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Camborne

Camborne (Cornish: Cambron, 'Crooked Hill') was once one of the richest mining areas in the world and is located in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom, forming the western end of the greater Camborne, Pool and Redruth conurbation. It is now an ex-industrial town with a population of 20,010.^[1] The population of the Camborne-Redruth urban statistical area, which includes Pool and 'satellite' villages, is 39,937,^[2] making it the largest conurbation in Cornwall.

History

Camborne as a 'town' is a comparatively recent construction. Much of the town's growth is associated with the mining boom during the first half of the 19th century and before this time Camborne Churchtown was a hamlet surrounded by moorland. It was only one village in a district of villages most larger than Camborne. The original approach road to Camborne was at Tuckingmill where travellers had to follow an indirect route via Treswithian to reach the hamlet.

With the building of the great turnpike road through Cornwall in 1839, Camborne's isolation ended. Baker's Lane was extended and later this became Trelowarren Street today Camborne's main shopping road. Pigot's Directory for Camborne, 1830 says, 'From being a very insignificant place this town is fast riding into opulence and consequently importance from the valuable mines of tin and copper surrounding it. Several new streets have been added within these few years and there are others projected.'

Camborne reached the peak of its prosperity in the mid 1880s. In 1841 the population numbered 10,061 and by 1871 this had risen to 14,929, the highest ever figure. As the population grew, the town became overcrowded. Drunken brawls riots and lawlessness became more frequent. Methodism did what it could to keep the peace and at one time there were five chapels in Camborne. On one occasion rioting became so furious that the police could not cope and the militia was sent for. These were nicknamed the Red Jackets and the incident is remembered still in the name of the pub in Trevenson Street.

Following the depression in mining after 1873, the years of mass emigration to mining fields overseas began. Even then, Camborne was saved from total ruin by the world-famous Dolcoath mine - the 'Queen of Mines It was deeper and more productive than any other Cornish mine and supported hundreds of families for generations before closing in 1921.

Camborne never again enjoyed the prosperity of its boom years, but you can still see many of the fine buildings and institutions from this era. Follow the Town Trail and introduce yourself to Camborne's architecture and history.

In 1931 the ruins of a Roman villa were found at Magor Farm, Illogan, near Camborne, and excavated that year under the guidance of the Royal Institution of Cornwall.^[3] It is the only Roman villa found as of 2006^[update] in the whole of Cornwall.

An inscribed altar stone found at Camborne (now in the Church of St Martin and St Meriadoc), and dated to the tenth or eleventh centuries, attests to the existence of a settlement then.^[4] Langdon (1896) records seven stone crosses in the parish of which two are at Pendarves.

Mining

Camborne is best known as a centre for the former Cornish tin and copper mining industry, having its working heyday during the later 18th and early 19th centuries. Camborne was just a village until transformed by the mining boom which began in the late eighteenth century and saw the Camborne and Redruth district become the richest mining area in the world. Although a considerable number of ruinous stacks and engine houses remain, they cannot begin to convey the scenes of 150 years ago when scores of mines transfigured the landscape.

Copper was actually the predominant mineral mined in the Camborne region, with mines at Dolcoath, Carn brea and Tincroft, East Pool and Agar, West Wheal Seton, the Basset Mines and the Tresavean mines producing thousands of tons of copper, with tin discovered below the copper. On the back of such large deposits, both Camborne and Redruth developed as industrial mining centres, and a whole industry evolved with early adoption of sophisticated technology in areas such as steam pumping. Other industries such as clothing factories, boilers, and drill manufacturers also established themselves in the area.

The decline of copper prices from the mid 19th Century, with increasing foreign competition resulting in migration by many and grinding hardship hit this area of Cornwall hard. The experiences of mining families in the region can be seen in the many social history exhibitions in mining centres across the region such as the Mineral Tramways Discovery Centre near Redruth. Dolcoath, one of the largest mines in the region finally closed in 1920, with the last mine South Crofty finally closing in 1999. With the decline of the mining industry in this area came the decline and closure of interlinked industries such as Bickford-Smith, Vivians, Bartles, Holmans, Bennets, and the Climax Rock Drill company all present on the Tuckingmill complex which is open to the public.

