THE story of an imaginary Tamar Valley industrial heroin has won a young Tavistock schoolgirl top prize in a creative writing competition.
Ten-year-old Tabitha Gould from Whitchurch Primary School was presented with a cheque for £20 by West Devon mayor, Christine Grills, at a ceremony in front of her school friends last week.
'I wrote about a girl who was a bal maiden at Morwellham — a maid who crushed the ore that came out of the mine. She kept the good bits and threw out the bad,' she said. 'Her name was Charlotte and one day she found gold.'
Tabitha's heroine wanted to make the miners' lives easier so she used her new-found wealth to buy machinery for the mine.
Her efforts were rewarded by Queen Victoria and marriage to George, the mine overseer.
'It wasn't a true story, but it was based on things as they would have been a hundred years ago,' she said.
Tabitha, whose father is a mine geologist and lent her a lot of books on the subject, said she had learnt a lot writing the story, about how mines worked and how people lived.
Judge Gerry Woodcock, a local historian and author, said the story was well-written. He praised the descriptions of place and time and said Tabitha made good use of language.
Mrs Grills said: 'I was very impressed with what Mr Woodcock said about the story and I'm looking forward to reading it. It's really good that children are encouraged to do this sort of thing.'
Headteacher Ricci Achillini said he was absolutely delighted.
'Tabitha is yet another of our children who has been recognised for a special talent and I wish her every success for her future career as a writer.'
Tabitha said she would be saving half of the prize money and spending the rest on a holiday to Euro Disneyland.