Frugal Film Project 2026: April, Roll 2 - A Photographic Blog, this month looking at aspects of Cornwall's Heritage by Andrew Long
- Andrew Long Photography
- 21 hours ago
- 10 min read
This is part two of my April blog for the Frugal Photography Project 2026, where I give a bit of background to the images that I have shot for the project. Details about FFP26 can be found at the bottom of this article.
Although this photographic blog focuses on Cornwall's heritage this month, there are two distinct themes to part two of my April wanderings: firstly, the side of Cornwall that the tourists don't normally see (or don't notice!); and secondly, the long history around our village churches - both of which are ongoing areas of interest for me.
Kernow Wir - Real Cornwall: the Cornwall the tourists don't see ...
The county of Cornwall, down in the far southwest of the UK and where I am lucky enough to call home, is a premier tourist destination for the 'staycation' holiday market: young families; the retired; and, thanks to the increased tensions around the world and their impact on international travel, people who would normally fly off to somewhere hot. There are also a sizeable number of foreign tourists, many attracted by what they see on the TV (Saving Grace, Doc Martin etc). Many come from Germany after watching the sugary adaptations of the romantic novels of British author Rosamunde Pilcher which have become a surprise hit with the German audeiences (https://www.zdf-studios.com/en/program-catalog/international/drama/collections/love-romance/rosamunde-pilcher-collection). Quaint fishing villages, tiny coves, rolling countryside, cream teas (jam first, of course!), sandy (or stony) beaches, buckets & spades, ice creams, pasties, seagulls ... you get the idea.
But behind this façade is a very different Cornwall: economic hardship; struggling communities; unemployment; drug issues; and real social deprivation ... the 'Real Cornwall', perhaps. Cornwall was once very arable, with a strong fishing industry working off its 422 miles (697km) of coastline. Then came the Industrial Revolution, where great swathes of the county were ripped up to exploit mineral deposits: tin, copper, with deep mines and their associated infrastructure, and huge open-cast china clay mines.
In the 18th century, huge deposits of kaolin, or china clay, which is used in the ceramics industry, was discovered near St Austell, close to where I live. These deposits are among the largest in the world, and since their discovery some 120 million tons have been extracted, with reserves in the ground to last at least another 100 years. Unlike copper and tin mining, china clay is extracted using the open-cast method, excavating cavernous holes in the landscape. In addition, the infrastructure to process the raw clay requires huge drying sheds, and the spoil tips for the waste material have created an unlikely feature - the 'Cornish Alps', which can be seen from miles around. Read more at:
https://westcarclaze-gardenvillage.co.uk/articles/the-fascinating-history-of-the-st-austell-sky-tip/
This photo of the Virginia China Clay works shows the devastating impact this industry has on the environment, which is still an important part of Cornwall's economy.
The mining companies, however, are compelled by legislation to attempt to restore the landscape back to what it once was, although it is very hard to imagine what the end result will look like. It is an epic task involving shifting millions of tons of material, removal of toxic waste, pumping out millions of gallons of contaminated water, filling in some of those cavernous holes, and trying to get something to grow on what currently resembles a lunar, or desolate, post-apocalyptic, landscape.
The many reservoirs (flooded pits!) in the area could, in other circumstances, be quite picturesque and popular leisure destinations, but they are very dangerous places: with unstable ground (see the warning sign for quicksand, which was a first for me in this country!); rusting industrial equipment just below the surface; and real danger of drowning. This shot involved a bit of cheeky trespassing - well, there wasn't a gate or fence, nor a security guard in sight!
Another enduring legacy of the industrial revolution in Cornwall is these engine houses and chimney stacks, which can be seen all over the county. The copper and tin mining industry relied heavily on steam power, using the new-fangled steam engine to pump out water from the deep mines; powering lifts to take miners, their equipment, and the ore they mined back and forth from the working levels to the surface. On the surface, steam also powered 'stamps', which crushed the raw ore into a powder, from which the tin concentrate could be extracted.
