The Cornish, bless 'em, rarely waste anything. They may well have the (much deserved) reputation for being so laid back as to be considered horizontal; they may also have the innate knack of talking all and sundry into having work done "dreckly" (that's Cornish speak for 'I'll do it - sometime - but don't hold your breath'); they might also be guilty of getting 'aroundtuit' - a saying often heard spoken when work is needed to be done in a hurry - and so deeply imbedded in the psyche of the West country, one can actually buy 'ARoundTuit' plate to hang on one's wall! But there are two things they are not. Lazy - there's a big difference between laid back and lazy - or wasteful! When granite is surplus to what is needed, they find a useful purpose for the remainder, building some of the finest stone walls in the country. It's the same with slate which has been mined here for over 500 years in some areas. Here are a couple of uses it has been put to, and a very welcome sight these are too! These two are along the river walk in Boscastle and I actually heard a couple of vacationers complaining about them this day, saying that the least the councils could do was to provide proper benches!! Silly folk. Had they bothered to sit down this day, they'd have discovered that despite the weather being none to warm, what little sun there was had been gratefully received by aforementioned slate seats, which in turn was passed on to all butts seated on them! Including mine! ^=^ Below is an information page to do with the mining here, if interested. ^=^ http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/mines/slate/carnglaze.htm Thank your for taking the time to look. ^=^