West Caradon Mine
Other than the waste tips, very little remains above ground of West Caradon Mine which was the second largest in the area, producing over 85,000 tons of copper ore during its lifetime. Mining began in 1839 and by 1844 the mine was rapidly expanding with 500 employees by 1850. By the 1860s, production was declining as the large mineral reserves in the valley had been exhausted and mining operations moved onto smaller veins of ore further west. The mine closed in 1874 after a fall in copper prices. The western area of the mine was re-worked on a small scale in the 1880s as New West Caradon mine.
On walks
- Minions and Caradon Hill (5 mile walk)
Also mentioned in walks
- Caradon Hill to Trethevy Quoit (5 mile walk)
Get the iWalkCornwall app
Download the app and use it to explore the walks and to purchase a guided route.
The app will direct you to the start of the walk via satnav.
The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.
The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.
Each time there is a new direction to follow, the app will beep to remind you, and will warn you if you go off-route.
A map shows the route, where you are at all times and even which way you are facing.
Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.
Once a walk is downloaded, the app doesn't need a phone or wifi signal during the walk.
The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.
We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.
