Organised Atoms in Cornwall

Earlier this month, I made the trip down to Cornwall to interview Dave and Amber of Then Try This, as part of my work on FoAM’s Anarchive. Ahead of our conversation, I joined Dave at the United Downs Raceway for his latest “Organised Atoms” workshop – a family event combining electronics, field geology, and mining heritage – amid ferocious rain.

The deluged forced us indoors, softening the boundaries between participants and organisers. Older kids and their adults grappled with Then Try This’s cardboard synths in the raceway’s VIP booth, while younger participants decamped to view mineral specimens under a Raspberry Pi-powered microscope with co-facilitator Rosi, in a hastily-rebranded “Rock Lab.”

Aided by the weather conditions, this workshop started with electronic minerals – from the cardboard synths and iPhone components, and worked backwards to the ground – and it seemed to work better than doing it the other way around. One of the best things about activities like this on the [United Downs] raceway is that you can easily cover a wide range of subjects, chemistry, geology, technology, history – in a context that is distant from any educational or school setting. Many of the people coming have cultural connections either with a family history of mining, or memories of watching cars smash into each other on the raceway – usually both. — Dave Griffiths, “Organised Atoms at United Downs Raceway: Fun Palace workshop” (2024)

The United Downs Raceway, with its history as the site of the Ale and Cakes Mine, and its current role as Cornwall’s “last remaining track for banger and stock car racing”, served as neutral ground, an environment where families could engage with science and technology at a safe distance from formal education. The workshop was part of the “Fun Palaces” celebration weekend, one in a raft of free, hands-on, locally-run, pop-up activities running nationwide, inspired by Joan Littlewood and Cedric Price’s “Fun Palace” concept.¹

Dave’s emphasis on local materials and off-grid technology assumed a deeper significance amid the (literal, when not shrouded by rain) ruins of Cornish mining history. His approach echoed a long-established tradition of resourcefulness in the region. Faced with similar geographic and resource challenges in the early 19th century, Cornish engineers pioneered highly efficient steam engines, known as Cornish engines, to pump water from deep mines while reducing exposure to the high cost of imported coal. This necessity-driven, collective innovation led to rapid advancements in steam technology. Established in 1811, monthly publication Lean’s Engine Reporter shared detailed performance data of steam engines across different mines; a possible early case of open knowledge sharing (an approach championed today by Then Try This, among others).²

By connecting participants with materials and industrial heritage, “Organised Atoms” not only offered practical, hands-on experience with minerals and electronics, but also subtly illustrated how history can inform contemporary approaches to technology and learning. Observing the workshop in action was, for me, a heartening experience. As well as the vicarious satisfaction of watching pre-teens smashing rocks with hammers that were, in many cases, more than a third of their own body size, co-facilitators Dave and Rosi’s mix of local history, minerals, and electronics was a compelling demonstration of place-based learning.