The region in recent years however is receiving much attention, and regeneration projects such as the Cornwall Industrial Settlements Initiative, and the resultant Cornish Mining World Heritage Bid are reviving the history of the area. Check out their weblink to the right for a comprehensive guide to mines in the Camborne and Redruth area, plus fascinating insights into the social, cultural and religions lives of Cornish mining families. The irony won't be lost to residents, for the industry now decimated may now with the influx of regeneration money bring in the hope of work and tourism to a battered area. A contemporary twist on 18th and 19th century Relief philanthropy in this area - perhaps.

Dolcoath Mine, (English: Old Ground Mine), the 'Queen of Cornish Mines' was, at a depth of 3500 feet (1067 m), for many years the deepest mine in the world, not to mention one of the oldest and that is where the saying deeper than Dolcoath mine came from meaning a person who is deep thinking before its closure in 1921. The last working tin mine in Europe, South Crofty, which closed in 1998, is to be found in Camborne.

Mining related

Holman Brothers

Holman Brothers was founded in 1801 by Nicholas Holman who built a boiler works for manufacturing of mining equipment little did he know how big the company was to become.

For a number of years John Holman ran the business until 1881 when he handed over the company to his sons John Henry and James Miners Holman while they were in control of the company they were offered an idea by James McColloch which turned out to be the world famous Holman Rock Drill they decided to give it a try and then they patiented the idea with McColloch as a joint patient and the drill and Holmans as we know it was born. We are not sure if the brothers really knew what a monster they had on their hands as it was to propel the company to great heights.

By 1882 places that was using the Cornish Rock Drill was as far as the Welsh mines and South Crofty and even Falmouth Docks its popularity was growing at a very fast rate so much so that its reputation was preceding it and Holman Brothers were gaining a world wide respect for their product. We will never know what would have happened had they not went ahead with the joint patient with McColloch the history of Camborne might have been so very different.

By 1896 The South African Rand had more than 1000 Cornish Rock Drills in operation and as the popularity of the Drill grew by the turn of the century the total number had doubled and nearly all of them were manufactured at the Camborne Factory.

It was with some pride that Holman Brothers gained first and third places in the World Rock Drilling Contest sponsored by the South African Chamber of Commerce. Later for the further development of mines The Holman Silver Airleg was developed and opperating.

The most successful drills were the Piston type "reciprocators" in which the piston and chuck moved together and reciprocated like in a modern hammer drill. In the beginning most drills were worked by air passing through a pipe to blast dust from the drill parts but as this made to much dust water was added and the water operated machine soon became standard and as such was taken up by the Holman Brothers and exported all around the world.

The first compressors were built from existing designs for steam engines. It was at Carn Brea Mine in 1894 that the largest compressor plant was ever used and the success of Holman Brothers was assured.

At its height the factory which by now covered 3 sites in the town employed over 3`000 men and women and when it came to lunch and finish time the main street (Trellowarren Street) was a sea of humanity in the second world war Holman Brothers produced the sten Submachine gun for a short time and even The Holman Projector was used by the Royal Navy.If you served an apprenticeship with Holman Brothers then you were guaranteed a job anywhere in the world.

In 1959 The Rotair was introduced the first Rotary Screw Compressor and by 1964 portable compressors were being launched and by 1968 Broom and Wade came on board to form Compair which it continued to have great success. But with other competition joining the market it became that much harder to compete and it was with great regret that Compair had to make the difficult decision to shut down the Camborne operation meaning that the history of Holman Brothers in Camborne was at an end. The factory that employed well over 3`000 at its height sadly employed just 184 by its demise.

The Factory that was in Wesley Street was demolished to make way for a Tesco supermarket and the factory that manufactured the world famous Holman Rock Drill has suffered the same fate but instead of a supermarket this time it was housing. Its a great shame that the company that lead the world in Rock drill manufacturing and also compressor manufacturing is nowhere to be seen.

On the Afternoon of Tuesday 5 December 2006, a wall of the Holmans factory was leaning towards the railway line, as a result the line west of Truro was closed for the afternoon and night and disrupting railway services, as it was feared the wall could callapse onto the mainline, part of the derelict factory was later demolished that night.

