The giant puppet of a Cornish miner has started on what will be a 130-mile journey through Cornwall, travelling across the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, marking the 10th anniversary of the area receiving its UNESCO heritage status.
The puppet is twice the height of a double decker bus when standing, and weighs a total of 40 tonnes. Volunteers will help to operate it as it travels the distance from Tavistock in Devon to Geevor, over a period of two weeks.
Will Coleman of Golden Tree Productions helped to create him, and said: “This huge, metal, steam-powered colossus crawls at a height of 4.5m. That’s just a little bit larger than a double decker bus.
“When it stops it stands up and it then reaches a height of 11.5m. That’s about three double decker buses. We will cross the river Tamar and we will take two weeks to go the length of the Cornish world heritage landscape.”
About 50,000 are expected to go and see the Man Engine as it makes its way across the Duchy, and there are more than 25 events happening over the two weeks.
If you are staying at our self-catering Cornwall cottages over the next couple of weeks, why not go and see the giant puppet when it stops at Truro, St Agnes, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle or Penzance, and join in the celebration of Cornwall’s mining heritage?
You can check out some great videos and follow the Man Engine’s progress from their Facebook page here.
Image by: Lucie J Will / Instagram
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