Christmas Wishes from Heartlands

The image above is courtesy of artist David Mackie who is working on the Diaspora gardens public art commission at Heartlands. David has been working with local schools and community groups to develop patterns that are inspired by the Cornish Diaspora countries of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, North America and South America. The patterns designed will be reproduced in bronze and fixed to Cornish granite boulders that will be located in the five Diaspora gardens at Heartlands, which includes planting that covers the fours corners of the globe that the Cornish migrated to.

Chy an Bobel update

The Chy an Bobel (Community Building) is really starting to progress quickly as the centre atrium section of the building has now been put in to place.

The above two images show the the architects impression of how the community building will look with Robinson's Shaft in the background and the photo shows how the Chy an Bobel is coming along exactly to the architects designs.

The community hall in the Chy an Bobel now has its steel structure in place, the above shows how the inside of the hall will look. This space will be available for community groups to use, fitness classes, conferences, meetings, parties, weddings and much more.

Foundations of entrance to exhibition finished

Shortly after the mine at Robinson's Shaft closed in the early 1990's one of the buildings adjacent to the winder house burnt down. We will be rebuilding this burnt down building in the same foot print as it previously stood. This building will become the entrance to the exhibition at Heartlands which will focus on Cornwall's heritage, innovation and geology.

The photo above shows the foundations to the entrance building.

Our buildings are coming along nicely!

The shape of the Chy an Bobel (community building) can start to be seen now the roof structure has been put in to place.

Can you imagine yourself in our hall this time next year? You might be attending a carol service, work Christmas party or a yoga class. The above shows our community hall.

The entrance building to the exhibition is being rebuilt in the same footprint as the building that was originally there prior to being burnt down shortly after the mine closed. The foundations of the building can be seen above, the outside of the entrance building will be clad in copper.

Community hall is starting to take shape

The community hall, which is part of the Chy an Bobel building (Heartlands' Community Building) started to take shape today as the steel structure that will form the space was put in to place.

Monthly podcasts launched!

Each month you can listen to the Heartlands team describe the developments from site and talk about how their role is contributing in to making 19 acres of derelict land in to a cultural landscape for the community.

Listen to the first of our podcasts, where you will hear Scott James, Heartlands Programme Director, describe exactly 'What is Heartlands?'

In the second of our podcasts newly appointed Chair of Heartlands Trustees Malcolm Moyle, describes the role of a Trustee and how you can get involved as a Friend.

Heartlands in the snow

Crushed Wall sample unveiled!

Artist Walter Jack is working on the art commission that will lead visitors in to Heartlands from Pool Village in to the main site.

The 24 metre long Crushed Wall will be 2.8 metres at its highest point and 1 metre at its lowest. Walter's Crushed Wall is inspired by Cornish geology, a sample can be seen in the above photograph. Local concrete works Ladds, are involved as the wall will be cast in concrete. A rubber mould will be used to cast the wall, which will create the crumples and wavy effect of the structure.

Developments from Site

Foundations for the Chy an Bobel (Community Building) have been completed.

The block work has started on the community building, the blocks, as seen in the above photo, will be secured on top of the foundations up to ground level ready for the structure of the building to be put in place.

Piling has finished on the artists terrace and crescent buildings and other work ongoing is the pointing to the historic buildings.

The road around the site is also making good progress ready for its completion next summer.

The Heartlands Totem Poles have got their very own blog!

The Plan an Gwarry totem poles, will form the circular boundary of the events space, which will have the capacity to hold 150 people to watch performances or use as an outdoor classroom.

Artist Nicky Neate worked with Pool Business and Enterprise College students on the totem project. Nicky documents the process of turning the salvaged timber in to works of art on her blog.

Opening Doors tell us about their visit to Heartlands

Today we had a different meeting. We went to the Heartlands Project in Pool to see what was happening there. We need a new place to meet so we are looking at all the different places we could use. We hope to use some rooms at the Heartlands Project.

The Heartlands project is all about using land that was not being used and changing it to land that can be enjoyed by lots of people. They will take some of the old buildings and make them better. They will build new buildings. It will look great when it is done.

They will have nice gardens for people to relax in. They will have a pond and water feature that people will enjoy. There will be a museum for people to learn about the history of all the work in the tin mining industry. There will be a theatre for performances. There will be artist's studios. There will be an open air theatre for music and performances.

