Minions, Cornwall

Minions (Cornish: Menyon) is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor northwest of Caradon Hill approximately four miles (6 km) north of Liskeard.[1] Minions is first recorded in 1613 and its meaning is unknown.[2]

Minions

Minions
Minions
Location within Cornwall
OS grid referenceSX2671
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLISKEARD
Postcode districtPL14
Dialling code01579
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

A stone circle known as the Hurlers is located on the west side of the village. Several other tumuli are also in the area, including Rillaton round barrow, where a Bronze Age gold beaker was discovered. The Cheesewring, a distinctive rock formation, is a mile northwest.

Geography

Minions is in the former Caradon administrative district and in the parish of Linkinhorne. At 300 metres (980 ft) it is said to be the highest village in Cornwall.

The village is dominated by Caradon Hill, standing at 371 metres (1,217 ft) high, on which there is a TV transmission mast on the summit. As a result, there is a road leading up to the summit from Minions.[1] On the western flank of the hill, a quarry recently started up again, cutting granite boulders.

As well as this working quarry, there are many other disused quarries and mine buildings in the area due to the village's mining heritage, including the Phoenix United Mine that closed in 1914.[3] Unlike in the west of Cornwall, there are no plans to reopen the tin and copper mines in the area.

Climate

The climate of Minions is Oceanic but, like the rest of Bodmin Moor, due to its higher altitude, it is often cooler, windier and wetter. However, there is a good balance of fair days too, which can get warm in the summer. In winter frosts are common and even though it snows most years, it is never prolonged or severe.

Winter:6c/1c

Spring:14c/6c

Summer:20c/12c

Autumn:12c/3c

Rainy days:173

Snowfalls:2-4 [4]

Community facilities

The village has two main car parks, located on the western and eastern edges on the village.[1] There are two tearooms, a pub with B&B, and a general store which also holds a post office, one of the tearooms and a B&B. A museum dedicated to the mining history of the local area is located to the north of the village in a disused engine house.

In May 2015, a road sign was erected outside the village in tribute to the then-forthcoming Minions movie. This sign was removed later the same year for safety reasons, due to families stopping on the narrow road to take photographs. Local residents fought for the "tourism-boosting" sign to stay, stating that it had "put Minions on the map." [5] Calls for the colourful sign to be reinstated received strong support, with an anonymous member of the public placing stickers of the popular characters on the original sign.[6]

Filming for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children took place in 2015.[7]

  • Engine house of a disused mine
  • Disused granite quarry on the moor

References
  1. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 Plymouth & Launceston ISBN 978-0-319-23146-3
  2. Weatherhill, Craig (2009) A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-names. Westport, Mayo: Evertype; p. 49
  3. "Crow's Nest" (PDF). Natural England. 1999. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  4. "Annual average temperature for the United Kingdom". Met Office. 2000. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  5. "Cornwall village Minions sign removed". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  6. "Minions sees popular cartoon characters return to its sign in the form of stickers". Cornish Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  7. "Gone For A Burton". Cornwall Independent. 2 October 2016. p. 25.
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