Poldark Mine & Heritage Complex

We went to Poldark Mine a few years back. Most of the site is fully accessible to wheelchair users except of course the tour of the mine itself. However we still had a good few hours looking around the mine museum which was very informative and interesting and my kids loved that. Then my daughter had a go at ‘panning for gold’ which was a fun activity laid on by the mine staff. She had a lot of fun trying to find ‘fools gold’, and it was only cheap to let her have a go. There were plenty of things to look around at in the nice grounds and we had some lovely icecream in the pretty cafeteria. There is plenty of free parking onsite

As you would probably guess, the highlight of a visit to the site is actually getting to go down into the mind. You are given an informative guided tour and get an idea of how bad it must have been having to go down it every day to work — GRIM! We couldn’t even get into the whole mine as part of it had flooded overnight.
A warning — be careful not to bang your head on the mine roof — you are given a safety helmet to wear but it still gives you a bump!
There are also some amusements at the site and a couple of shops, but none of this really appealed and some of it looked a bit ropey.
Apparently it gets its name from an old TV show that was partly filmed there, but I’m not old enough to remember what it is!

Situated only 3 miles from the Market town of Helston, Poldark mine offers visitors an insight into the hellish lifestyle many had to endure in order to make their living in days of old. The site additionally offers some retro arcade style games, panning for Cornish gold and visitor’s shops that sell locally produced artifacts including pottery and jewellery. However the mine is the main attraction and regular informative guided tours take you deep into the dark, cold and wet environment that was once the working place for many children. If you find that you enjoy the tour then you can even opt to exchange vows with your loved one on your special day.