Kirsty showed us on the model what it would look like.

This is some of the land that is not being used at the moment. It used to look a mess.

This will be the cafe. It needs lots of work doing to it.

This is the Robinson's Shaft where the museum will be.

This is where they will build the artists studios. It was flat and nothing there. It was hard to imagine what it would look like. They will have markets and a children's centre.

There is a web cam which will show how they are getting on. You can see it on the Internet at the Heartlands website. Have a look at http://www.heartlandscornwall.com/

Here they are building a new road so that you can get to Heartland easily. You can get a bus there. David knew lots about mining and all the big machines they were using. He told us what they were and what they did. David told us all about his family who worked at Falmouth Docks and the Holman works.

We finished off our tour by having our picture taken with Sarah, Kirsty and Claire. Gary and Judith looked cool in their sunglasses. It was a great day for a visit.

Sheila has done lots of art work which helped to the money for the Heartlands project. Gary said he was pleased he had found out more about the Heartlands project. Tina thanked everyone for the interesting visit. Persida said its going to be awesome when its finished. We were all excited about the project and what it would look like.

Kirsty and Sarah said they were happy that we had come to see the project. They said to keep in touch. They would like to do other things with us. Things like fireworks on bonfire night and Christmas. We then had lunch with Kirsty, Sarah and Claire.

Words and photos kindly created by Peter Keeves, Cornwall Partnership Trust.

Balloon winner announced!

The winner of the Heartlands Biodegradable Balloon Race has been announced! Local student Roxanne Penfold from Pool Business and Enterprise College, is now the proud owner of a new bike thanks to her balloon making the 712 mile trip to the small town of Modingen in Germany.

In total 33 balloons were reported found from Jersey, France and the winner in Germany.

The balloon release that took place on July 23rd was to mark the launch of construction on site and echoed the movement of Cornish people around the world in the 18th and 19th century.

Roxanne has been involved with Heartlands through the geography department. Roxanne and her year group have been researching the renewable energy sources that we will have on site to power Heartlands.

Roxanne is pictured above receiving her prize, along with friend Shauna, and Pool Business and Enterprise teachers Mrs Boase and Mr Brooks.

Heartlands web cams go live

The two web cameras that have been installed on site at Heartlands to follow the build progress have gone live on the Heartlands website.

On the 'Watch' page of our website you can view the photos taken by the cameras as they are updated with a new image everyday.

Sneak preview of web cameras!

Two web cameras have been installed at Heartlands to keep you updated with all the developments from the site.

The top photograph is an image from one of the cameras which is aimed at Robinson's Shaft and will follow the renovation works on the Grade 2* listed buildings. The second camera will record the progress of the new buildings, which will allow you to see the community building, artist studios and market square spring up from the ground.

The web cameras are due to go live in the next month, so keep visiting our website.

Progress from site

The Robinson's Shaft Headgear at the centre of the Heartlands site, has been encased in protective covering ready for the structure to be treated and restored.

This is a closer view to the top of the headgear which shows the winding mechanism.

New road around Heartlands starting to take shape

Construction has started on a new link road bordering the Heartlands site in Pool, Cornwall.

The road will take cars around the northern boundary of the Heartlands site, from Dudnance Lane to Trevenson Road opposite Cornwall College.

Both of the photos are taken from the scaffolding surrounding Robinson's Shaft Headgear, which is at the centre of the Heartlands site. The top photo shows South Crofty Mine in the distance and the road coming towards the Carpenter's Shed building which will become a restaurant and cafe. The bottom photograph shows the new road to the right and the land to the left is where Heartlands playground and events arena will be located.

Developments from site

We are delighted to report that developments on site are speeding up!

Pre-works are in full swing with the inside of the Carpenters Shed (see photo above and below) being cleared and concreted.

The scaffolding encasing the headgear is almost complete, which will allow us to take a closer look at the headgear's structure.

Trustees Required!

One of the most significant regeneration projects in the UK is under way in Pool, Cornwall. Heartlands is a £35million pioneering social enterprise, transforming a derelict industrial site into a UNESCO World Heritage Site with new opportunities for business, events, the community and the arts, and acting as a catalyst for the regeneration of the area.

