Stand out october 2016 lr

Man Engine

Metal man

Hal Silvester

Man Engine, a touring mechanical puppet, travelled across Cornwall to mark the “Tinth” anniversary of Cornish Mining’s World Heritage Site status and to acknowledge Kernow’s tin mining history. Read on, as Denzil Monk, Man Engine’s project manager, explains all

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Thousands watched Man Engine

f you were situated between Tavistock and Boscaswell from July 25 – August 6, 2016, you would be hard-pressed to have not caught a glimpse of a mammoth tin man on the horizon. The impressive structure a mechanical puppet that crawled at the height of a double decker bus, and when erect, stood more than 10-metres tall.

The Man Engine, created by production company, Golden Tree, undertook its pilgrimage across the length of Cornwall, in remembrance of the thousands of Cornish tin miners who had lost their lives, working in dangerous and difficult conditions. The Man Engine also celebrated the ingenuity of Cornish mining, and attracted people from all over the county to participate in its monumental journey.

In total, the Man Engine project was as large as the creation, as it visited 22 events across the length of Cornwall, culminating in a grand finale at Geevor Tin Mine. As part of a wider ceremony, the Man Engine would transform and become a standing figure when the gathered crowds sang

the Haka Balweyth, a traditional Cornish mining chant, and “Hard Rock Cornish Miners”, the Man Engine’s anthem.

Moreover, the project saw the delivery of a heritage education programme that explored Cornish mining in local schools, and reached out to 1,200 children. Part of the educational experience included a Trailblazer bus; a vehicle converted into a mining exhibition that unveiled a set of mining themed wagons at community festivals in the lead up to the event.

Denzil Monk, business director at Golden Tree Productions and project manager of Man Engine, worked alongside a team of 30 to present the Kernow creation to thousands.

He explains: “I worked very closely with Will Coleman, Golden Tree’s artistic director, to facilitate his vision becoming a reality, and also with Hal Silvester, the lead designer; the master puppeteer who imagined and oversaw the design, build and birth of the Man Engine.

“My role as project manager included overall responsibility to deliver the project,

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Man Engine

Man Engine stands tall

Puppet masters at work

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recruitment and management of staff to coordinate and deliver the heritage education programme, the design and build, event planning and organisation and establishing and maintaining relationships with scores of partners, sponsors and funders, local hosts and their partners, around 150 people in all. Working behind the scenes to satisfy HSE and public protection that the Man Engine and associated events would be safe – and driving the project forward to hit our deadlines,� Monk adds.

The project was conceived and won by Golden Tree Productions, a community interest company, following a tender commissioned by Cornish Mining World Heritage Site (WHS), as a way to engage communities to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the UNESCO WHS designation.

Man Engine

Big reveal

to ensure the placement of the heavy vehicles avoided potential weak areas of drains/pipes, finally augmented by a Cormac survey showing culverts and ground inclines.

“Logistics were arranged with partners, suppliers and in consultation with local authorities and emergency services.

Communications were undertaken in close liaison with CMWHS, PR agents, designers, social media managers and a plethora of media and press once we had launched... there was a lot of interest once the Man Engine was finally revealed.”

It took a 30-strong touring team to keep Man Engine operating throughout the fortnight and, overnight, the metal beast rested in various car parks or laybys watched over by security. With such a major operation throughout the county, how much preparation went into the event? “A huge amount, in a relatively short space of time,” Monk comments. “The puppet design and build went through extensive R&D, led by Hal, with support from engineering consultants, artists and makers. The events were planned and organised by our events team with reference to the local Safety Advisory Group, and in partnership with local hosts.

“Location reports were compiled comprising mining searches (generously undertaken on our behalf by our sponsor Mining Searches UK) consultation with statutory undertakers, visual checks

Positive response

The aim of the Man Engine project was to engage the Cornish community, and reignite its sense of collective pride in Cornish mining heritage – part of the excitement was unveiling the mechanical puppet from under a Cornish flag, and the Man Engine’s locations originated from 10 Cornwall and West Devon WHS areas.