Driving from my home village of Tregony to the nearby town of St Austell, you pass this impressive structure, standing out on the ridgeline of the surrounding fields. It is the surviving engine house and stack from Ventonwyn Mine - I have photographed it many times. Wanting to get closer to the subject, I drove around the lanes until I came across a gate leading to a field with the engine house sitting incongruously right in the middle. I returned on a day with a 'good' sky, donned my high-viz-jacket-of-power, hopped over the gate (which was tricky with several cameras, a tripod, and my walking stick!), and hobbled across the field until I was close enough to get some good shots. I wasn't accosted by an angry farmer with a shotgun, nor charged by a bull, and enjoyed a relaxed photo session with my Praktica BMS, Nikon F3, Bronica ETRS, Kodak Cameo Motor 110, and several Minox cameras
Ventonwyn was one of many mines in this area mining for cassiterite, a mineral ore containing tin, otherwise known as 'black tin'. The mine was sat on the western edge of the Great Hewas lodes, a 'lode' being a vein (deposit) of metalliferous ore that fills a fissure, crack, or fault in the surrounding rock. The Ventonwyn mine started small, but eventually amalgamated with the Great Dowgas mine - between 1889 and 1909 it produced 167 tons of black tin, after which, it was abandoned. Its shaft was about 350ft deep, and the steam engine in the main structure powered the 'stamps' to process the ore. The mound of earth next to the structure is what remains of the spoil tip containing the waste material from the process.
This stone structure has survived the decades in this field, becoming an enduring feature of the landscape, and will hopefully remain to remind future generations of the area's industrial heritage.
For more information on Cornwall's mining heritage see: https://www.cornwallheritagetrust.org/timeline/industry-in-cornwall/.
Like many post-industrial areas, the decline of the mining industry has hit the communities that served it very hard. Miners and associated workers had to find work elsewhere, ripping the economic and social heart out of many of the towns and villages in mid-Cornwall. As a result, many are rather down at heel, with the infrastructure and social issues that accompany the economic decline. Only a few miles from the beaches and tourist traps there are some of the most deprived communities in the country, although much is being done to breath some life back into them.
The Roseland Peninsula, where I live, is mostly agricultural, and didn't suffer from the ravages of the industrial revolution. However, its fishing industry, based out of the many small fishing villages around its coastline, did decline, with boats moving to the more 'industrialised' ports of Fowey, Falmouth, or Penzance/Newlyn along the coast. Farming is still the main economic focus, closely followed by tourism, with countless holiday cottages dotted around the peninsula, boutique hotels, and 'glamping' sites.
Most of the properties have been gentrified, but there are still some rough-round-the-edges gems if you look hard enough. George's Shop, in Ruan Highlanes, is a favourite subject of mine, much photographed in different lights, with different format cameras, in colour and black & white. The hamlet of Ruan Highlanes is on the main road from Tregony down to St Mawes, and this was one of those small roadside shops where you could buy your groceries, locally grown vegetables, and fill up your car with fuel, presumably run by someone called George. It has long been abandoned, and remains empty, presumably waiting for some developer to offer the right price and knock it down to build something shinier. I pass it regularly, and if the light is right, screech to a halt and take a few pictures ... one day it will be gone. I love the textures, and colours, with the paint flaking and weeds creeping up the wall, and the top window is always open!
The village church - a long history at the heart of the community
I am drawn to the old churches in the villages close to where I live, not from any religious affiliation, but because of their historical importance in the community and their architectural significance. They also make great subjects for monochrome photography!
The nearest one to me is the Church of St Cuby (see note 2) in my village of Tregony. It is described as being dedicated to St Cuby in the 6th century CE (or AD for the religious version). The present structure dates from the 12th, 14th, and 15th century CE, although it was partly rebuilt and lengthened in 1828 and restored by the Reverand Molesworth-St Aubyn around the turn of the 20th century.
