the massive pasty is every Cornishman’s dream. The UK’s largest ever mechanical puppet to stomp across Cornwall X Copy link to paste in your message / Comments(0) The UK’s largest ever mechanical puppet, an epic 10-metre-plus (almost 33ft) Cornish Mining Man Engine, is preparing to “awaken” and undertake his historic journey the entire length of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, some 130 miles, over two weeks of major celebrations. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape being added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site Partnership has commissioned an exciting summer-long set of inspirational events and experiential happenings entitled Tinth. The most spectacular event is the two week awe-inspiring journey of the Man Engine – a monumental, moving, steaming ‘beast’, the likes of which has never been seen before – who will make his way from Tavistock to the far western tip of Cornwall between July 25 and August 6. The largest mechanical puppet ever made in Britain, the “miner” is a major feat of Cornish engineering. The same height as a double decker bus when in his “crawling” mode, the Man Engine will “transform” to almost three times that height when stood up. Throughout his journey the part-man, part-machine will be accompanied by animated theatrical shows with music, theatre and storytelling, created by a team of more than a dozen “miners” and “bal-maidens” who will animate the giant throughout his travels. An early scale model of the Man Engine. The in-depth stories of five key historical figures, whose lives and impacts were woven throughout the 18th to early 20th century industrial era of Cornwall and West Devon mining, will unfold as the Man Engine makes his way across west Devon and Cornwall. Over 1,200 schoolchildren have been working on inspirational projects, linking history, science, engineering and creativity, to bring a set of pageant wagons to each key stop, illustrating their new-found understanding of how the Cornish mining culture has shaped their 21st century world.