Our milestone

A wonderful hot summer's day in Cornwall again today.  So, I was out in the garden attempting to build a dry stone wall.  Unfortunately, compared with the Cornish 'stone hedges' that have been built by generations past and have stood the test of time, my efforts just seem to look like a pile of rocks, balanced precariously in a higgledy piggledy fashion.  Much more practice needed !

But while I was outdoors, I could see some activity on the other side of our woods.  In the road was a gentleman painting our local milestone.  Seeking a break from the walling, I went to be nosey and have a chat. Was he from Cornwall Council?  No, he was Ian Thompson from the Milestone Society.  This brave fellow has taken it upon himself to repaint all 600 ancient milestones in the county, since the local authority has decided it doesn't wish to be responsible for their upkeep any more.  Cornwall is particularly well endowed with milestones, being rich in granite.  Indeed, along the A38 between Liskeard and Bodmin, there are many two-sided stones to be spotted, featuring a large L on one face and a big B on the other, followed by the mileage to each town.  But 'our' local milestone is much grander, even though our lane doesn't go anywhere particular.  He told me that it used to be the main route to St Cleer, but the 2 mile stone is no longer in existence.

He felt that our milestone dated from the 1850s when the turnpike trusts were being wound up.  This is the same period when the current Woodhill Manor was being built.  And, of course, the route from Caradon Hill to Liskeard and Looe will have been busy with the granite from the quarries and tin from the mines.  The copper bonanza had yet to occur, but that's a story for another day.

Peter

For the website of the Milestone Society, click the picture.