02/02/2026
Just had to share this awe inspiring photo of the Crown Tin mines in Botallack,Cornwall - a place that feels like the end of the world.
I’ve visited many times - though never in a storm like this - it’s actually a pretty terrifying place when the seas are calm and the sun is shining!
On my first visit I climbed down the metal ‘rungs’ that have been hammered into the rock face - not even thinking how hard it could be to climb back up them! Or how foreboding this place is, when you are surrounded by dark, jagged cliffs on one side, and the unpredictable Atlantic Ocean on the other. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to do that now as there has been lots of erosion on the ‘path’ that leads down to the mines.
But I love it there. I love the feeling that you can’t have control over a place like this, that you have to be extremely cautious as you walk down the steep path to it, unprepared for the strange feeling that engulfs you when you get up close.
The 1934 map shows its precarious position at the very edge of the British Isles. Closed since 1895 (a mere 40 years earlier) - there were probably men still alive when the map was published who had risked their lives daily to work in this perilous place - the longest shaft being 3,000ft long and 1,800ft under the sea. Just makes you shudder to think about it! 🌊🌊🌊
