Cornwall's iconic engine house under siege

The 19th century Crown Mines, perched on the granite cliffs at Botallack near Land's End, are the county's most photographed engine houses. There must be thousands of photos of these ruins but probably none as dramatic as this one, taken by Peter Hulance, and posted on Facebook. This is the bigger of the two engine houses, the pumping house, totally at the mercy of the Atlantic storms which are still sweeping through Cornwall.

 

Meanwhile in Devon, work has commenced on repairing the break in the Great Western rail line between London and Penzance. It is expected to take at least 6 weeks, and in the meantime rail travellers are being bused between Exeter and Plymouth, where they resume their train journey into Cornwall. Hopefully all will be back to normal in June for Biohydromet '14 and SRCR '14 in Falmouth.