KELLY MINE
The Kelly Mine Preservation Society (KMPS) was founded in 1984 to restore and preserve the decayed but largely unchanged site, to research its social and industrial history, and to engage with local history and educational organisations. Rebuilding took many years, working mainly one or two days per week.
Now the main focus is on maintaining the results of that work and keeping the old plant and equipment in running order, but the almost complete lack of paperwork from the mine's working years means that work on site can still sometimes turn up new information.
Recordings made in the 1990s of conversations with folk who worked in the mining industry in the 1920s and 1930s give a unique picture of what now seems another world.
KMPS is a registered charity, number 1212074.
Its work has been recognised with a number of awards, including from the Dartmoor National Park Authority.
The annual KMPS subscription is £15, and new members are always welcome, and needed - join at the mine or by contacting the secretary,
(or phone on 01626853127)
Keeping the mine going is funded mainly by members' subscriptions and voluntary donations from visitors and tour parties. Details of how to drop in or set up a group visit are on the Visits and Open Day page.
Members can join in the work of preserving the site and plant, and in guiding visitors and demonstrating the working of the mine and its equipment. A six times a year newsletter includes articles of interest on local history and related topics as well as a photographic record of what has been going on.
The site is usually open on Sundays and Wednesdays to continue with ongoing maintenance and restoration, work varying from regular small jobs to major projects like the total restoration of the Bullaton stream pond (usually known as 1/4 mile pond from its distance from the mine) which was partly funded by a matching grant from DNPA.
KMPS is a member of NAMHO (National Association of Mining History Organisations) and its website gives access to links to the websites of other societies with similar interests.
https://www.namho.org/content/members.php
'Buddlepit' has information on mining and similar sites.
The Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group covers mining history on Dartmoor. The website has maps and useful links.
Charlie Parker, a miner at Kelly, describes how not to crimp a detonator onto a length of safety fuse. Probably all or most of the miners did it this way, and none appears to have been hurt by it.
Sam Bradford (94 years old) in1994 describing the hardening and tempering of drill steels after re-working with the Climax drill sharpener. The use of temper colour means that the steel was a simple carbon steel with no alloy additions and a blue colour would indicate about 300ºC. Sam was the blacksmith, among other duties, at Great Rock mine, and worked on drill steels used at Kelly that were moved between the mines with the Ferrubron Great Rock lorry.
Sid Beard, who worked as a miner at Great Rock, Pepperdon and Kelly, describes how work at Kelly ended in 1951. An extension of the Hawkmoor mine vein to the north of the Kelly site was being worked, with the Kelly stamps used for initial processing of the ore. The final blast broke through into 'old men's workings', bringing things to an end.
The office and museum, with award plaques and certificates on the far wall
The grub hut, or miners'dry
The mill in about 1985
Trams outside the mill in 1974
The lower mill in 1986. The settling tanks were inside the mill structure and the stamps are just visible beneath the collapsed roof.
The drying shed in 1986
The washing strips before reconstruction
Rebuilding
Clearing and rebuilding 1/4 mile pond in 2014 (click/tap to enlarge)
1/4 mile pond in September 2014 (click/tap to enlarge)
Clearing the entrance to top adit in 2018 turned up a fragment of explosive wrapper. This can be dated because Victor Powder, which was sold as a coal mine explosive, was removed from the approved coal mining list in 1920, and Nobel Explosives Glasgow became part of ICI Explosives Division in 1926. So it is likely that this can be dated to the re-opening of top adit in the early years of the Ferrubron lease. (Click/tap to enlarge)
The site of the explosives store was located in 2019 and carefully excavated. It was a timber box, located a little way up the hill in the wood, protected from the rain by corrugated iron. This enamel sign had been screwed to the door, which was a only few inches bigger. The National Explosives works outside Hayle closed in 1920. (Click/tap to enlarge)