A giant puppet of a Cornish miner has taken its first steps on a 130-mile journey.
The 10-metre (32.8ft) Man Engine will travel across the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site to mark the 10th year of its Unesco heritage status.
The puppet is the same height as a double decker bus when in "crawling" mode but more than twice that height when standing.
It was launched in Tavistock, Devon and will reach west Cornwall on 6 August.
The machine is the brainchild of Will Coleman, founder of Golden Tree Productions, and is named after a mechanism used to move miners up and down to working levels.
Man Engine in numbers
Britain's largest mechanical puppet
10m Height when standing (32.8ft)
4.5m Height when crawling (14.8ft)
40 tonnes Weight with accompanying vehicle
130 miles Distance travelled in two weeks, Tavistock to Geevor
10 Cornish Mining World Heritage Site areas visited
The Man Engine
The Man Engine
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: The Man Engine
It looks pretty benign in the second photo, but in the top picture it looks like it's on an angry rampage...



- Bicycle Bill
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Re: The Man Engine
S T E A M P U N K L I V E S O N !
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?
Re: The Man Engine
Coming to the end of his journey now.




That's Penzance there, the nearest town to where me and Hen will live.




That's Penzance there, the nearest town to where me and Hen will live.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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Re: The Man Engine
Hen and I
Well, not me of course....
Well, not me of course....
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
The Man Engine
That piece of art looks dangerous. It's all fun and games until someone is killed when Mr. Miner tips over right below Market Jew Street. I'm surprised they issued a permit for this stunt.

“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.”
Re: The Man Engine
It's definitely Hen and me.MajGenl.Meade wrote:Hen and I
Well, not me of course....
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: The Man Engine
This isn't the US you know!RayThom wrote:That piece of art looks dangerous. It's all fun and games until someone is killed when Mr. Miner tips over right below Market Jew Street. I'm surprised they issued a permit for this stunt.

Market Jew Street is also the main shopping parade in Penzance, it celebrates the Jewish traders who once plied their wares there. It gave rise to the Cornish expression "getting Jew'd in Penzance," which mean being short changed or ripped off on a deal. It also has links to the Phoenician tin traders who visited the area, who were renowned for their sharp trading practices.
all utter bollocks of course, it comes from "Marghas Yow", cornish for "Thursday Market"
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
- Bicycle Bill
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Re: The Man Engine
If it was capable of movement under its own power, why does it seem to require a team of ten or so on guide ropes for stabilization and/or direction?

-"BB"-

-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?
Re: The Man Engine
Because it's Cornish and therefore to drunk to move without support.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.