St Just in Penwith: next stop, America

St Just can be found on the westernmost edge of the Cornish peninsula jutting into the Atlantic. In the 1800s it was sometimes said that the next parish to its west was America. This wasn’t just whimsy as St Just in the nineteenth century was anything but a remote, out of the way place. It … Continue reading St Just in Penwith: next stop, America

The Wheal Owles disaster of 1893

Early in the morning of January 10th, 1893, young Johnny Grenfell left his cottage at Tregeseal just north of St Just, to walk up the hill towards the sea and his work at Wheal Owles. He must have been day-dreaming that morning as, on his arrival, he realised he’d left some of his underground clothes … Continue reading The Wheal Owles disaster of 1893