We all have specific dates that have special memories or meaning for us or those around us. They may be birthdays, wedding anniversaries, or getting the keys to your first home. In this instance it was starting a new job. On the 19th August 2021 I walked (nervously) into the office at Trebarwith Road Rustic Quarry to begin my education into the world of Cornish Slate.
I had lived in the village of Delabole on the North Coast of Cornwall for several years & was aware of the presence of the quarry. As you drive or walk down Trebarwith Road from the village of Delabole you begin to see the machines working away ahead of you. When you enter the gates Tintagel Skip hire occupies the land to your left & the quarry office is directly ahead of you. It is a small building consisting of 3 principal rooms, not the warmest of places in the height of winter, & prone to occasional floods if the rain comes in the wrong way. The other downside is that the toilet is in a separate block adjacent to the office (not ideal when the weather is bad).
Also located in this top area of the quarry is the saw shed, workshop & crib room (Break room). Behind the office building the road threads its way to the pit when the stone is extracted and then upwards to the screen & sorting areas. There has been a quarry on this land in one shape or another over the centuries, but its present incarnation can be traced back over 40 years. It is very much a family affair where different members of the family fulfill roles over time & continue to do so to the present day.
Like any new role the first few days are a bit of a blur & you feel a little out of your depth trying to make your mind up if you have done the right thing or not! The feeling that you are asking 100 questions & completely forgetting what the answer to the first one was. The who’s who of staff, suppliers & customers is the next task to muster. Then comes the real learning of what all the different product ranges are & where they can be used, or more importantly where they are not suitable to be used. These ranges include building/facing stone, walling or hedging stone, paving stones, rockery or feature stones & then construction supplies / aggregates. It felt like everyone had their own name for the different product lines. Also, if one material was in short supply what would be the next best alternative.
Over the past three years not only has my role changed with different duties & responsibilities, but the quarry has also developed & expanded. The addition of 2 extra sites in 2023 added another dimension to what we do. Staff have come & gone with different personalities to get to know. Also having taken over from another company all listings needed to be checked & updated.
Turning back the clock to 2021 initially I stuck to familiar ground by working in Facebook posts & walking around the quarry a couple of times to get a better understanding of the land & products on the ground. I took a number of photos for reference or to send to certain customers who were looking for feature stones or similar. Equally it was always exciting to receive an image of a finished project from a customer to see what the stone looks like in situ. The creativity of everyone still continues to be amazing & that be no means that tradition has been forgotten or is any less important there is a sense of pride to drive past a wall which you know has been built with the stone from your quarry.
Another early task that I threw myself into was to get some new business cards created & new leaflets to promote the business to people who may not know about us. To this ends I went along to a trade show being held at the Royal Cornwall Showground to see what the lie of the land was & what others were doing as well as new avenues which we may look at going down.
I wrote articles for local parish magazines to get our name in the public view. Talking of views, right at the top of the site you have some amazing views out to sea & these were further emphasised when we had some Ariel photos taken. The Ariel images gave a sense of context to where we sit in the wider landscape. If you over the other side of the village enjoying a pint or a meal at the Poldark Inn you can view the quarry from the other side.
When you are involved in helping to run a small – medium sized business then you can be asked to complete some varied & unusual tasks. One day you can be researching about operator’s licences & what is required to run lorries & be compliant. The next day you can be doing an Instagram post or updating machine maintenance records. Those are probably the aspects which I most enjoy about my job, you never know what the day will being or what you may end up doing. The same cannot be said some days when it is Health & Safety I’m concentrating on or the various paperwork tasks involved in employing new staff or managing the ones we have.
I have not done all this alone, I have had some amazing help & training along the way from both inside & outside the company. The growth hub was really helpful in advising about training & personal development. Yell advisors explained how simple it was to alter images etc. on our original website, this role is now fulfilled by Hogtronix who has steered us through the process of developing a new website including encouragement to write more content. One day I will get to grips with changing the content & images on this one too! Hogtronix also helped us to develop a more solid brand identity along with the new Logo.
Well, that’s three years in to this new adventure & during that time I have had a new furry arrival into my life who sometimes ventures into work with me so some of you may have met her.
We await to see what the next year holds in store for us all. With the support of our staff, customers & suppliers the sky is our limit.
