ROSEVALE MINE
The team
The first group to reopen the mine in the early 1970s was the West Cornwall Mining and Mineral Club. By the mid-1970s this group had folded and two of its members, Michael Shipp and Joan Sheldrake, decided to take on the lease of the mine and to continue restoration under the name of Rosevale Historical Mining Society. A few years later Tony Bennett joined the group, followed by Wayne Ridgeway and Gareth Wearne. In the late 2000s Pip Morse, Logan Morse and Adam Sharpe became part of the team. Michael Shipp remains the only founder member of the group.
Today the team of volunteers comprises:
From left to right:
Adam Sharpe, Michael Shipp, Pip Morse, Tony Bennett, Wayne Ridgeway, Logan Morse
[photograph courtesy of Phil Monckton, 2015]
Michael Shipp and Tony Bennett
[photograph courtesy of Phil Monckton, 2015]
Tony, Wayne, Gareth, Pip, Mike, Adam, John and Logan receiving the Initiative Award from the Association of Industrial Archaeology in 2011.
None of this would have been possible without the tolerance and support of our families.
The mine has benefited from a number of generous donations of equipment and materials and from offers of help from other voluntary mining-interest organisations. Without all of this we would never have made the progress that we have over the past 40 years. We have received a lot of help in the form of work, advice and supplies of equipment from a variety of local people and organisations, including: Gus Williams, John Bullock and Camborne School of Mines for a variety of assistance; Bob Orchard of Geevor Mine; Peter Sheppard and Drillserve Ltd for the supply of numerous equipment and consumables; John Potter for filming our activities over the past years; Rob Selley, Nigel Ridgeway and John Peck for their excellent photographs; and Martin Orchard, Mark Kaczmarek and Mike Osman for their assistance with our drilling and blasting work. We would also like to thank Joff Bullen and Bob Le Marchant for their support throughout the years. Finally, we would like to thank the residents of Zennor for supporting our activities and all the people who have visited the mine over the past decades and donated money towards the project.