Most people take these buildings for granted as part of the every day fabric of their communities, whether a participant in the religious side of things or not, but these structures have survived the Reformation and Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries (1535-1540); the English Civil War (1642-1651); the industrial revolution; and two world wars, and are still in active use, albeit less than they once were, today.
For more information, see: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/religion/overview/reformation/
St Cuby's is a Grade 1 listed building, the most historically significant of the listings (my house has a Grade 2 listing, so not as significant!), but is also on the Heritage at Risk Register, marked down as being in poor condition, as a high vulnerability site, with a declining trend - the report card concludes 'Priority C, slow decay, no solution agreed'. This is concerning, but not surprising given the number of extremely old historic buildings owned and managed by the Church of England, more specifically, the Diocese of Truro.
St Cuby is unusual because the graveyard around the church is mostly devoid of gravestones. At some point, they were uprooted from their graves, and now line the path from the lychgate at the roadside to the entrance porch of the church. I haven't got to the bottom of why this happened - I was told by an elderly churchy-type person that the gardener got fed up mowing round them and had them removed, but I think my leg was distinctly being pulled!
This type of building is great for black & white images, capturing tone and texture from the stone and slate, and from the lichen growing on them. Applying different tints in Lighroom (Selenium 2 or Kodak Brown Toner) helps bring out the details and gives the images an old-fashioned look. One day I hope to replicate this toning in the darkroom. I will try some long-exposure interior shots for another FFP26 submission.
There are several churches with sun-dials in the area, such as this one at St Rumon's Church down at Ruan Lanihorne, 'installed' in 1743! I am intrigued that these primitive 'devices' would have been the only means of telling the time back then, and how our modern obsessions: the 'Speaking Clock'; 'Apple Time'; GMT/BST/DST; the Radio 4 pips at the top of the hour; etc etc seem so convoluted compared to this simple sun dial.
St Cuby's in Tregony has a sun dial over the door - next time I'm up there I'll try to get a better picture of the inscription on it to compare it with the Ruan Lanihorne one.
I hope you have enjoyed the second batch of my April 2026 FFP images and the stories that accompany them. I haven't shot any of my May pictures yet as I'm still to try out bulk loading the 30m roll of Kentmere 200 that is sat in my fridge. I need to get a move on!
Notes
The Frugal Film Project is a group of analogue (film) photographers from around the world who came together on Facebook with the objective of finding a cheap (i.e. frugal) camera and shooting a roll of cheap film every month of the year, posting their results on the group. It doesn't matter what format you shoot - black & white or colour, 35mm or 120 or another size - as long as it's film, and doesn't matter whether you develop and scan the films yourself, as I do, or send them to a lab. Find out more at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1163101494091862/
My chosen camera for this year's project is the Praktica BMS Electronic SLR from 1989, which is very 'frugal' because I was given it! It came with three lenses, a standard 50mm, a wide angle and a telephoto, which widen the creative options over last year's fixed lens. My film choice is Kentmere Pan 200. I develop all the films myself and scan them at home using a Nikon DSLR (the only digital photography I do!) and the Valoi easy35 system (valoi.co). The scans of the negatives are imported straight into Lightroom Classic on my Mac, and converted with Negative Lab Pro. I talk about the scanning process in another blog post https://www.andrewlong.info/post/in-praise-of-the-valoi-easy35-and-in-anticipation-of-the-v-2.
Saint Cybi (anglicised to Cuby) was the son of Selyn, a Cornish prince, sometimes described as the cousin or nephew of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales. Receiving a Christian education, Cybi was ordained a priest in due course. After his ordination, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome and then to Jerusalem, where he was consecrated as a bishop. Upon his return to the British Isles, he embarked on a life of missionary journeys. He first founded churches and monasteries in Cornwall, where several parishes still bear his name – notably Tregony (St Cuby’s Church) and Cuby near Tregony. From Cornwall, Saint Cybi travelled to Ireland, where he preached for a time, then moved to Wales. Saint Cybi is believed to have passed away at Caer Gybi around 554 CE, although the exact date is uncertain.
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