Behold the 39 ft tall mechanical miner: MEchanical puppet unveiled to celebrate UK mining heritage

A 12-metre-tall (39 ft) mechanical puppet has been unveiled in the UK to celebrate the rich mining heritage of south west England.

The Man Engine, commissioned by the Cornish mining world heritage partnership, will travel 130 miles across 10 historic mining sites in south west England from 25 July to 6 August, where it will finish its journey at the Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall.

#ManEngine Teaser Jan 2016 from Golden Tree Productions on Vimeo.

The impressive design is said to represent the thousands of years of mining history in Cornwall and the region’s geology.

Cllr Julian German, the chairman of the Cornish mining world heritage partnership, said: “Our Cornish mining ancestors were international entrepreneurs, who propelled mining into a new industrial era on a worldwide scale. It wasn’t an easy journey for anyone then, and in many ways, it is a difficult history.

“Special projects like the towering Man Engine show we still share this same gritty ambition and ingenuity with our ancestors.”

On the penultimate evening of its journey, another huge puppet – this one a Humphry Davy puppet, will greet the Man Engine and present it with a Davy Safety lamp. The Davy safety lamp was created in 1815 to allow safety lighting and prevent the heat of the flame to explode the high concentrations of methane gas found in deeper mines.