The mining past -Over 70,000 tons of copper ore and 530 tons of tin were being produced from 1820-1840 along with other minerals like zinc and iron. In the mid 19th century profits of over £110,000 were achieved per year which today would be the equivalent of £3.7million. Clay mining soon took over from tin and copper mining as the principal industry in the area, and this eventually became an enormous contributor to the growth of St Austell. The clay industry really only came into its own during the mid 19th to early 20th century, at a time when the falling price of tin and other metals forced East Crinnis and many mines to close down. At the turn of the 20th century East Crinnis was a small farm with only a few cattle, the main income for the Farm was by horse and cart used to help transport clay to the busy port at Par harbour.

East Crinnis Farm was originally established by my great granddad William Olford in the late 1800’s. Previously East Crinnis had been a thriving mining community with the 19th century being the peak of production from Tin and Copper. During the 1920’s East Crinnis Farm expanded and gained productivity especially leading up to and during the Second World War. During the second half of the 20th century my grandfather Roger Olford farmed a large dairy herd, poultry and pigs along with the arrival of holiday makers staying for B&B in the farmhouse.

As my dad Glyn Olford took over the farm a larger herd of beef cattle were developed and during the 80’s East Crinnis Farm reached a peak in productivity with three other satellite farms rented for the increase in herd. In 1989 Glyn and Betty (mum) started a small certified location campsite beginning with just five pitches. Year on year they added to the campsite and by 2005 they had built three log cabins. In 2010 I came back to East Crinnis to run the site and now with my family,we are developing the site every year. Following on from University I travelled and worked in various hospitality environments from the USA to Holland and Austria to South America before returning to my beloved Cornwall and spending 10 years as an operational manager at the Eden Project. We run the site how we would like to holiday ourselves and we like to maintain a friendly, peaceful, safe, extremely clean site which respects the habitat and environment around it.