Remembering Cornwall's Trevithick

The streets will be full of steam engines

Trevithick Day is a one day festival of free entertainment to celebrate the industrial heritage of the Camborne Area, including their famous son, Richard Trevithick.

The Camborne streets will come alive with dancing, street entertainment, a children's fairground, vintage & veteran vehicles and much more.

One of the popular highlights is The traditional Bal-maidens and Miners dance with almost 250 local school children taking part.

BBC Radio Cornwall staff will be joining in the celebrations as well as broadcasting from the popular event.

There will also be model exhibitions, school displays, street stalls, static engines, miniature steam engines and moving steam engines.

The annual Trevithick's Dance leaves Basset Street at 2.30pm with almost 100 adults dressed in the traditional Cornish colours of Black and Gold, dancing behind Camborne Town Band.

The popular Steam Parade will leave Basset Road at 3.15pm. The engines will steam along Church Street, down Wellington Road and Trelawney Road, then up (Camborne Hill) Tehidy Road.

Richard Trevithick

Camborne's Trevithick Day is an annual celebration of the heritage and mining heritage of the area, with the focus on its famous son Richard Trevithick, the pioneer of high pressure steam power.

Richard Trevithick was prolific with his ideas and inventions, leaving a legacy of a number of patents covering diverse fields.

He is remembered for his "Camborne road carriage", nick-named the "Puffin Devil", which made successful passenger-carrying trials in 1801.

Trevithick was also the first to successfully run a steam-powered engine pulling carriages on rails at Pennydarren, South Wales, in 1804.

The first Trevithick Day was held in 1984.

Essential Information

The 2011 Trevithick Day celebrations take place on Saturday 30 April.

The annual event attracts around 30,000 visitors.

All the main streets are closed to traffic for the day.