South Crofty Mine Surface 3: This page looks at the outside of the now demolished mill which was removed during 2013 due to its dangerous state.
South Crofty Mine Surface 3.1 – An external view of the mill taken whilst the mine was still working. In the foreground is deep mud from when the mill worked during the 1980’s. I was told this was likely to be full of fine Tin.
Most the images are taken from the west looking east. I was lucky enough to gain access to the inside of the mill, these photographs are on the South Crofty Mill Pages.
The majority of the images on this page were taken after the mine had closed and the site was deserted.
South Crofty Mine Surface 3.2 – The twin “Fine Ore Bins” and the conveyor belt leading to them. Much of the cladding on the buildings had been forced off by bad weather.
Wandering around in the quiet was very disconcerting. Obviously the mill was not entered as I did not have a death wish at the time. It was so unstable and dangerous.
South Crofty Mine Surface 3.3 – A closer image of the Mill and ore bins. South Crofty Mine Surface 3.4 – This and the two previous images were taken several years after the mine had shut. By this time the mill building had started to degrade and fall apart, it was very dangerous to enter.South Crofty Mine Surface 3.5 – An image of some sort of underground access, totally flooded perhaps connected with the mill.South Crofty Mine Surface 3.6 – The mill with a view of one of the settling tanks. South Crofty Mine Surface 3.7 – Another view but looking the other way towards the main crusher house.Cornish Mine Images 3.8 – Old metalwork stacked alongside the mill building.Cornish Mine Images 3.9 – A small storage tank alongside the mill.Cornish Mine Images 3.10 – This image certainly gives an idea of the height of the building, the pipe carried waste from the mill.
The remaining images on this page are of the conveyors at the end of the mill building. When working these would have fed to ore from the bins directly into the mill. The noise must have been deafening.
Cornish Mine Images 3.11 – The first view of the impressive conveyor belts. Cornish Mine Images 3.12 – The arrangement of the conveyors, the buildings and the textures made it one of my favorite places to photograph, it was a joy and I think I had some good images from the day. So sad that all this has gone it was an amazing sight to see.Cornish Mine Images 3.13 – An image which will do your eyes no good, using an extreme wide angle lens has distorted the image from the vertical, a very pleasing effect.Cornish Mine Images 3.14 – The legs of the headframe can be seen behind the ore bin on the right. The building infront of the camera held screens which sorted the ore for sizing prior to entering the mill.Cornish Mine Images 3.15 – A view of the conveyor belts from a higher angle.Cornish Mine Images 3.16 – I admit I may have got carried away with these photographs, however the subject matter made it more than worthwhile, each one is from a different angle and viewpoint.Cornish Mine Images 3.17 – The final image on the page, looking up at the conveyor belts that fed the mill. However these were a lot higher than they looked, several years earlier I had happily walked up them, not now.