A modest quantity of South Crofty tin was purchased by a local enterprise and this gradually dwindling stock is used to make specialist tin jewellery, branded as the South Crofty Collection.

Camborne School of Mines

The history of the Camborne School of Mines goes back to 1829 when Cornwall was the leading metalliferous erea in the world and as a such John Taylor published a prospectus for what would become the Camborne School of Mines.

Sir Charles Lemon the Royal Institution of Cornwall president took it upon himself to personally offer and maintain for 2 years a school for the use of those involved in the mining industry and to pass on their teachings. At this time the Royal Institution of Cornwall very warmly welcomed the offer made by Sir Charles Lemon and in turn offered accomodation and facilities as they thought at the time it was such a great objective. The school was offering Algebra, Geometry, Land and Mine Surveying, Mechanical Drawing, Mathematics and Mechanics as subjects and was based at Truro. The school closed in 1839 because the mine owners were not prepared to fund the venture.

With the help of Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society Robert Hunt FRS decides to form Miners Association of Cornwall & Devon in 1858 and the association starts to form classes in miming in the ereas that had mining. By 1863 the association had 11 centres in cornwall and by adopting national schemes students could obtain nationally recognised certificates this was the time when the great emigration started when miners emigrated to mine`s around the world to ply their trade.

It was George Basset a very well known mine entrepreneur and great land owner from Tehidy in 1876 gave money for a laboratory in Camborne for use by the assocations members and J.J.Beringer who is known as the father of the Camborne School of Mines delivered a lecture in 1887 when he outlined a vision of a school for mining in Camborne a grant of £20 was awarded towards the success of the school and as such Josiah Thomas joint the committee to put his influence to bear and to help Beringer set up the school.

In 1888 the C.S.M was born although it has had its own identity that is away from science and art the words School of Science and Art was placed over the doors the King Edward Mine was leased to complement the work of the C.S.M the association passes control and responcability to Cornwall County Council then following a period of time gestation in other words the school was born.

In 1902 the first Bottle match took place between the Royal School of Mines and the Camborne school of Mines. Due to flooding the King Edward Mine was abandoned in 1924 and the Great Condurrow Mine was leased a world wide appeal was launched in 1934 initaly a targer of £10`000 was set but by the end the figure of £20`00 was reached to expand facilities and to obtain up-to-date equipment as a result of all this the Basset Memorial Building was bought and renamed the Josiah Thomas Memorial Building in 1935. The amount that was raised was able to refurbish thestudents club as well as re-equipping the labs. The Associateship of Camborne School of Mines (ACSM) is introduced in1936.

The post war years the international minerals industry dramatically expanded and the reputation of the Camborne School of Mines was growing at a vast rate so much so that students from around the world wanted to attend the school and as a result it prospered. Despite efforts by University of Plymouth to merge with the Camborne School of Mines in 1969 the C.S.M stayed on its own thanks mainly to protests from within and outside the school 1970 Peter Hackett was made principal and the National Diploma was introduced in 1973 and by 1974 the C.S.M gets the acreditation from the Council for National Academic Awards for the award of BSc (Honours). The end of the schools involvement in Cambornes history ended in 1975 when they moved to the Pool Campus and still continues to have great success to this day The original Building in Trevithick Road was demolished in 1979 to make way for a Tesco Supermarket

Steam locomotion

On Christmas Eve 1801, the Puffing Devil - a steam-powered road locomotive built by Camborne engineer Richard Trevithick - made its way up Camborne Hill in Cornwall.^[5] It was the world's first self-propelled passenger carrying vehicle. The events have been turned into a local song:

Going up Camborne Hill, coming down,

Going up Camborne Hill, coming down,

The horses stood still,

The wheels turn around,

Going up Camborne Hill, coming down.

Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick the famous inventer of steam power was born in the parish of illogan in Cornwall in 1771 and as a young boy was educated in Camborne school sport was his main love and as such was not really interested in academic learning. At six feet two he was known as the Cornish giant being well built he was also quite strong that at eighteen he could throw sledge hammers over the tops of engine houses and with half a hundredweight hanging from his thumb he was able to write his name on a beam six feet from the floor and as well as that he was reputed to be one of the best wrestlers in Cornwall.

