Delabole

Delabole is a village 3 miles west of Camelford in north Cornwall. The village exists because of slate - the quarry here has been worked continuously since at least the 1300s, making it the oldest working slate quarry in England. Over 10 million tonnes of slate have been extracted since operations were first recorded, and during the reign of Elizabeth I, five separate workings operated within the pit. By the 1850s, over 1,000 men, women, and boys worked the quarry. Today the pit is over 500 feet deep and roughly a mile and a half in circumference. Visitors can view the quarry from a dedicated viewing area, see traditional hand-splitting demonstrations, and browse the showroom and exhibition.

The quarry also created one of Cornwall’s best circular walks - a 3.5-mile route starting from the quarry that passes through the hamlet of Medrose, follows a wide cattle-droving track to the top of the village, then winds through Higher Pengelley and the woods at Helland Barton down to the River Allen.

Delabole has a second claim to industrial history. In 1991, the UK’s first commercial wind farm was built on the high ground above the village. The original ten turbines attracted over 100,000 visitors and prompted the opening of the Gaia Energy Centre in 2001. The ten original turbines were replaced in 2011 with four larger machines, more than tripling the output to a capacity sufficient for around 7,200 homes.

The village sits on high ground about 3 miles from the coast, with Boscastle, Tintagel, and Port Isaac all within a 15-minute drive. The north coast path is accessible from several nearby points. Delabole’s annual carnival, revived in 2001 after a break of nearly forty years, runs for a full week each July and is one of the largest village carnivals in Cornwall.