Foundry Sq. looking unrecognisable with the station of the old Hayle Railway Line which ran from Hayle to Portreath

Yesterday's mystery object was a tin ingot, one of several retrieved from the wreck of the SS Cheerful. The ingots, weighing 28 lbs and 56 lbs, bore marks from the smelting houses at Treloweth Copper Mine, St Erth, Carn Vadras Truro, Trethallan Truro, Berre Fernes Tamar.

SS Cheerful was a steam cargo ship. On 20th July 1885 she was on her way from Falmouth to Liverpool carrying a cargo of 28 lb & 56 lb tin ingots, with a full crew and a few foot passengers. At 4am she collided with HMS Hecla (a munitions ship) on her way to Portsmouth. The sea was calm with a ground swell, but there was a thick haze.

12 people lost their lives when the ship went down.

The wreck lies 35 fathoms down, approximately 18 miles NNW of St Ives.