Tin Streams of Wendron

Tin-streaming is undoubtedly one of Cornwall's oldest industries but has attracted surprisingly little attention from historians. The relatively simple nature of tin-streaming, the washing of alluvial deposits to recover tin ore, meant that it lent itself to exploitation from the earliest times but by the same token, plus the almost universal illiteracy among the early streamers, very few records remain.

Detailed and painstaking research by Justin Brooke has brought the story of the Wendron district to light. The area, near Helston, based in the valleys of the river Cober and its tributaries, was second only to St Austell in importance. Both the technical and the business history are explored as are the characters and the personalities that worked and, for a time, dominated, the industry. This is the first published account of the subject for over a century.

Illustrations include rare historic photographs as well as evocative views of present remains. Historic maps and documents are supplemented by specially drawn sketches by Clive Carter of the tin-streaming processes. The book is fully indexed, with separate indexes for tin-streaming sites and for surnames.

ISBN 978 0 906294 32 1 [ISBN-10: 0 906294 32 0]
96 pages, 35 illustrations. Hard back. £13.00

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Reviews:

This definitive account of one of West Cornwall's oldest industries Western Morning News

Here at last is a book that brings tin streaming out of the shade of hard rock mining. Northern Mines Research Society Newsletter

Also by Justin Brooke:

The Kalmeter Journal, £19.50