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POLDICE TRAMROAD

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The construction of the Poldice Tramroad was begun from Portreath in 1809 by the mine owners to link the harbour with the copper mines around Scorrier and St. Day. By 1812 the line was in use from Portreath to Scorrier House and by early 1819 it was open throughout. It was of approximately 4ft. gauge and horse worked, constructed as a plate-way using flanged L-shaped cast iron plates on square granite blocks. With the closing of Poldice Mine in the 1860's the line was little used, and it closed soon after 1865. The tramplates were taken up and sold about 1882. The bed of the tramway can still be traced from the north side of the harbour along what is now the footpath of the Portreath to Redruth road and thence to Poldice Mine. At the western end of the now derelict station at Scorrier is a brick skew-arched tunnel built in 1852 to take the West Cornwall railway over the tramway.

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(SW 65604531 - SW 73814255) Tramway (NAT) (1)

The construction of the Poldice Tramroad was begun from Portreath in 1809 by the mine owners to link the harbour (see SW 64 NE 7) with the copper mines around Scorrier and St. Day. By 1812 the line was in use from Portreath to Scorrier House (SW 7243) and by early 1819 it was open throughout. It was of approximately 4ft. gauge and horse worked, constructed as a plate-way using flanged L-shaped cast iron plates on square granite blocks. With the closing of Poldice Mine (SW 74 SW 26) in the 1860's the line was little used, and it closed soon after 1865. The tramplates were taken up and sold about 1882. The bed of the tramway can still be traced from the north side of the harbour along what is now the footpath of the Portreath to Redruth road and thence to Poldice Mine. At the western end of the now derelict station at Scorrier (SW 72244412) is a brick skew-arched tunnel built in 1852 to take the West Cornwall railway over the tramway. A wagon amd section of the iron rails are exhibited in Holman's Museum, Camborne. (2-3)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

6" 1888

( 2) General reference

Cornwall's Railways 1970 (A Fairclough) Page(s)7-8

( 3) A C Todd and Peter Laws 1972 The industrial archaeology of Cornwall

The industrial archaeology of the British Isles [series] Page(s)24-5

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