Wednesday, June 4, 2003

Good Morning. The weather - it got back to normal somewhat, yesterday. The day began with a heavy overcast, and a few very dark clouds that looked capable of giving off quite a downpour. The only thing that materialized was a bit of drizzle and by mid-afternoon the sun was out again. This morning the sun is playing "hide and seek" with the clouds. The one small desk here in our cottage sits next to a large plate glass door leading onto the back garden, so when the sun temporarily wins out in this game it gets a straight shot at anyone sitting here, especially early in the morning when at low angle. Guess I had best draw the curtain a bit if I want to get this finished.

Yesterday I took Dave up to the old mine adit where we are getting out scrap rail. The site is up hill a ways from the cottage and looks to have once been quite an operation. I saw at least two still intact stone-arched tunnels, along with the ruins of a sizeable building and about a dozen ore washing stalls. Thee mine must have employed a sizeable crew when it was at its peak of production in the latter 19th century. The rail we are after was put in during the early 1970s by a couple of fellows who were after fluorspar. It doesn't look like they ever found much. The reason we have to go into an old muddy adit to salvage a bunch of old rail is because it is a light gauge - Dave says its 25 lb, which is ideal for the Rogerley. No one is using light gauge rail for anything any more so it is impossible to get new. Nothing like being an anachronism.

Dave had been elected to dig away the pile of much that fallen in the middle of the tunnel because of his stature. The overhead clearance on the adit is likely five feet at best, which would have made the task rather uncomfortable for someone of Byron's height. After dropping Dave off, I wandered around the site taking photos, of which one is included here as today's postcard.

I then headed down the valley to the Mill Race to rendezvous with my first mine tour group for the season - Steve and Trina, a couple of young geologists and collectors from the US who are in the UK for a quick vacation. Steve, who currently tracks satellites for the Air Force (do you think many geologists actually have work in their fields these days?) seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself crawling around the mine, and said that none of his buddies back home could fathom why anyone would want to visit a wet muddy hole in the ground for a vacation. Takes all types, doesn't it?

Drove them back to the Mill Race after the tour and had a quick chat with Mary about doing a small website for them. Mary has been trying to get one up since we were here last year but says the time is hard to come by. Running a pub/restaurant/hotel that is open 7 days a week all year this is no wonder. She seemed pleased with the home page layout I had thrown together, so I'll have to get back there to take some more photos of the interior in the next few days.

Back at the mine, I found Byron loading out some tubs of wrapped specimens. He had been collecting in the West Cross Cut most of the day and, as usual, had produced a pile of specimens. Unfortunately, the roof in the alcove where he had been working is beginning to look (and behave) a little suspect, so he decided to get out of there. I helped him clear the majority of the day's catch out of the area and load up the company car. Hopefully the roof will stabilize itself - if we put a support timber in, it will be difficult to collect around it in the small space.

Yesterday was Sarah's first day with us, and after getting her started cleaning specimens in the garage Jonina headed off on a round of errands, including a stop at the Safeway in Consett. Evidently the store management there is of the opinion that if they re-arrange the layout of the store on a constant basis it will somehow improve sales. As a result, whenever one of us goes shopping, nothing is where it was the last time we were there. The only result of all this, as far as I can tell, is that it takes us longer to find what we want than it should.

Today Byron and I will be going up to the old adit to help Dave pull rail. Dave says it is in 20-foot lengths so we will likely have to cut it before driving it out. No one has a vehicle that will transport something that long. Shorter lengths will be easier to use at the mine in any event. I think Jonina has another day in the garage planned, trying to make a dent in the now accumulating tubs of specimens.

Forward in all directions…

Cheers,

Jesse, Byron and Jonina

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