大象传媒

The woodland site now occupied by retail store Trago Mills was once an explosives factory. It became highly secretive after being taken over by the Ministry of Munitions during World War One.

Another explosives factory at nearby Herodsfoot was also taken over by the Ministry to produce Ammonal for military use. Like blastine; ammonal was used for filling hand grenades.

鈥淭here was one reported accident at Herodsfoot during the war when an explosion in a detonator magazine cracked windows in houses near the factory. Remarkably, in Bodmin nearly ten miles away, some window panes were completely smashed. When the war ended, the plant closed but all the machinery was left intact,鈥� says Paul Day who is a Liskeard researcher.

The Glynn Valley factory became a controlled establishment, working in conjunction with the government; many eminent explosives experts worked there. The special explosives made for the Admiralty proved to be of great value to those charged with the defence of home waters against enemy submarines.

Paul Day uncovered a surprising story about a farmer collecting his wife from the local train station late one night with a donkey and cart:

鈥淭he cart鈥檚 lamp aroused suspicion by the army guards who fired a shot in the darkness because the farmer gave no response to their request for identification. No one was injured but the shot went over the back of the donkey and the farmer is said to have realised his mistake.鈥�

Herodsfoot is also known as a 鈥楾hankful Village鈥� 鈥� one of few communities in Britain not to have lost anyone to the Great War.

Location: Herodsfoot, Bodmin, Cornwall PL14 4QY
Image: Herodsfoot Church

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