It was at Wheal Treasury Mine that the young Trevithick went to work for his father and soon it became clear that engineering was a great pull for him so much so that Trevithick made a few improvements to the Bull Steam engine and as such his skills soon had people taking notice. His expertise had him promoted to engineer of the Ding Dong Mine it was at the Ding Dong Mine he developed a successful high-pressure engine that was in a great demand in places like South Wales as well as Cornwall for the raising of ore and refuse from the mines.

It was the fact that Trevithick started toexperiment with the idea for a steam locomotive and by the year 1796 he had one that was not only produced it also worked. Being in one piece that is the boiler and engine being a complete unit hot water was put into the boiler and a redhot iron was inserted into a tube underneath causing steam to rise and set the engine in motion. Trevithick now attempted something a little more ambitious and that was to produce a larger road locomotive. It was on Christmas Eve in 1801 that the first time a “locomotive� was used to transport people up Camborne Hill the locomotive the piston, propelled back and forth in the cylinder by pressure of steam, was linked by piston rod and connecting rod to a crankshaft bearing a large flywheel.features were a cylindrical horizontal boiler and a single horizontal cylinder let into it. The locomotive was known as the Puffing Devil but the problem was that the locomotive could only go short distances as Trevithick was not able to keep up a consistant level of steam.

Despite of the problems that he incountered Trevithick travelled to London to show the leading scientists of the day his invention those who he showed it to was Humphrey Davy and James Watt it was Watt that was thinking of using Trevithicks method to power a locomotive but as it was to risky he abandoned the idea as he was afraid that because of the high temperatures that would be generated would cause explosions. It was because of a bill that was passed by parliament banning his experiments with steam locomotives that Trevithick was to accuse both Watt and his partner Matthew Boulton of using their influence to bring about the ban.

It was Vivian & West a company in 1803 that decided to finance the experiments. It was in London that Richard Trevithick exhibited his new locomotive but because the locomotive encountered major problems namely it was not able to pull a carriage Vivian & west withdrew their support but rather than giving up Trevithick sought other sponsors and found one in Samual Homfray the owner of Penydarren ironworks and it was in February of 1804 that Trevithick produced the world's first steam engine to run successfully on rails. With its single vertical cylinder, 8 foot flywheel and long piston-rod, The locomotive managed to haul ten tons of iron 70 passengers and 5 wagons from the ironworks at Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal. The top speed was 5 miles an hour. Trevithick's locomotive employed the very important principle of turning the exhaust steam up the chimney, so producing a draft which drew the hot gases from the fire more powerfully through the boiler. Trevithicks Penydarren Locomotive unfortunately made just 3 journeys each time the engine broke the cast iron rails so Homfray decided it would cost to much that he abandoned the project. At this time Trevithick was employed by the owner of Wylam Colliery in Northumberland Christopher Blackett while Trevithick was with Blackette a 5 mile wooden wagonway was built in 1748 to take coal from the mine to the RiverTyne and another locomotive way built but as this locomotive was 5 tons it was to heavy for the tracks and was shelved.

Returning back to Cornwall Trevithick to conduct further experiments He developed a new locomotive called Catch Me Who Can and in the summer of 1808 Trevithick erected a circular railway in Euston Square during the months ofJuly and August “passengers� could ride on it for a sum of one shilling Trevithick had a vast amount of volunteers to ride on it and it actually reached speeds of 12 miles an hour but as with the other experiments it was doomed to failure owing to the rails breaking so another experiment comes to an end and without financial support he had to abandon anymore experiments and it was with deep regret that his vision of a locomotive would have to be taken up by George Stephenson at a later date. This shows that Trevithick`s original invention of a locomotive would one day see the light of day and when Stevenson argued in parliament many years later that it was indeed Trevithicks original plans that were vital brought about the birth of steam locomotives it shows how truly great the man was. Without any money he was forced to take work with who he could and it was with a company that paid him to develop a steam dredger to lift the waste from the bottom of the Thames.