To deliver this vision and to ensure the long-term success of Heartlands we're forming a new social enterprise, the Heartlands Trust. If you want to be part of this great vision and help lead the economic, social and environmental transformation of Heartlands and Cornwall this is a great opportunity for you.

We are proposing to hold an opening evening for all those interested in learning more about a Trustee role at Heartlands on October 21st 2010.

For details of the open evening and any further background information, please contact Scott James, Heartlands Programme Director on 01209 722320 or scott.james@cornwall.gov.uk.

Found balloons mapped out

There have now been 22 balloons reported found from the 'Great Heartlands Biodegradable Balloon Race'. We have had reports from Germany, France and Jersey to let us know that the balloons have manged to cross the Channel.

Mapping the found balloons it can be seen that the furthest travelled is in Germany. Each balloon is represented by a red pin on the map.

There are only 3 more weeks left until the winner of the furthest travelled balloon is announced!

Balloon found in Germany takes the lead.

This week we were informed that one of our balloons from the Heartlands biodegradable balloon release has been found in Germany, just east of Stuttgart. This balloon just makes in to the lead by 20 miles!

To date 19 balloons have been reported found, from France, Jersey and now Germany. The owner of the furthest balloon will be notified at the end of September and awarded their prize of a new bike.

Totems finished!

Over the last 2 years artist Nicky Neate, has been involved in this community led art piece with a task of inscribing a message, poem or sentiment to the recycled totem beams that will surround the concave circle of the Plan an Gwarry, that will be located in the Market Square at Heartlands.

Through a series of interactive workshops with students from Pool Business and Enterprise College, year 9 students created their own graphics for an alphabet. This alphabet is unique to the location and site of Robinson's Shaft at Heartlands; the group picked letters from the alphabet and the students were then given the task of designing their own letter, using and being inspired by the discarded metal objects that were collected from the mine site.

The year 9 students then produced a poem using their alphabet which has been cut out of copper and steel plates and fixed on to the totem beams by Nicky.

Scaffolding is working its way up!

Work has started on the Heartlands site towards putting up the scaffolding around the engine house and headgear.

Watch this space for further developments.......

Become a Fan of Heartlands and receive our Tweets

If you are on Facebook become a Fan of the Heartlands Cornwall page or keep up to date with our Tweets and follow us on Twitter at heartlandsuk.

Balloons found hits 15

Today we were emailed from Granville in the area of La Manche, northern France, with reports of another balloon that had been found on the beach of Annoville. This has brought the total to 15 balloons that have been found in France and Jersey. Two balloons were reported from Jersey both found on the same stretch of beach!

Fingers crossed that more are found over the weekend.

Four more balloons found over the weekend

The first emails I see this Monday morning are from France, which tells me that more balloons have been found!

One was found in the town of Maine et Loire, east of Nantes, another was found on the beach informing us that the balloon had successfully crossed the English Channel near a village called Pleneuf Val-Andre, not so far from the town of Saint-Brieuc, in northern Brittany, and a third balloon was found in a small village called Saint-Aubin-des-Ormeaux, next to a road that crosses a river called the La Sevre. All three of the balloons successfully made it to France.

Also, this morning we had a phone call from a British family who are on holiday in Jersey telling us that they are on St Ouens beach on the west coast of Jersey and have just found a balloon.

That is 12 balloons in total that have been reported with the furthest travelled at the moment reaching Haute Vienne, which is 140 miles north east of Bordeaux, France.

University of the 3rd Age explore their 'lost words'

Artist David Mackie, is working on the Diaspora Seams and Veins commission at Heartlands. The Seams and Veins are integrated artworks set within the Diaspora Gardens. It is anticipated that by listening and working with the local and Cornish Diaspora community significant cultural objects, texts and words will be captured and inlaid within the Cornish stonework.

David has worked with Pool Business and Enterprise College, Camborne Science and Community College, Redruth Technology College, St Johns Primary School, Cornwall College, and the University of the 3rd Age, to gather the communities thoughts on identity and belonging.

During a session with the University of the 3rd Age art group, David along with book maker Becky Adams, explored ways to incorporate Cornish "lost words" and poetry in to the Diaspora Gardens using techniques such as making stamps and imprinting letters on copper and tin. The letter designs will be incorporated in to a design for a postcard which will be sent to Cornish Diaspora Societies throughout the world requesting their "lost words".