IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Bere Alston, YELVERTON, PL20 7BX

A hamlet on a minor lane; this looks in the opposite direction from the same area as the image at Image

On the left is the start of Bere Ferrers Footpath 71. This is also the location of Gourd’s Shaft, part of the South Tamar Silver-Lead Mine as described at http://www.mindat.org/article.php/81/The+Bere+Peninsula+Silver-Lead+Mines+~+Part+I .

This unsurfaced track follows the course of Furzehill Mine. Furzehill Mine is within the World Heritage Site Area 10: Tamar Valley & Tavistock. The Bere silver mines are amongst the earliest to have been worked as true mines anywhere in Britain; the silver-lead deposits being exploited from the 13th century. The area includes some of the only true silver mines in Britain. Furzehill Mine (also known as Whitsam Down Mine, and possibly also East Tamar Mine) is reputed to date from as early as the beginning of the 16th century and of great historic importance. The track to the south (west of Cotts) is recorded as Bere Ferrers public footpath 71: this track is apparently not recorded at all, but is presumably a minor road.

Crossroads at the intersection of the minor road from Weir Quay to Furzehill Bridge, the minor road north-west to Cotts and Hewton, and the minor unsurfaced road south to Clamoak Quarry and Tuckham Bridge. To the right of the road ahead is Lower Birch Farm. The name of the crossroads is supposition, in the absence of both road names and crossroad names on maps of this area.

Another view of Image looking upstream.

To the right is the lane to Cotts, and opposite, just visible, is the unsurfaced road to Whitsam.

View north-east from the river to the quay and the houses at Cotts on the hill. A peaceful scene today, but very industrial in the mid-19th century, when it was the home of the Tamar Smelting Works. http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/pfclaugh/mhinf/tamar_sw.htm