The Royal Cornwall Museum has launched it’s first online exhibition, the culmination of a two year project to capture and record memories of miners and employees of South Crofty and Wheal Jane from the 1970s up until it’s closure.

Curator Sarah Lloyd-Durrant said: "This project is really important for the museum, as it captures the memories and stories of a way of life that has now disappeared from Cornwall."

Ten miners and staff were interviewed and their memories of working underground, the community atmosphere and their personal stories of the closure of the mines can all be heard in this exhibition.

"It was a fantastic thing to be a part of this project - it is part of the history of this wonderful county," said Alan Beattie, project participant payroll, Wheal Jane and South Crofty, 1986-98. "It is also very timely, none of us are getting any younger, and sadly one of the participants is no longer with us, so it’s important that exhibitions such as this exist in order to continue that story for future generations."

The project was based around the photographic archive of John Peck, who was a freelance photographer employed by RTZ and later Carnon Consolidated Ltd, to take photographs of the mines and their employees. These images are now housed at the Royal Cornwall Museum and were used as source material when interviewing the miners.

The memories are heart-felt, humorous and emotional and give a real insight into the last days of a long tradition of mining in Cornwall.

The online exhibition has been launched to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the closure of the mines in March 2018. The online exhibition will run until April 2018.