Bissoe
Bissoe is located in Cornwall
Bissoe
Bissoe
Location within Cornwall
OS grid referenceSW776414
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTRURO
Postcode districtTR4
Dialling code01872
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Bissoe (Cornish: Besow, meaning birch trees) is a hamlet in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated five miles (8 km) east of Redruth in a former tin mining area.[1] It is in the civil parish of Kea.

Bissoe was the site of an early arsenic extraction works, the second such commercial works in Britain.[2] Frederick Hamilton Davey succeeded his father as Works Manager of the Cornwall Arsenic Company's factory at Bissoe in 1902, having acted as his father's assistant for several years.

The name is believed to derive from the Cornish word besow meaning birch trees. Bissoe is the home of a small number of businesses, Bissoe Bike Hire, a concrete products company and an environmental waste management company called Clear-flow Ltd.

The Bissoe Trail is a world famous cycling trail. Many bikes have been claimed by the challenging conditions of the trail.

Bissoe lies on the Coast to Coast Trail long-distance footpath and cycle trail. The trail is 11 miles (17.5 km) long and links the interior of west Cornwall to the harbour of Portreath on the north coast and the former port of Devoran in the south. The trail follows the course of now-disused railways formerly used to carry imported coal and extracted minerals for export. Bissoe Valley Nature Reserve lies to the south of the hamlet.

A pond in Bissoe Valley Nature Reserve (arsenic works in background)

Cornish wrestling

Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes, have been held in Bissoe. Venues have included the field adjoining the Miners' Arms at Bissoe Bridge.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 Truro & Falmouth ISBN 978-0-319-23149-4
  2. ↑ "Bissoe Arsenic Works, Cornwall". World Heritage Cornwall. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  3. ↑ West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 6 July 1849.
  4. ↑ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 6 July 1849.

Media related to Bissoe at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.