recently found this old framed photo in the attic,i think it must have come from my gran,im afraid i dont know more than what's written on the back," ?&? ,contractors,reduth".But this could have been added later i suppose.
1. There appears to be nothing but sky in the background. That could be because the picture was taken looking out to sea.
2. At the left of the picture is a ladder leading up to what appears to be scaffolding of a tall structure.
On this basis, I looked at the possibility of some sort of railway construction in the neighbourhood of Redruth. The nearest to Redruth bit of railway along the seafront is the line to St. Ives. Googling, I found that 250 labourers worked on the construction of viaducts over the Carbis Valley and Primrose Valley as part of building this line in the 1870s.
I live very close to Carbis Bay - in fact I used to live in Primrose Valley!
It COULD be Primrose Valley I suppose but the area is very different now. There is a fairly dense wooded area to the left of the photo now and a marked cut through where the railway line runs.
Very difficult to tell I'm afraid. Incidentally, this stretch of railway has to be one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. (If a bit brief, lol)
Sadly it is only used for transporting hordes of tourists to and from the wickedly over priced Park and Ride scheme.
OH! Afterthought! I wonder if this is the viaduct near Carbis Bay station? Would explain the bleak terrain.
Good point Colin. Would that be another pile driver on the right?
OC, were there still primroses in the valley when you lived there, or is it just one of those evocative names from the past? It brought back memories of picking primroses with my big sisters as a kid. Whacking great housing estate there now.
I can't help re the photo afraid I'm afraid. I just wanted to say that I'm one of those hordes that OC spoke about. We go on that lovely train journey from Lelant Sidings to St Ives nearly every year. One year we stayed at the Primrose Valley Hotel, but sadly it is now yet another block of flats. The walk from Carbis Bay to St Ives is lovely too (don't be greedy OC) :D
Hmmm, not many primroses there now, but it is still a lovely valley, although almost completely built up apart from the wooded bit. There is an old tramp living quietly in the wood in a bender or whatever they are called.
I have taken instruction from my pet railway enthusiast - a local man. He thinks "x and x contractors of Redruth" would almost certainly be Pascoes, who were stone masons and builders and were certainly used for railway contracts down this end of the county.
However, he doesn't THINK this is either Carbis Bay or Primrose Valley. The white hard core suggests it is going to be a railway bed and there are a number of more likely options for this. (Primrose Valley Viaduct carries the train over a small access road to Primrose Valley).
Another suggestion made was that this is the huge viaduct in Truro, although I don't know when that was built.
There are also several disused viaducts and bridges which now go nowhere and are being allowed to gently fall down. There is a huge viaduct at Hayle although there were cottages there at the time (and still there,situated left of photo) and it would be difficult to get a shot of that viaduct without anything in the background.
Sorry I can't be more help...and why didn't your rellie put the location on the back of the photo?!
Me, I know nothing....but I know a man who does, lol. And I have very fond memories of Primrose Valley - it's where I am going to be scattered when I die! (Wave to me Chrissy, won't you)
As for Pascoes....every fourth person in Cornwall is called Pascoe, although the stone mason lot are one extended family in a straight line back to the early 1800s at least, in Redruth.
Blimey,everyones having a guess here!
As for the back ,it looks to be (something) and Johns of Redruth,and as for why my rellie didn't write on the back,i've got that problem with nearly every photo home here,i've slowly been going through them with my mum and older cousin and making notes and adding names,etc.
One more point my grans maiden name was Gilbert and they came from Portreath/Illogan(she lived at lower broad lane),and i know that area had links with the mainline for mining.
I'll try to get a good photo of the back and post it on here,
Alanjohn.
I would hazzard a guess that my ashes will have been scattered long before yours OC I'm sure my spirit will hover over there and wave quite often though
Well, not St Ives Lifeboat house, that's for sure as this stands on a pier which is much older than this photo.
Can I just see the roof of a house at the bottom right hand corner of the photo, or am I imagining it?
Alanjohn - wonder if it would be worth your while taking this to the Cornish Studies Centre in Redruth? If they couldn't identify the site, they might at least identify the contractors from a local trade directory.
Indeed this could very well be a mine construction of some sort, maybe a crushing shed for ore. Lots of mines had their own railway systems.
But...the picture has been framed by a family member, so what kind of trades were they in to make this erm, rather mundane photo, be worthy of not just preservation but framing too?
(Sorry, I inherited thousands of photos from my late father which mainly show various stages of footings being dug out, lol. Fascinating if you are interested in such things, which I am not)
i'm hoping to get the studies centre fri or sat on another matter,i was going to take the pic down there.
My grandfather was a mason,but before that they were tinners.
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