The Poly
24 Church St, Falmouth : 01326 319461
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
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Michael Loam Inventor of the Man Engine // 1860
Michael Loam
Michael Loam, ca 1860s, Tresavean Mine Engineer and inventor or developer of the Man Engine, was born on the 1st November 1797 at Ludgvan, Cornwall. He died on the 14th July 1871 and was buried in Gwennap churchyard.
He built the first Cornish Man Engine at the Tresavean mine in Gwennap Parish in 1842, adapted from a German design, to win a competition sponsored by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. After a successful trial period, the Tresavean Mine's Directors gave the go ahead to extend down to the 248 fathom level, the first of 16 such engines to be built in Cornwall.
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Falmouth and World War 1
Falmouth was not only a garrison town, with up to 14,000 soldiers at any one time, but also a defended port. Falmouth is the most westerly deep water port of the English Channel and Falmouth Bay was a strategic point for arrivals and departures. Early on in the War, photography and sketching became prohibited in the vicinity of the harbour and the coast for reasons of national security, so that we have very few visual records of the time.
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Maritime History
Falmouth Quay Punt sailing in Falmouth's Inner Harbour ca 1900
(from Brian Osborne's 'Images of the Past' collection #551)
Local Personalities
An Edwardian Group ca 1908 (from Brian Osborne's 'Images of the Past' collection #1407)
Explore and discover some of our town's most interesting people, characters and visitors.
Notable Buildings
Arwenack Manor from the Harbour ca 1910 (from Brian Osborne's 'Images of the Past' collection #924)
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Archive records
Index of the Ordnance Survey 1:500 scale map series of Falmouth of 1880
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The Changing Face of Falmouth
Post Office Yard with No. 49 Smithick Hill above
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