Cornwall is a lot more than tourism as its history shows. On 65 hectares of the flat plateau of the Lizard peninsula at Goonhilly Downs there’s an unexpected listed building. This can be found in the shape of the first satellite dish built to receive the pathbreaking television images bounced across the Atlantic via Telstar … Continue reading Goonhilly
Tag: technology
What was a Cornish engine?
The Cornish engine was so named because it was a type of steam engine developed by Cornish engineers and enginemen and mainly used in Cornwall. From 1810 the efficiency of beam engines was steadily improved. These were used to pump the water out of mines. They also, somewhat later, raised ore and lowered materials (whim … Continue reading What was a Cornish engine?
An idiot’s guide to the life and death of Richard Trevithick
Books have been written about him, poems dedicated to him, statues erected in his honour, plaques affixed to significant buildings and locations in his life, university libraries named after him. He even has his own festival. It’s time this blog offered its own stripped-down guide to the life of Richard Trevithick as this month sees … Continue reading An idiot’s guide to the life and death of Richard Trevithick
Of blowing houses and tin smelters
If you wander through the highways and byways of Cornwall you may well come across the name Blowing House. Where does this come from? In former times ‘houses’ were built to smelt tin, transforming tin ore, or ‘black tin’, containing other chemical elements such as oxygen or sulphur, into purer ‘white tin’. Stannary law stated … Continue reading Of blowing houses and tin smelters
Cornish studies resources 