March of the giant tin man
WITH giant mechanical arms, big metal eyes and a hat the size of a small car, this chap looks like he could crush everything in his path.
But the formidable sci fi-style character that lurched on to the streets of Devon yesterday is as friendly as the BFG.
It ‘awoke’ in the centre of Tavistock amid dramatic lights and smoke as part of a mission to celebrate one of the wonders of the area.
More than twice as tall as a double decker bus, the awesome Man Engine is the largest mechanical puppet ever built in Britain and was unveiled in public for the first time at the start of a two-week journey across 1 0 miles of mining heritage.
The 2ft high cast iron construction was commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape being added to the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites.
The region’s landscape was transformed in the 18th and early 19th centuries as a result of the rapid growth of its pioneering copper and tin mining, which made a major contribution to the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
Two-thirds of the world’s supply of copper were produced in the region in the early 19th century. The puppet weighs nearly 40 tons with the accompanying converted digger
‘Britain’s largest mechanical puppet’
that helps move it around the roads.
It sports a number of symbols of Cornish mining including a giant beam engine (a form of steam engine) at its heart, a helmet, and ‘hands’ that reflect massive 20thcentury excavators. All are operated by a team of helpers using ropes, as pictured here.
The giant is named after the mechanism of moving rods and platforms called a ‘man engine’ which helped miners to travel up and down shafts instead of climbing ladders. The first ‘man engine’ in Cornwall was developed by Michael Loam of Liskeard and installed at Tresavean copper mine in 1842.
The puppet is the brainchild of Will Coleman, founder of Golden Tree Productions, a company which develops cultural projects celebrating Cornwall’s distinctiveness. He said: ‘I can’t explain how extraordinary the feeling is to see the people on the streets meet him, and be so in awe of him.’
The puppet will make 20 stops across Cornwall before finishing its journey at Geevor Tin Mine on August 6. It will be accompanied by theatrical shows created by a team of more than a dozen ‘miners’ and ‘bal [Cornish for mine] maidens’ who help to animate it during its travels.