Trevithick finding it difficult to make any money from a steam dredger venture that he was on went to work in Peru in 1816 as an engineer in a silver mine his steam-engines were very successful that he was able to purchace his own silver mines unfortunately war broke out and Trevithick had to leave everything behind including his steam-engines. Trevithick had a successful spell in Costa Rica Trevithick then moved to Columbia where he met Robert Stephenson who was in the process of building a railway and it was Stephenson who generously gave him money to return to England.

The house of commons rejected a petition in 1828 that was argued by George Stephenson that Trevithick`s inventions and experiments were vital to the development of locomotives. Trevithick continued to carry out experiments which included the propulsion of steamboats by means of a spiral wheel at the stern, an improved marine boiler, a new recoil gun-carriage and apparatus for heating apartments and another scheme was the building of a 1,000 feet cast-iron column to commemorate the 1832 reform act.

Due to failure these schemes never received any backing and the great man died and with everything that he has done in he died in extreme poverty on the 22nd of April 1833 but for some local factory workers Richard Trevithick would have had a paupers funeral so the man had a decent funeral and was buried in Dartford churchyard.

Thanks to Trevor Dalley and a few others who put in the time and effort in to set it up in the first place the people of Camborne celebrate the work of Richard Trevithick every year on the last Saturday of April with Trevithick Day [1] and you can see a statue outside of The Passmore Edwards Free library.

Transport today owes a great deal to the man as it was all his efforts and experiments that was so vital to the success of motorised transport as we know it and were it not for the great man the industrial revolution would probably never happened and we would still be riding on horseback or in carriages it is with great regret that the world has never given him the prominence he richly deserves

Governance ?

Since the United Kingdom general election, 2005, Camborne now has a Liberal Democrat MP, Julia Goldsworthy, who is in favour of more self-governance in Cornwall. Pro-Cornish party Mebyon Kernow, who favour a Cornish Assembly, has a large following in the area and recently became the largest political group on Camborne town council after a by-election. The party now has four councillors on Kerrier District Council and six councillors on the town council out of a total of 17 seats. Of the remaining 11 seats, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party both have five, and the Conservatives one. Now Camborne is governed by Cornwall Council as Kerrier District Council was replaced by 1 authority governing the whole of Cornwall.

These days the people governing us have little or no respect for their constituants that they knock on your door and promise you everything but don`t deliver and as a result Camborne has suffered. The turnout at each general election has deminished over the years and that reflects on voter apathy and as such the people of Camborne has had to suffer "MODERN" inprovements that are not in keeping with the ethos of the town as a mining town which is steeped in history. None of the politicians were around to save the Foundry that housed the Holman Rock Drill. Camborne had a history to be very proud of so it goes to show that the councillors and the politicians have systematically took it upon themselves to turn a blind eye and reach for "The Silver Doller". It is to late to save Holman Brothers but we can only hope that one day someone will actually put an effort in and apologise for past mistakes and in turn reverse the trend to "MODERNISE" everything at the expence of a very rich history

Church history

Camborne's parish church is dedicated to St Martin and St Meriadoc: it is entirely of granite, of 15th century date and is listed Grade I. There is a western tower and the aisles are identical in design: an outer south aisle was added in 1878.^[6] St Martin was added to the original dedication to St Meriadoc in the 15th century.

An inscribed altar stone found at Chapel Ia, Troon (now set in the altar of the parish church), and dated to the tenth or eleventh centuries, attests to the existence of a settlement then.^[4] The chapel of St Ia was recorded in 1429 and a holy well was nearby. The site was called Fenton-ear (i.e. the well of Ia). The stone is very similar to one now in the garden at Pendarves, used as the base for a sundial.^[7]

Camborne churchyard contains a number of crosses collected from nearby sites: the finest is one found in a well at Crane in 1896 but already known from William Borlase's account of it when it was at Fenton-ear. Two other chapels are known to have existed in the medieval period: one not far from the parish church was dedicated to Our Lady and St Anne and one at Menadarva (derived from Merther-Derwa) was one of Celtic origin dedicated to St Derwa, Virgin, but mentioned in 1429.^[7]

Transport

The A30 trunk road now by-passes the Town around its northern edge. The old A30 through the Town has become the A3047. There is a small bus station half way along and to the south of Trelowarren Street (the main high street), which has featured in tales by Cornish comedian Jethro.

