大象传媒

Extracts from Blackwater and its Neighbours by
Clive Benney and Tony Mansell

During the Second World War the county Agriculture War Executive Committee operated a workshop in the centre of Blackwater where implements from all over the county were serviced and repaired.

During the last war the smithy at Wheal Rose was requisitioned by the Government and became separated from the Glenside estate. It was used by the local ARP for fitting the local villagers with gas masks/ it then became a smithy again and the blacksmith was Harold Wilkins of Mount Hawke.

For a while Fred Docking also had a small cobbler鈥檚 shop at Mount Hawke and divided his time between the two. Sidney Williams and Tom Harvey, who later had his own cobbler鈥檚 shop at Wheal Rose, worked for Fred. During the Second World War Fred secured a contract for the repair of footwear belonging to the members of the Forces and David remembers mountains of boots waiting to be repaired. He also recalls a stock of long pieces of leather hanging from the roof trusses.

Located in Silverwell Valley, Silverwell Mine is about one-mile north of Mithian Church. Its chimney was very distinctive and described by Jack Trounson as, 鈥淎 most extraordinary little stack鈥�. I think that he was being rather kind as its appearance was quite ugly and ungainly when compared to the magnificent structures elsewhere in the county. It consisted of an iron tube from an old boiler approx three feet in diameter and about 25 feet high stayed by four chains. Built on top of this was an eight feet high brick cap which made it look very top heavy. It was demolished and the iron used for scrap in the Second World War - a model exists in Redruth Museum.

Cathleen Nicholls became a postwoman during the Second World War and spent six years cycling her patch of Wheal Rose, Ivy Chimney and Skinners Bottom delivering the mail.

TLG - Located on the right, just beyond the old railway line at the bottom of West Hill, Blackwater, it operated for many years and employed about seven people. During the Second World War work had to be suspended as Leslie was on active service and there was a shortage of timber. Leonard Arthur, timber supplier, later took over the premises to be followed by David Arthur in the late 1980s.

Following the retirement of John Oates in 1919, Mr A. J. Whale was appointed headmaster at Blackwater and he remained in post for 29 years, a period which included the Second World War when the school鈥檚 numbers were increased by the influx of evacuees. Mr Whale lived at Acland Villa, near the lane leading to Three Burrows Chapel.

During the Second World War children were evacuated from the large cities to the rural areas of the country. This inflated the numbers attending local schools and the Sunday Schools of Blackwater and Three Burrows were used as additional classrooms for a while. Peter Malindine and his sister Margaret were evacuees and Peter鈥檚 story is contained in the 2002 school anniversary booklet. He lived with Mr and Mrs Odgers at Silverwell Post Office and walked to and from school. He says, 鈥淢r Whale was headmaster and kept his cane behind a glass-fronted bookcase鈥�. The other teachers at that time were Mr Garland, Miss Lavin and Miss Faull. He recalls officials coming to the school to test that gas masks were correctly fitted. George Vail from the shop in Coronation Terrace attended in the early 1940s and recalls Miss Larkin who he says, 鈥淲as a wonderful teacher鈥�. She had moved from London with the war evacuees and lived with her sister in Rock Cottage. Ivy Ward recalls that lessons only lasted half a day with the rest of the time spent knitting for the troops.

George William Parris served in the Royal Navy during the First World War diving on enemy wrecks to try and find any secret papers that might help shorten the war. He served on H. M. S. Cadmus and his grandson, Anthony Parris, has his engraved, pewter tobacco container which says 鈥淔or services rendered during the mutiny 鈥� 1915鈥�. He and his wife, Emily Maud (n茅e Wally), lived at Church View, Silverwell, but injuries caused by his diving activity caused his early death in 1931. Without her husband, Emily was unable to support all her children and one of their sons, Chris Parris, was sent to Dartmouth Naval College at a very young age. He later served on board the destroyer H. M. S. Newcastle during the Second World War and survived being torpedoed in the Mediterranean. When he left the navy he returned to Silverwell and worked for many years at Greenacres Farm.

