Below 2013.4
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Quarterly Journal of the Shropshire Caving & Mining Club Winter Issue No: 2013.4 2014 BCA Handbook Mine Truck Vandalised The latest issue of the BCA At the NAMHO Council meeting in ‘furious’ over the situation, which Handbook is now available online at: November members were shocked to amounts to criminal damage and theft www.british-caving.org.uk hear of the vandalising of the and is threatening to withdraw The pdf is surviving intact truck in Lower Balls access to the mine. password Green Stone mine (Club members may protected to try have seen the truck on a visit to the Following this meeting, cavers from and protect the mine during NAMHO 2010). the Forest of Dean have suggested email addresses prosecuting the people concerned or listed from It was claimed that people involved at the very least forcing them to spammers. So to with the Moseley Railway Trust repair the truck. open it you will (associated with Apedale Heritage What adds to the disbelief in this need the Centre), who are building a replica of case is that the act has reportedly password: the truck needed certain parts for been carried out on behalf of a bcahandbook their replica, so they entered the mine preservation trust with the stated Open Access - Wales with battery powered tools and cut aims “Moseley Railway Trust exists off the bits they need from the to preserve, conserve and interpret The updated provisional open access original! maps for Wales are available online locomotives, vehicles and other at: http://tinyurl.com/kkhleaz The land owner is quite rightly artefacts pertaining to the industrial The updates have followed the legal narrow gauge railway”! 10 year review of Open Access areas Below: NAMHO Secretary Nigel Dibben beside the formerly intact Lower in Wales (the law has now been Balls Green Mine truck during NAMHO 2010. (Kelvin Lake - I.A.Recordings) changed so the areas are reviewed every 20 years to save money). The final ‘conclusive’ maps will be issued in September 2014. Descent “Below” 2013.4 1 News Round-Up 1 Ivor Brown Pit Profiles The Special Exhibition “Pit Profiles” In October Ivor Brown gave a talk in About 60 persons attended. The at Coalbrookdale has nearly ended. It the adjoining room, assisted by Shropshire Miners banner was again has proved quite popular, especially Kelvin Lake, on the persons on display, probably for the last time the small supplementary exhibition mentioned above and on the as it is now beginning to show its adding a local perspective. The Shropshire Pits of their time. This age. missing “portrait” of Coalbrookdale’s included portraits of “representative” to the collection has other miners, some still not been found, but the display taken underground in did include the original portraits of the 1960s, including Lawson Rope from Highley/Alveley representatives from Colliery and “Warwickshire Kemberton Pit, The representative” Frederick Morgan Rock, Shortwoods (who originally came from Highley). and Burgam. Left: Pit Profile image of Lawson Roper driving the winding engine. Right: The Shropshire Miners banner on display during Ivor’s talk. Broseley “Well” fall Reports appeared in local papers and 6ft down the 30ft to 40ft deep well the Daily Telegraph in October of a and contacted her employers on her Care worker who fell down a well mobile phone while hanging onto when the path collapsed as she was tree roots, they in turn alerted the taking rubbish out to the bin for an Fire Service. She was rescued elderly client. She landed on a ledge unharmed after 40 minutes. Steam Lorries H.A.L.Price of Dawley owned coal retired their steam wagon fleet and On 6th July 2012 the Shropshire Star and clay mines until about 1957. purchased a fleet of Bedford trucks printed the picture below (sent in by They also had a fleet of “Sentinel of (see photo in “Archive Photos - Ron Honeywell) of H.A.L.Price’s S4 Shrewsbury” steam waggons for South Telford” by J.Powell & others, tipping wagon purchased in 1933. haulage until the 1930s. page 38 and 39). In 1977 the derelict chassis of this The November 2013 issue of Local old miners told the writer in vehicle (UJ2112, Sentinel No.8843) “Vintage Glory” magazine contains a 1971 that in the end the steam was purchased by John Goold and picture of one of the waggons being waggons were used to carry ash from Family who eventually completed it’s used as a side-tipper for coal the site of the old Lawley Furnace for restoration back to its original body delivery. It also tells the story of how road construction. When the style of a working 3 way tipper. More industry was turning away from coal