The railway station is a half-mile south from the town centre, with a level crossing and footbridge at its eastern end. Camborne station used to be famous for its short platforms, which meant that passengers on main line services between London and Penzance could only board and alight from certain carriages. Partly because of this not all services stopped at Camborne, preferring nearby Redruth station (which is also classed by FGW trains as a short station stop). The platforms have been upgraded but the memory lives on, again partly in stories by the comedian Jethro. Camborne station is served by CrossCountry and First Great Western trains.

Camborne was, for a while, home of Cornwall's only tram service. This system was opened in 1902 and ran a regular service to Redruth until it closed in 1927.

Sport

Camborne RFC Camborne RFC were established in 1878 and are one of the most famous rugby clubs in Cornwall - the club colours are Cherry and White.

The local tin mining industry provided most of the early players, the majority who worked at Camborne's Dolcoath mine which at that time was the deepest mine in Britain. Rugby quickly became established with a large following in Cornwall, as it took much from the ancient Cornish sports of hurling and wrestling, and soon became the focus of Cornish pride. There is no harder form of mining than that which involves cutting through granite and such 'hard rock' mining produced very hard men indeed. These men and their successors did much to establish the game of rugby football in the town and also afterwards overseas, as the mining recession hit Cornwall and miners were forced to take their skills to areas such as South Africa, Australia and North/South America.

The first game was played against Penzance in front of some 600 spectators in November 1877. In 1908 former Camborne player Fred Jackson represented the British Lions on their tour to Austalia and New Zealand and in 1909-10 Camborne were the top Cornish team. During the following season no other Cornish side managed to score a try against "Town" as they were then known.

After the Great War, in the 1920's, a kind of rugby fever swept Camborne. Teams, who in those days changed at hotels in the town, marched to the ground behind the Town band, in a manner almost of matadors. A crowd of 19,000 people gathered in 1924 at Camborne to watch Cornwall {with no less than 7 Camborne players} take on the New Zealand 'All Blacks', and matches against local rivals, Redruth, invariably pulled in crowds of around 6,000. This was the era when Captain Crawshays Welsh Touring XV started to include Camborne on their fixture list in 1923. Crayshays teams were chosen from the leading clubs in Wales, and consisted of seasoned internationals and up and coming players who would usually go on to be internationals. In 1926-27 the Cherry and Whites were again the top club in Cornwall and they got their first win over a Crawshay side.

During the 1930's the team didn't quite reach the same heights, but the club still managed to produce a succession of talented and tenacious local players. With the end of the Second World War the club was back in business and John Collins made his debut for the reserves team in 1946-47 and was selected to play at full back for England in 1952. The 1950's and 60's saw many more fine teams, and Camborne became the first Cornish side in 1968 to beat Ebbw Vale in 18 Cornish tours.

The team's real resurgence however had to wait until the late 1970's when they again became the most consistent and successful side in Cornwall, winning the Cornish league and cup in 1977-78, the league for the next 4 years running until 1982, again league champions 84-85 and 85-86, were the highest placed Cornish national league club 87-88 and 88-89, and achieved further Cornwall Cup wins in 85, 87, 90 and 1992.

Giant lock Andy Reed joined the Cherry and Whites in 1987, who was later to play for the all-conquering Bath RFC team of the nineties and represent Scotland and the British Lions. In 1989 Cornwall reached the final of the County Championship at Twickenham against Durham and were represented by nine Camborne players out of the twenty-one man squad.

When the RFU Courage National Leagues were formed in 1987, Camborne were placed in what was then called the Courage National Division 4 South, which is equivalent to National Division 3 South today, and were the highest placed Cornish team at the time (being one of the top 50 clubs in the National Leagues). There were 11 teams in this league, and they remained at this level until 95-96 when they dropped to South West 1, followed by relegation the following year to South West 2 West, where they remained for the next five seasons. In 2002 Camborne dropped down to Western Counties West but returned to South West 2 West for the 2004-5 season after being promoted as champions.

