A walk around the Tamar Trails

Well, it had to happen some time and it did, it stopped raining and we had a sunny day (the best yet for 2025 according to the output of our solar panels). But, aware that most tracks and footpaths on the moors would probably be waterlogged, we opted for for somewhere that offered more substantial walking underfoot. And we chose right!

We started and ended at the Tamar Trails Centre, just over the border in Devon. A brave move on our part but we were confident that the natives would be friendly. The walk was mainly through coniferous woodland and weaved its way around various industrial artifacts associated with the old Devon Great Consols copper/arsenic mining complex. It came in at just under 6 miles.

A fairly common feature alongside the paths were spoil heaps close to the many shafts that are in this area. Many of them are capped but a few are still accessible to those who have the key. The remaining underground complex of levels is, by all accounts, amazing.

OK, breaking all of the rules of photography but this is the way it was with the sun (yes, the sun) shining through the trees.

Just to prove that it was a blue sky day. This shot is looking west-ish with the Kit Hill stack visible in the distance.

More trees and another spoil heap. It takes more than a little imagination to strip away the trees and envision how barren it must have been when the mines were working at full capacity.

Oooh look, another spoil heap through the trees. This one was associated with Wheal Maria and, given how sparse the vegetation is on it, it contains a fair bit of arsenic.

It wouldn't be one of our walks without the opportunity to paddle in puddles or slosh in mud. But, to be fair, there wasn't much of it to content with. What there was seemed to be full of early frog's spawn. Hopefully, the attrition rate of this lot will not be too high despite being laid rather early in the season.

Nearby, distributed on old tree stumps, were clumps of a mucilaginous substance. I think this is 'star jelly' which is, to be indelicate, 'regurgitated frog spawn'. It could be from birds or, even, mammals. I don't think it's a fungus of some sort as most of it was still nucleated.

This complex dates from the early 20th century and was used for arsenic production from Wheal Anna Maria. It apparently closed in 1925 after a life of around 5 years. The ore was crushed and roasted in two Brunton calciners. The arsenic rich gases were conducted by the hot flue in the foreground to a labyrinth condensing flue where the arsenic was condensed and deposited to be dug out. It then went through a second stage of purification by roasting and condensing before being ground to a fine white powder. The arsenic trioxide that was produced is very toxic and was mainly used as an insecticide.

The circular structure in the foreground is what remains of a Brunton Calciner which was, in very simple terms, a large oven for roasting ore.

Despite this rather ominous sign, you can still get up really closer to the structures in the complex. Probably not the best place to stop for our lunch but we would have if there had been somewhere suitable to sit.