A HISTORIC mining site in the Tamar Valley is once again open for the public to enjoy.
A viewing platform, boardwalks and steps at Okel Tor Mine have been refurbished and were declared open by Calstock Parish Councillor Alastair Tinto.
Okel Tor Mine is a scheduled monument lying in the heart of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.
It is also an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and part of the Tamar Valley National Landscape. The paths around the former mine buildings and along the riverside are hugely popular with walkers, bird watchers and naturalists.
Owners of Okel Tor Mine, Jon and Jenny Tully, thanked members of the community who helped with the project and acknowledged the generous funding of the FiPL (Farming in Protected Landscape) programme.
At its peak during the mining era, the Okel Tor Silver, Lead and Copper Mining Company employed some 200 people, including women and children.
Abandoned for more than 100 years, the mine was purchased around the year 2000 by two men who turned two buildings into a home, and two more into holiday accommodation.
Fast forward to 2023, and Jon Tully and his wife Jenny were looking for a place to find tranquility. After years of searching for something special – not only a project but a place to put down roots forever – they found Okel Tor.
“We were looking for the opportunity to live somewhere unique, somewhere that had history and archaeology, somewhere beautiful, and the chance to put something back,” Jon explains.
“What we’ve bought is the privilege to look after this place.
“It’s not like buying a house with a garden. It’s 16 acres of National Landscape and scheduled monuments.”
Over the year since they moved in, the couple has faced challenges. With so much woodland, and much of it clinging to steep banks, tree management is a big thing, says Jon.
“We’ve had trees down in the winter storms, which is alarming, and we’ve had Cornish walls collapse during the terrible weather.”
Looking back over the past 12 months, Jon says they’re proud to have made the site accessible for lots of people to enjoy, whether that be ramblers interested in the history of Okel Tor, nature lovers, or boaters and kayakers on the water who appreciate a different view from the Tamar.
Okel Tor lies on the Tamara Way, an 87-mile route connecting Plymouth in the south to Bude in the north.
“The locals have really embraced what we’re doing,” says Jenny.
“We get a few photographers. It’s a lovely, thriving natural environment. We see foxes, deer, badgers, woodpeckers and kingfishers, and there are barn and tawny owls and otters, as well as a wealth of other birds, small mammals, lizards, moths and caterpillars.”
University students will come and do field work at Okel Tor, and there’s also a partnership with the Tavistock Task Force, whose volunteers will be doing some site management.
“The stewardship is ongoing,” says Jon, “and we’re keen to encourage groups to use the site.”