1987-88 National Div 4 South Final Table

1. Askeans 2. Sidcup 3. Lydney 4. Camborne 5. Havant 6. Stroudone 7. Southend 8. Sudbury 9. Salisbury 10. Cheltenham 11. Streatham/Croydon

It is interesting to note that only three teams from the 87-88 league (Lydney, Havant and Southend) still play at this level, while the other teams now play at a lower level. With the advent of professionalism in the second half of the nineties many teams, including Camborne, found their playing strength diminished as players signed with more financially prosperous clubs and as a consequence results suffered. This meant that the need for sponsorship or other methods of funding has become all important to clubs in the new modern professional era of Rugby Union.

Camborne Cricket Club

Although times have changed and industries ended and the vast swathe of the town destroyed Camborne Cricket Club still has one of the most beautiful and it must be said one of the most traditional cricket grounds in the county.

Throughout the 60`s and 70`s Camborne Cricket Club was along with Penzance and Troon one of the top clubs in the county.

After to long time being a yo-yo Club plans are being put into motion that will hopefully put them amongst the elite of Cornish Cricket once more.

Economy

Despite a poor reputation throughout much of Cornwall as a depressed region, the Camborne, Pool and Redruth district is currently at the centre of a £150 million redevelopment which hopes to reverse social and economic decline in this former industrial heartland. That is as long as in the people who have the best interests of the town at heart and can show that those involved are not in it for their own ends as it is feared.

Missed Opportunities

Unfortunatly through woeful neglect Camborne could have been a vibrant town with a Heritage site that could have been the envy of most with sites that could have included the old Holman Brothers works and even the site of the world famous Holman`s Rock drill situated by the Railway Station sadly being pulled down to make way for housing Instead of preserving the history of the town it has become to "MODERN" in look and feel and sadly the only history that prevails now is old pictures. There are many sites around the erea that could have been given a facelift but sadly as with everything else to little to late.

Camborne has had the heart ripped out of it by big buisiness and sadly the lack of proper management has meant that it is unable to bring to the town big names as most are put off by council wrangling. It remains to be seen if in the long term the work that is being done will provide meaningful prosperity.

Far to often history is lost to modernisation and in Camborne`s case this is very true the term "shutting the gate after the horse has bolted" comes to mind.

The men and women who used to work for Holman Brothers and took pride in what they did don`t have anything to take any pride in anymore it seems that the pride that they took in putting Camborne on the map is now left up to Camborne Town Band to show Camborne off to the world

Thank`s to a number of people like Trevor Dalley who put a lot of time and effort into arranging everything Richard Trevithick would never have been remembered in the way he is today.

Fine building homes but when they cant be filled because they are to dear then what a waste and there are many field`s around that can be built on. History always suffers and in Camborne`s case this is very true council`s and politicians over the years have totally neglected its history in favour of making a name for themselves. Its so easy to put your name to a project that does not yeald something to the ethos of the particular place but unfortunately those in power are full of empty words which are lost on the public.

Councillors and politicians alike are just as much to blame as they have many times promised but never delivered. So Camborne and its people have had to make do with second best which as you have seen by what is in other sections a town steeped in history and that history being eroded.

It is not only history thats lost Camborne has had a good number of places to go there was at one point in time 3 cinemas in the town Scala situated where the Euphoria Nightclub is now, another one Kings is sadly Apollo Bingo, and the third Cameo where there is housing. The only place local to go to see a film is Redruth`s Regal Cinema so as you can see Camborne has had the heart ripped totally out of it.

CPR Regeneration

CPR Regeneration(CPRR), one of the government's 19 Urban Regeneration Companies ('URCs') is overseeing a large urban renewal programme in the country on behalf of a range of partners including Cornwall Council, the South West of England Regional Development Agency and the Homes and Communities Agency. CPRR is tasked with driving the regeneration of former industrial land, attracting businesses and helping them create sustainable jobs; supporting local business growth ambitions and fostering employment growth through increasing the skills of those in and out of work. To date, as well as working on supporting businesses in the area—especially those in the town centres, CPRR has been engaged in the process of assembling sites, securing agreements with developers and doing enabling works for major projects such as the east-west link road between Redruth and Camborne.

