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Balwest is a small group of cottages, with its listed Methodist Chapel and attendant School Room nestling close under the southern flank of Tregonning Hill. Tregonning Hill and its close neighbour, Godolphin Hill have in many ways exercised a strong influence on the surrounding area. They show evidence of a continual human occupation, in one way or another from Neolithic and Bronze Age times until the present day. The intrusive granite of these hills has been extensively quarried for building stone. The associated mineralised veins gave rise firstly to surface mine workings and tin streaming, leading inevitably to deeper, hard rock mining for copper and tin. On either side of the hills stood two of the great Cornish mines, Great Work and Wheal Vor. William Cookworthy in c 1746 identified kaolin on Tregonning Hill, a mineral created by the slow chemical alteration of the granite. Initially this was quarried here, but later when larger deposits were discovered up country they were exploited, giving rise to the Cornish China Clay Industry. The hamlet of Balwest it is generally held, owes its existence to the mining heritage of the immediate area. As a result of the public interest generated by a lecture concerning this in September 1997 the decision was taken to form a local heritage society, The Balwest Heritage Society. Its aims being: "to promote interest in the heritage of Balwest, the surrounding villages and countryside." Whilst we still continue to have the greatest of interest in the immediate area it is also true that we quickly decided to adopt as wide as possible interpretation of the word "heritage". Membership of the society, which is open to any interested persons, currently stands at 30. Many of these are local to the area and bring a vast accumulation of geographical, natural history and historical knowledge to the society. Some members are from further afield and all are welcome.
Photo by Mike Thompson Meetings are held on the last Friday of every month, December being the exception. Usually they are held in the recently improved School Room. Each year the programme seeks to provide a mixture of talks by local and visiting experts, informal evenings for discussion of topics of local interest and at least one local visit within West Cornwall. All of our meetings are open to anyone with an interest, however there is a small charge for non-members. From time to time the society has embarked on specific local projects. The first of these was the erection of a commemorative plaque in memory of four aircrew who lost their lives when their aircraft crashed into one of the quarries on Tregonning Hill in September 1941. The plaque was installed in July 2000. The second project, nearing conclusion is to erect a topograph, (a view indicator) at the Ordnance Survey Trig Point at the summit of Tregonning Hill. From here there is a superb view 360 degree panoramic view of this unique part of West Cornwall. This project has been made possible by grants from the Neighbourhood Renewal Community Chest, Germoe Parish Council and Ashton Village Shop and Post Office. The third project, in conjunction with Balwest Methodist Church, is to revive as far as possible, the traditional Germoe Feast Day Celebrations. We hope you have found this information about our area and the society interesting. Should you wish to join us, please contact the secretary, Sid Geake. Tel: (01736 763258). Meetings except those in April and July take place at the Balwest Sunday School and commence at 19.30. All are welcome, (non-members £2.00). Latest NewsPROGRAMME
FOR REMAINDER OF 2004 July 30 Michael & Christine Thompson: Travels around the West Country August 27 Informal September 24 Phil Hoskens: Richard Trevithick and Merthyr Tydfil October 29 Alan Buckley: Great County Adit November 26 AGM December 31 No Meeting Meetings take place in Balwest Sunday School at 7.30pm All most welcome – non members £2.00 |
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'Praa Sands & District Community Centre Management Committee makes every effort to ensure that information contained in these pages is accurate. However, no liability is accepted arising from reliance upon information contained in these pages or any other information accessed via this site.' |
