Mine Cart on Gwithian Beach

On Gwithian beach, rails and a mine cart can be seen protruding from the cliff. This was part of tin sand-works. The Red River was used by mines to discharge their waste water and this contained small particles of tin ore. These washed down the river and accumulated in the sand. Due to longshore drift, carrying sediment from the river mouth, the highest concentration of tin was around the point where the cart is. However, the processing was done on the other side of the beach beside the river where the water provided a source of power. Initially, sand was carried across the beach by horse but in the early 20th Century, an aerial ropeway carrying buckets was built on pylons across the beach to move sand more quickly. This was further improved by creating a tunnel down the the beach from the cliff top, so carts containing sand could be raised to the cliff top from which a more efficient ropeway could operate that wasn't dependent on the tides. It's thought that the cart dates from the 1920s or 1930s and was abandoned when the works closed at the start of World War 2.