration: Approximately 2 hours.
Cost: £5 per person for groups of 10 or more.
Booking: Please message this page to arrange a date.

Important Disclaimer: We will stick exclusively to public footpaths for this walk. This event is led by me, Bill Bartlett, the administrator of this page, and has no affiliation with the National Trust, who do not support or publicise my tours as they are considered outside their remit and insurance. I take all necessary safety precautions, but participants join at their own risk.

Let's walk and talk!

01/04/2025

In my last post I said I'd explain Flat Rods and how they were used in Polzeath to transmit power from the engine house near the Spar to two different mine shafts at the same time.

One shaft or mine entrance went under Tinners Hill, and what is now New Polzeath, and the other went the other way to the far side of Valley caravan park and what was called the Victoria Shaft.

While we might not see much evidence of them today, back in the 18th and 19th centuries, there were mines all over the Polzeath area and many miners going down different mines looking for lead, silver, and copper. In October 1847, a 17-inch double-acting steam engine was purchased and set up midway between the Victoria and Taylor Shafts and by the summer of 1848, this engine was reported to be pumping satisfactorily from both shafts by means of 220 fathoms of flatrods.

The flatrod system had been used for a long time as can be seen in the diagram entitled "Power transmission via single suspended rod, Jean Errard, 1584" and a page on the internet at https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2013/01/the-mechanical-transmission-of-power-1-stangenkunst/ .

Think of the rods as a mechanical connection that could transmit movement and power over relatively short distances and were presumably more efficient than a rope or cable system. Electricity didn't begin to be used in mines until the 1880s. Typically before then the power would come from a water wheel but later around the time Polzeath mines were in operation between 1800 and 1860 they used early steam engines. The rotary motion they created needed to be converted into a back-and-forth (reciprocal) motion to operate things like pumps for removing water from the mine shafts or even man engines for transporting miners up and down the shafts. I'm not sure that these were ever needed or used in the Polzeath Consol mines, which included these workings on Tinners Hill (South Hill) and extended down what is now the Valley Caravan Park's on the Trebetherick side.

The system used in Polzeath involved a series of long, squared wooden timbers connected by articulated iron joints (like hinges) and there rods were laid horizontally or at an incline across the ground and to keep them moving smoothly and prevent them from sagging, they were often supported by rollers or oscillating cranks. It makes sense that they might have been put inside a protective tunnel, if they had to go across or under a road in to the Trenant valley and then across the shifting sand dunes to get to Taylor's shaft.

At the engine, housed somewhere in the area of the Polzeath Spar, special components would change its rotary motion into the back-and-forth movement needed to push and pull the flatrods. And at the other end, in the mine shaft, this horizontal movement would be converted back into a vertical movement using a rotating cross-shaped lever to operate pumps or other equipment.

We know that flatrods were definitely used too at the Pentireglaze mine, which was a significant lead and silver mine. In 1850, when the Pentire & Pentireglaze United Lead-Silver Mines were formed, flatrods were extended across the Pentireglaze valley from the engine house on the high ground to a shaft on the southern side in what is now New Polzeath. This was done to drain the two shafts which had reached a depth of 20-25 fathoms below the adit (a horizontal tunnel into the mine).

In dry weather the course of these flatrods can be seen to have gone down from the engine house near the old leadmine carpark to the stream. I have shown on my Old Lead Mine Pentireglaze page aerial photos showing the lay of the flat rods in the grass patterns. At the bottom of the Pentireglaze valley (in a straight line from the carpark) you can still see two parallel walls of masonry which would have supported the "rolls" that helped the rods move as they crossed the valley and went up the other side to the shafts.

It must have been quite an operation and quite a sight to see.

01/09/2024

Looking into the Lobb's Rock area in my last post I cannot but wonder if the vast stone dump closeby at Carnweather Point is something to do with mining. It would seem highly likely that there might have been a mine shaft here but there seem to be no records. Anyone with thoughts on this? That this was simply a stone dump for clearing the field seems to me a bit unlikely (but a farmer might tell me otherwise).

31/08/2024

Anyone know anything about The Lobb's Rock site?
I think it has several characteristics that suggest it could be the location of an old mine as there are still clearly visible pits and paths on the cliff that indicate that mining activity has occurred in the past.
Some of you may have been into the caves at sea level there.
What do you think?.
On the 1840 map a lode is shown running directly from it.
Could this have been the place recorded in an agreement, dated 22 September 1723, between Thomas Carlyon and Johe Bonython wherein at "a mine or antimony working lying in Port Isaac in the parish of Endellion" Bonython covenanted to pay Carlyon the sixth-part of all antimony or other metal raised, to replace the "meat earth", to level all pits and shafts, and to make satisfaction "if Martyn Lobb, the tenant, suffers any damage in the Little Field".
Yes, I know that there are many Lobbs in Cornwall but not sure that many have a rock named after them.
Any comments greatfully received.