The Mapping Museum research project was created to look at the increase in the number of museums in the UK. As part of this project, Tony Brooks was interviewed about the King Edward Mine Museum.

Explore more about the Mapping Museum project here and read Brooks' interview below:

Interview summary

Name of person being interviewed: Tony Brooks

Location of interview: Polstrong, Cornwall

Date of Recording: 15 March 2019

Recording Length: 01:48:28

Name of interviewer: Dr Toby Butler

Description: King Edward Mine Museum interprets the history of Cornish mining on the site of a tin mine used by the Camborne School of Mines for training from 1897.

Summary of main points in interview: Tony Brooks is founder of King Edward Mine Museum. He was head of mining at Camborne School of Mines, which owned King Edward Mine. He explains how the mine was used to educate and train workers in the mining industry since 1900 and was probably the oldest complete mine site in Cornwall, but had fallen into disuse when a new School was built in 1974.

They wanted to conserve the site, develop it into a museum to tell the story of mining in Cornwall and re-equip it with machinery used around 1910. Staff and volunteers began work on preserving the buildings and finding machinery from disused mines. He discusses how a retired mill worker was able to offer crucial expertise on how the equipment worked.

Brooks describes the process of sourcing technical drawings and building materials. He discusses motivating and managing volunteers, his hopes for future development in terms of education and marketing and some of the difficulties of balancing conservation, need for income and running a visitor attraction with volunteer labour. Brooks talks about gaining UNESCO World Heritage status, how the displays and narratives have evolved. He shares some insights into planning and directing major heritage projects.