contract was finished they were details can be found on the Sentinel power to oil in the 1930s, miners were pushed in to the “quarry” and Drivers Club web site: unemployed, and demand for the covered over. When the writer www.sentinelwaggons.co.uk/ Sentinel waggons was falling. To get investigated the site it was covered preservation_stype.htm - click the their message to Parliament the by woodland. At least one lorry link to 8843 ‘The company parked two of the waggons seems to have escaped, the one Brown Waggon’ outside the Houses of Parliament mentioned in the magazine - with the messages “Every pound of this it says is now in fuel this vehicle uses means work, preservation. wages and comfort for British Men, women and children”, “British Does anyone feel Miners need work” and “for every 2 like digging in the Sentinel waggons put into service, Furnace site, to enough work would be provided for find the others? one additional miner”. The campaign failed - some months later H.A.L.Price 2 “Below” 2013.4 Tuesday Summer Walks 2013 Mike Shaw 25th June Having seen all the findable portions 30th July Bad planning left the proposed walk of this end of the flue we looked A week later what should have been to Calcot on 25th June short of round the mine site, this was partly the last of last years walks finally participants as several potential for the benfit of our visitor from took place, to Medlicott mine. ones were in Cornwall. Having Yorkshire, who had not been here cancelled arrangements to meet the before, and partly for us ‘locals’ to Beyond Murchison noting in 1839 owners of the mine one member see the reconstructed spiral classifier, that the Snailbeach company had joined me and we had a pleasant walk jig etc and the preparations for a been there, no history is known. We from adjoining Cliffdale mine to building to cover it. were joined by Ian Langford who had Roundtain where we scrambled up to previously visited the site in the the adit entrance and looked at the The evening was rounded off with a 1970s. His memory was that there had site which an information board says visit to the Stiperstones Inn where been a ‘hole’ which looked more like was the mine site, this may possibly introductions were made to people stoping than a shaft in a farmyard to have been quarried or may just be who owned some of the land to be the south of the road SO 3995 9462, covered in natural scree but there covered in the following week’s the lie of the land was convincing were no clear signs of mining. walk. though the ‘hole’ had been filled. Adjoining it was a concrete retaining 16th July 23rd July wall of some age and though After a break six of us met at That following week we started at the presumably of agricultural origin it is Snailbeach on 16th July and walked smelter where much propping and very tempting to try and suggest that down the top part of the flue which clearance has been done and it could date from the short-lived served the smelter and the pumping maintained. The route of the flue is copper ‘boom’ c1917-1920. It would engine’s boilers. Most of the smelter known in a general sense but it is actually be surprising if miners had flue is now no more than a ditch, but only apparent as a ditch in places. not looked at this mine both then and the flue joining it from the boiler during a similar boom in the 1860s, house is still partially intact (and part A chance meeting with Andy Yapp but enough dangerous speculation. covered by a by now poorly fitting gained us an invitation to cross a grid) sufficient for a member of the field to see a very short length of its The visible remains are to the north party (Sally Bassham) to crawl a brickwork. Other small portions of the of the road and look to follow a vein short way in (see picture below). flue are known to survive. from the top of the hill behind the ruins of the Manor House down to Below: View inside the flue. Right: The small entrance (covered with a log) into the remains of the flue in a field near Andy Yapp’s house. Right: View into the remains of the flue, now largely back- filled. Pictures: Kelvin Lake - I.A.Recordings “Below” 2013.4 3 Tuesday Summer Walks 2013 continued ... the stream SO 3995 9475. There is certainly an adit and (re-graded) spoil run by the stream and probably an adit and small spoil run above it. Quite a number of malachite stained rocks were found at both spoil runs along with a bit of barytes and a speck of what was said to be bornite - Nick Southwick and Ian Langford has a lengthy discussion on bornite at this point! The 1902 1:2,500 map shows a shaft at the top of the hill of which we found no sign other than disturbed ground.