GUNNISLAKE, DISCOVERY TRAIL and the DIMSONS
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GUNNISLAKE, DISCOVERY TRAIL and the DIMSONS It is the second time we have parked at Gunnislake’s car park at the beginning of a walk, but the mural on the wall was not here back in March when we gathered. Those that went for a closer look will now know the mural is entitled ‘The two Williams of Gunnislake’ which presumably refers to the men on either side, one carrying a pasty and the other a paint palette. In the centre of the mural is one of the roads in the village, with New Bridge to the left and brickworks on the right, but some visitors must struggle to understand quite what the picture symbolises as there is no explanation nearby. I now know it depicts a large picture of Gunnislake in the centre which was supposedly painted by JMW Turner (Joseph, Mallord, William Turner) and this is surrounded by other local landmarks. He is showing his masterpiece to William the Miner and his daughter; this William doesn’t have a face as he represents all the 19th century miners who once lived and worked in the area. The little girl hiding behind him formerly lived in the village and used to work at Wheal Josiah over at Devon Great Consols keeping the miner’s food warm. The depicted brickworks were located at Bealswood alongside the River Tamar but now as we all know, in the 21st century its ruins are almost obscured by encroaching vegetation. The man in the centre of the mural is Jamie with his dog Ralphie, who both live in the village today. The Jack Russell is depicted because the original breeder of these terriers was the Rev John (Jack) Russell so they were named after him; it is said that at one time he lived in Sandhill House at the top of Gunnislake, opposite the station. I discovered that the reverend Jack Russell was a founding member of the Kennel Club with a passion for fox hunting and that is why he bred a terrier that had legs of sufficient length to hunt with his hounds; it had a chest so small and flexible it was able to wriggle along and squeeze through the incredibly small earths or tunnels where the fox lived. Everyone collected their car park tickets just before we set off on this blustery morning as a weather front swept across the country, it was considered to be so severe it was given an ‘Amber’ warning but as we discovered later, this was the ideal walk for such a day as it was sheltered where we chose to walk. Gunnislake in the 21st century is a sprawling settlement on a steep hillside which, as we could clearly see, hear and smell, has a continual flow of polluting traffic passing through the lights on its way into Devon and beyond. Passing this statue of William the miner, I pondered over the number of people who have been photographed sitting next to him since he was first sculpted and positioned here on the end of his wooden bench. Progressing on along the once bustling Commercial Street at the head of the group beside Rosy, my mind was wandering again; this time it was that reverend and his surname ‘Russell’ and I wondered if he was connected to the Tavistock Russells’ and sure enough, I later discovered he was the grandson of Francis Russell, Duke of Bedford who has a statue in Bedford Square in Tavistock. At the far end of Commercial Street (depicted in that mural) we made our way down to New Bridge along first, a narrow footpath and then a short section of main road where we walked carefully in single file with Maggie bringing up the rear. At the border between our two counties we turned left to join the Discovery Trail which became narrower at the top of the slope; here we enjoyed a leisurely stroll with glimpses through the trees of the spoil heap and a lone chimney over at Devon Great Consols. All twenty-six of us ambled along the leafy path with the babbling river nearby with a feeling of contentment, how lucky we were to be out of the wind on this mild, dry autumn morning. Then, just as the path became wider and muddier, we descended some old wooden steps to the water’s edge with that iconic aroma of damp earth wafting upwards; lots of Rhododendron plants were growing here, they are so successful in Britain they are considered to be an invasive species, crowding out other flora in the oak woodlands. Here, like much of the Tamar Valley World Heritage Site there is now profound silence where once it was a land of hissing steam engines, rumbling water wheels and belching mine chimneys; we saw one of the best examples of a wheel pit near the river this morning while this engine house and a lone chimney stood close by up a flight of steps, all part of Gunnislake Clitters mine. From here it was an uphill slog along the path strewn with oak, beech and sweet chestnut leaves, but there was the reward of a ten minute break at the top! By this time everyone had removed at least one layer of clothes. Break over and we left the Discovery Trail to walk up the second steep hill, this time towards North Dimson but with tarmac underfoot. As we approached this hamlet a huge ‘Road Closed’ sign faced us but we were able to squeeze past to continue on down the other side of the hill to Middle Dimson. Although Gunnislake was first recorded in 1485, the main local settlement was to the west at Dimson, first recorded in 1327. Walking down through Middle Dimson as we neared the end of our walk, I speculated which house was number 29 as according to the 1881 census; the Phare family once lived there. Thomas was head of the family, his wife was named Fanny and they had three daughters, Elizabeth, Fanny and Louisa who were each employed as Bal Maidens at a copper mine, possibly the one we saw earlier or maybe across the river at Devon Great Consols as apparently the copper load travelled under the water between the two mines. .