At the commencement of the Second World War Blackwater, like most areas, had its defence strategy in place. This photograph is of the Blackwater platoon C. Company of the LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) which was a part of the 11th Cornwall Battalion (The Choughs) Newquay; it later became the Home Guard. Eric Dymond thinks the photograph was taken in late 1940, just after uniforms were issued.
Bach row: Charlie Gay, George Vail Snr., Arthur Chapman, Gerald Puckey, Ian Oates, Arthur Tonkin, Thomas John (Jack) Oates, Unknown, 鈥淛ammie鈥� Rickard, Ewart Tippett.
Middle row: Alfred Jose, Eddie Thomas, Raymond Tippett, Albert Richards, Aubrey Nankivell, Charlie Williams, Richard (Dick) Tabb, Tom Mitchell, Eric Dymond, Percy Whitford, Ivor Goss, Chellow Simmons, Maurice Moyle.
Front row: Richard Oates, Sid (thatcher) Williams, Arthur Moyle, Bill Tonkin, Tom Praed, Major Anderton, Tom Green, Sam Pearce, Leyton Roberts, Billy Phillips.
The platoon met at the premises of T.L.G, on the Redruth side of the old railway bridge. Eric says they had their fun even though it was dangerous times. Thomas Jack Oates was acting as lookout and was told to watch out for incendiary bombs. If there was a fire he had to fetch two cwts. of coal from Dick Tabb鈥檚 to keep the fire going until the brigade got there! Harry Bawden fixed a stirrup pump to the back of his bicycle just in case he came across any fires when he could use his 鈥渉ysterical鈥� pump.

The properties in Melrose Terrace, Blackwater, once had large metal gates to their gardens but these were removed at the commencement of the Second World War when metal was desperately needed to make armaments.

The War Front was dramatically brought to Skinners Bottom in 1940 when a German bomb hit a family house located down the hill from the chapel. Maurice and Dorothy Liddicoat and their daughters, Marian and Dorothy, aged eight and six, were in the house at the time but luckily escaped serious injury when the bomb failed to explode. They had heard an aeroplane and were suddenly looking at the bomb which had passed through the roof, down through a bedroom and become embedded in their kitchen wall. Mrs Liddicoat rushed down to Jim Stevens who went to inspect the damage. He asked her if there was anything valuable which he should remove and ended up retrieving her sewing machine. Jim Stevens had decided he wasn鈥檛 going to be evacuated and he stayed with his horses all night. It wasn鈥檛 until the next morning that it was discovered that seven other bombs had failed to explode; they were taken away and detonated in a nearby girt. This was an unusual occurrence in a rural community but there may have been a light showing in the village or the pilot simply jettisoned his bombs before returning home.

During the Second World War schoolchildren were expected to help in the war effort by picking up potatoes or stones and other such tasks. Tony Oliver and his sisters, Janet and Rhona, who have lived at Terrigal, Goonearl, all of their life recall being given two weeks off school for this but says it was more like ten weeks. He says, 鈥淚t was hard work but better than school鈥�.

During the Second World War the Americans were camped just behind Chacewater Railway Station from where they operated a water purifying plant. It is said that muddy water could be pumped from the stream and converted into clear drinking water; this was supplied to all their camps in the area. This particular camp was for white soldiers while the coloured camp was at Wheal Busy. The soldiers used the various pubs in the area and, unlike other stories I have heard, never seemed to cause any trouble. The Blackwater location was particular convenient for one naturalised American who had been born in Camborne.

The Chapman family moved to Silverwell during the first decade of the 1900s. They had lived in West Acres in Barkla Shop when William Henry Chapman decided to move to a smallholding known as Mount Pleasant (now Silverdene). Apart from farming he also ran a horse and cart haulage business and was involved in the building of the Redruth to Newquay road where it passes Silverwell. His son, Arthur, later married Clara Thomas and built a bungalow next to the site from where he operated his haulage business from the 1930s. The bungalow was called Ferreira after a South African gold mine where his grandfather was the gaffer. During the Second World War Arthur provided tipper lorries for the construction of the Perranporth Aerodrome. His sons, Ronald, David and Frank all became involved in haulage with Frank and his son, Michael, continuing the original business at Mount Pleasant.

To accommodate the road widening in the early 1930s the building was demolished and rebuilt further back. The new garage was of corrugated galvanised construction and was built by, Wilfred Nott. Norman Thomas worked there as a motor mechanic and took it over when Wilfred, his brother-in-law, was killed in a charity football match. The Cornwall County Agricultural War Executive Committee commandeered part of the building and extended it during the Second World War for use as a workshop for the repair of agriculture equipment. During the early 1950s it was sold to the Ward family and Dennis Ward (son of Alfonso and brother of George) ran it in conjunction with the Chiverton Cross garage up to the late 1950s.

During the Second World War old cars and tree trunks were dumped on the grass verges as obstructions in the event of invasion. Gordon Youlton said they did have their uses as the Home Guard could shelter in them in the event of rain. The intention was that the cars would be pulled onto the road to form a barrier and this was often done in training.

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