Random Mine of the Day : South Bedford Mine

What, you thought I'd run out of mines?  Hahaha. no.

South Bedford mine was a relatively unsuccessful coppermine on the Devon side of the River Tamar,  the little sister of North Bedford Mines, aka Devon Great Consols, just up the river.  The Heritage Gateway is unsure whether this chimney was for arsenic refining, or whether it was connected to a steam engine.   The mine was already disused by 1884.   It is located right on the river, and apparently there are signs of shutes that carried ore down to barges so it could be removed for refining, although I don't remember seeing those.   There's also a note that 'during the War' test pits were dug to investigate the possibility of finding wolfram, but these were unsuccessful.  The HER does not clarify which War they mean, but the source is from the 1950s, so I'm guessing WWII.

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