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54 minutes ago Jonathan Morris South West Contributed Retew was swallowed up by china clay mining A lost Cornish village that disappeared beneath expanding china clay workings more than 60 years ago has been brought back to life in a new book written by one of its former residents. Retew, near St Austell, was once home to about 80 people living in 24 houses alongside a factory. The hamlet between St Stephen and St Dennis was owned by English China Clays and was demolished in the early 1960s as the company expanded quarry operations at Wheal Remfry to extract the valuable clay beneath it.
Mike Ford, who grew up in Retew, spent 15 years researching and writing The History of Retew and its People, a book preserving memories of a community that no longer appears on modern maps. Merlin Centre Mike Ford spent 15 years researching and writing a book about the village The village had no pub or shop, but Ford said the chapel was at the heart of community life. He recalled Sunday school trips, sing-songs on bus journeys and neighbours regularly helping each other with farming work.
"I always say it, I still say it, I was born in heaven and I hope I die there because I love the place because I always call it heaven," he said. Although residents knew the village's future was uncertain because the land sat above china clay deposits, its eventual loss was still painful. Ford said he was about 21 when villagers were told they would have to leave.
"People didn't enjoy it at all," he said. "They all had to leave one another as friends in a way." Contributed The village sat above china clay deposits The experience was shared by many former residents . Gerald Ford, a resident for decades, described feeling "very sad" when the community was broken up while Clemoline Bunt, the village's last resident, said it was "awful sad to leave" after spending most of her life there.
Ford's 240-page book also traces stories linked to villagers who travelled to America and Australia in search of new opportunities. Having lived with multiple sclerosis for 45 years, Ford said completing the project had been a challenge but one he was proud of. "I wish I'd never started it, but now I've done it, I'm so pleased," he said.
Copies of the book are available from the Merlin Centre in Hewas Water, near St Austell. More on this story
Source: BBC