A challenge faced by CPRR has been to work collaboratively with the owners of the South Crofty mine (which occupies a central position in the Pool regeneration area) to both allow mine development operations to continue and secure the re-development of the wider area around the mine. Stories did appear in the press (and in Wikipedia) regarding alleged illegal in-fill of ventilation shafts by CPRR. The truth—that English Partnerships had found old unmarked shafts on development sites which were in danger of collapse and made them good with concrete caps (removable if needed later by the mine company)--was lost. CPRR has continued to advance major projects in the area, such as a range of housing and infrastructure schemes, and will help the South West of England Regional Development Agency and the Homes and Communities Agency bring these forward shortly. Some of the work of the URC is becoming apparent, with works on the Pool Innovation Centre and the Trevenson Road area both advancing well.

Criticism of the Regional Development Agency

Local MPs have criticized the South West of England Regional Development Agency for interefering in the private sector, and said there maybe ulterior motives. Andrew George, MP for West Cornwall, said, "The RDA’s antics are at odds with the claims made to me by the Minister in Parliament and in a letter that the RDA ‘will be informed by the outcome of public consultation. I am astounded that a public body can be acting in such a predatory manner. The RDA seems to want to jump in where it is not wanted and yet it doesn’t intervene where it is. There are places like the Union Hotel in Penzance where the owner and local applicants would be grateful if the RDA were able to step in and purchase but the RDA says that it must be market tested first. Yet when they are faced with a Mine where the owners want to do something constructive, the RDA seem keen to intervene. The public sector has a role in supporting the private sector when projects are not able to be self sustaining. Public money and resources should not be used to undermine the efforts of the private sector".

Music

Camborne Town Band The famous Camborne Town Band emanates from an equally famous town with a mining and industrial heritage second to none. It was once famous the world over.

The band has an unrivalled contest record dating from the late-1800s; it is truly remarkable, unsurpassed by any other in Cornwall. It has been a local Championship band since its formation and on the National stage since the 1920s. Having won the National Second Section Championship in 1945 it was promoted to the Championship Section the following year – a position it has retained ever since, having been placed in the top six in the country on six occasions. In March 2009, they gained 1st place and were, therefore, crowned West of England Champions for the 20th time in their history.

Its success at the West of England Bandsmen's Festival (Bugle Contest) since the first contest, in 1912, is remarkable. Perhaps the unique atmosphere of the event inspires the band; certainly the sound of "The Cossack" on the upward march is very evocative. The band has brought the Royal Trophy back to Camborne on thirty four occasions!

The band has performed on BBC Radio, BBC Television, at entertainment contests as well as local, regional and national contests and it is still at the top; competing with the best in the country. But brass banding is not just about contesting and this band performs to a consistently high standard whatever the event. And what events there have been over the years. From the 1,000 Cornish Male Voice extravaganza in 1983 to the Rotary Conference concert in Bournemouth. From the European tours of France and Holland to the Goff Richards’ celebration concert at the Hall for Cornwall in 2004.

Many famous players and conductors have been associated with the band; far too many to name in this brief history. Current Musical Director, Kevin Mackenzie, continues in the tradition of talented musicians who have led this band; men who have been aware of past glories while eager for current success.

Camborne Town Band are a credit to the town they very rarely come away from The West of England Band Contest held at Bugle without nothing and have competed in the National Brass Band Championships at The Royal Albert Hall with a great deal of success. The band are seldom out of the top 40 bands in the world.

Camborne Town Youth Band National Youth Champions of Great Britain 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009.

Education

The town has a number of schools covering all age ranges, notably the main secondary school, Camborne Science and Community College, and a campus of Cornwall College. Other schools include Camborne Troon School covering the village of Troon Beacon school, Trevithick school, Weeth school, Roskear school, and Penponds school to name a few and many of them do a splendid job ^[opinion] in teaching the youth as the Camborne Town Youth Band so splendidly shows with the music lessons provided it has to be a major credit to the town.^[opinion]

Fiction

Alan M. Kent's 2005 novel Proper job, Charlie Curnow ! is set in and around the Trelawney Estate.

Twinning

Santez-Anna-Wened, Brittany, France

Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico: Camborne was twinned with Pachuca at a ceremony in Mexico on 3 July 2008.^[8]