The southernmost cliff quarries (the southern end of Caroline as well as Lanterdan and West quarries) as well as the inland sites used conventional open cast stone extraction methods. However, clifftop quarrying provided unique challenges. Gillow, Long Grass, Lambshouse, Gull Point, Dria, Bagalow and the northern part of Caroline are sea cliffs where the slate workfaces were already exposed and which have simply been cut into. Working the cliff face quarries will have involved clearing away any surface material such as soil, grass and loose stones and dumping them in the sea. A strong point will have been established on
bedrock a short way back from the cliff edge. On the rock immediately above the cliff edge, a
whim is built. This is a wooden frame with a pulley that is anchored at the strong point and operated by a donkey or horse walking in circles, often while blindfolded to avoid distractions. Quarrying on the cliffs will have been a hazardous occupation with men suspended by ropes as they worked the vertical rock face. The whims were used to winch workers down and buckets of slate back up. The stone was extracted by hand using drills but also with explosives, and the value of the slate extracted clearly made this kind of hazardous and labour-intensive quarrying cost-effective. The slate from the coastal quarries was dressed or split into thin, usable tiles in sheds at the top of the cliffs. A good workman could split 100 dozen roofing slates in a day. Splitters worked 7.30am to 5.30pm with a half hour break. Some rag slates measured 6 ft by 2 ft, some were 18 inches square and sold at 2s.6d a dozen in 1888. The slates were known by names relating to their size, which were (in inches): Queens 36x7, Duchess 24x14, Countesses 20x10, Ladies 16x9 and Doubles 12x7. Small roofing slates known as scantles measuring 9x5, 8x6,7x7 and 6x3 were cut by boys. Slate from North Cornwall's quarries was used to make cisterns up to 2,000 gallons as well as corn chests, pig troughs, mangers, pump troughs, baths, salting troughs, milk coolers, larders, chimney tops, mantle pieces, window sills, garden edging and hedging, room skirting, lintels, quoins, rolling pins, candle sticks and ashtrays. Every Cornish churchyard has examples of slate headstones. The finished stone was taken by tramways to be shipped from nearby wharves or transported by rail from
Camelford Station. Any waste product was heaped up in spoil tips or if the quarry was by the coast, simply dumped in the sea. ==Industrial remains==