“The commission required the project to visit Tavistock, Heartlands and Geevor Tin Mine, and to reach 7,000 people,” adds Monk. “Towns and locations responded positively to our initial enquiries, and made a contribution to the project. We were particularly keen to work with pro-active local hosts who put on additional activities and really engaged with the whole project, the community singing and heritage education as well as the spectacular event itself. We essentially followed the granite spine that dominates the Cornish Mining

WHS – the geology that underpins the industry out of which our culture grew.”

The organising team had originally anticipated a turn out of 50,000 people, however, as Man Engine’s popularity and press attention grew, so did expectations.

“Our original intention was to engage 50,000 participants – our estimate prior to launch was around 65,000,” continues Monk. “We performed the Man Engine ceremony at more than 20 events, directly engaging 137,000 people. Add to this the education programme, the Trailblazer bus and outreach and community activities leading into the tour, the direct impact of this project is over 150,000.”

Safety first

A roaming colossal beast through small streets and high, unexpected turnout may seem like a recipe for disaster for some event organisers, but Monk and his team had crowd management under control.

“Managing the crowds was down to a long lead in of planning and subsequent quick response from our team, Cornwall Council and Cormac when the numbers escalated from our plans” Monk says.

“Crowds were managed by an experienced team of event professionals, contracted through Sam Groom’s Perfect Events Group (PEG) led on the ground by Kevin Instance and Mike Ward as event safety manager and crowd safety officer, with Golden Tree’s school and communities coordinator, Joe Lewis, managing a core team and local volunteer stewards. Mark

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Man Engine

Themed wagons

Fuszard’s Omega Medical provided appropriate medical cover at each event, keeping a quiet and responsive eye on everyone’s wellbeing and health – our events were one of the safest places to be!

“As the crowds grew day on day, we augmented the planned stewarding with hired security teams. The planning included an Emergency Preparedness Workshop facilitated by Martin Rawling from Cornwall Council Emergency Planning with blue-light services, council teams and Golden Tree staff talking through each day’s events and running through ‘what if’ scenarios to ensure public safety and business as usual around the events.

These communications were continued through daily conference calls reflecting on the previous day’s events and scoping any external or internal impacts on the upcoming events that day.

“We set up a sterile space, a 15-metre radius exclusion zone, from the Man Engine’s standing position, with barriers keeping crowds outside of this area.

In the town centre locations where we anticipated larger crowds, we kept the Man Engine standing and active for a longer time, allowing the first wave of crowds to egress and a secondary crowd to move forwards to see him properly.

Within the restrictions of the locations and the phenomenal size of crowds that

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came, this method worked quite well and most people were able to get a good view eventually,” Monk continues.

The Man Engine proved popular too with partners, as it paired with Cornwall and Devon local authorities with Cormac providing traffic management and logistical support. Also keen to help out Man Engine was Volvo CE, which loaned the mechanical puppet a large yellow L220 loader, as well as Imerys that provided a space to build and rehearse. Alongside them were town councils, business improvement districts and the National Trust, which acted as local host.

But what stood out about the project?

“Well, it’s bloody huge,” replies Monk. “I think there are a couple of truly unique things about the Man Engine. Firstly, there is a deep sense of integrity that has been paramount throughout the project – the Man Engine is a ‘living’ testament to our engineering heritage and the ingenuity and determination of our ancestors.

“This is borne out by the way in which people have connected with the Man Engine from participating in the ceremony; literally hundreds of people have approached us to share their stories and memories that have been stirred by the experience.

“Secondly, the mechanical, transformational nature of the puppet –

it is quite unlike anything that has been made or seen before, and what really makes it effective is that this immense, towering, mechanical structure of a behemoth has such tender features and subtlety of movement that he appears to be alive and people connect emotionally to him.”

As the sun sets on the inaugural Man Engine project, Stand Out asks what’s next for the mechanical puppet. Scrap metal?

“Far from it!” Monk concludes. “There are 175 countries across six continents where Cornish miners took their skills, ingenuity, technology and traditions. There’s only one logical thing to do next – and that is to follow in the footsteps of the Cornish mining diaspora, visiting the lands and communities and take the Man Engine on a global tour.”

SUPPLIERS LIST: Traffic management – Cormac Event coordination – Perfect Events Group Event medical – Omega Medical Rehearsal space – Imerys Fabrication – TJK and The Steel Engineering consultant – Tony Mogford Associates