Off to the sea side again tomorrow but feel the need to give Park Level Mine another blogging.
ROPE WHEELS.......These must be imports as they look like the rope wheels from the head gear of a shaft mine. This is an adit mine, similar in conception to a drift mine. The latter is is associated with minerals which lie in a horizontal plane, most commonly coal. Lead and most other metals lie in the vertical plane.
Whatever or wherever their texture appeals to me.
Winning the ore bearing rock is only half the business, separating the lead ore is another problem, solved here by using gravity. The rock is crushed and then sieved or as miners say screened to produce pieces approximately of a uniform size. Originally separation was a matter of young boys hand picking ore bearing rock crushing it with hammers and then using hand jigs to separate the lead. A mesh box was filled with the rock and ore and plunged repeatedly in a tank of water. As the water was forced through the rock and lead, the mixture was momentarily suspended, lead being the heavier settled to the bottom.
HAND JIG
POWERED JIGS......The principle is the same, an eccentric drives a plunger into water in the first box. the water is forced through a slot in the bottom into the second box which contains the rock and lead...... Darker than Hades in here, ISO 2000 solved that wee problem.
EARLY PERMENANT WAY.......I am a pedantic buffoon, it's a railway. Construction comprising an iron wear plate on a timber support, laid on timber sleepers with iron tie rods. In an attempt to drive you further to distraction I did search for some cast ways, non to be found.
SETTLING TANKS.....What remained after separation was a slurry which still contained small particles of lead. These settled out here and were shovelled onto Buddles which retrieved the remainder of the precious lead.
BUDDLES....A canvas conveyor over which the slurry was carried the lead settling to the bottom and being carried over the end whilst an adjustable scrapper removed the lighter rock sand particles.
THIRTY FOUR FEET IN DIAMETER .....This is the largest surviving working Armstrong overshot water wheel in the country and the image promised yesterday.
AND AGAIN....Unlike the Arty one, you can actually see what it is. Bit daft shooting such an important piece of our industrial heritage into the sun don't you think?
Aye! Not daft but Mad as a Sack of Spiders.
That's it for today. A slight worry engendered by site meter. The average page view takes 2.37 minutes. Say twenty people view this then simple mathematics tell me that I'm spending at least four times that per view. I enjoy it though and what else is one to do whilst the pubs are shut?
Really enjoyed the visit around the mine Adrian.
ReplyDeleteAnd excellent pictures too. Love that old pony cart in the previous post; doesn't seem to have fared as well as the kennel in the background though. lol
The settling tanks another favourite too.
Rust and old wood. It doesn't get much better than this.
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes it needs getting rid of, it's actually a hen house, cheers!
ReplyDeleteFascinating post and some great shots, Adrian. My favourites - the first of the rope wheels, the settling tanks and the waterwheel. I bet the one of the powered jigs wasn't easy - you've managed the lighting really well in what I suspect were difficult circumstances. Enjoy the seaside!
ReplyDeleteIt feels like cheating with digital, just rattled off a half dozen shots at different settings, and checked the results. I used to worry about high ISO but there are less noise problems than with slow speeds. All the best A.
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent trip. Thanks. And edificating too. I didn't know that lead and most other metals lie in the vertical plane. I never cease to be amazed by how much I don't know!
ReplyDeleteGB only if they are deposited by geothermal action and the fault lines lie vertically. Watch me! Your eyes could turn brown. We really need a geologist, to join the audience. I'll start tagging the posts. see if one can't be found.
ReplyDelete