Global tour for UK's largest mechanical puppet ‘Cornish Mining Man Engine’

The UK’s largest ever mechanical puppet is planning a global tour after finishing a two-week journey across Devon and Cornwall.

Cornish Mining Man Engine, a 10 metre-high puppet, was created to mark the 10th anniversary of Cornwall and West Devon mining landscape being added to the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites.

It has completed a 170km journey across the entire length of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site — from Tavistock in Devon to the Geevor Tin Mine at Pendeen in Cornwall.

The behemoth is a major feat of Cornish engineering and is the same height as a double-decker bus when in its ‘crawling’ mode.

When stood up it transforms to almost three times that height, weighing almost 40 tonnes with its accompanying vehicle.

More than 150,000 people saw The Man Engine over the course of its 20 pre-planned stops in Devon and Cornwall.

Will Coleman, founder and director of Golden Tree Productions, said: “Everyone has toiled long and hard to embed into this single huge object, the meaning and feeling of the stories of the real people, and the real lives of those people, their sorrows, their achievements and their journeys, over thousands of years.

The Man Engine has completed his first pilgrimage of 200km across his homeland.

It was designed and overseen by puppet specialist Hal Sylvester, using a team of engineers, fabricators, welders, smoke and lighting experts.