WHEELS (22/08/09)

Stopping tonight at Yont The Cleugh, was passing and saw the sign. Well one would have to wouldn't one? It's pronounced Yont The Kloof and apparently means over the valley. Please bear in mind that this information came from a young lady of whom I had to enquire twice to elicit her name.

OVERSHOT WHEEL......This is the overshot water wheel at Park Level Mine Weardale. Don't worry this is my Arty interpretation (goes down well in certain quarters!). Realists will be catered for later..... Back mining again.... No apologies. To quote W. H. Auden;

'Tramlines and slagheaps, pieces of machinery, That was and still is, my ideal scenery.'

Were I to have been christened Wystan Hugh then W.H. would have done nicely! Like him I can't resist scrap and landscape. Unlike him I'm not a poet.

ORE TUB.......This mine has been very well restored as a tourist attraction, I suspect, that although it operated from 1853 until 1910 some of the artifacts were imported from elsewhere in Weardale and Allendale.

TUBS? BARRELS?.. WHEELBARREL? Anorexia... sorry Dyslexia strikes again.......Not wheels but approximately circular. Lots of barrels around, must be Victorian empties. They are but empty gunpowder casks.

TUB......I think these are wonderful. Least I hope so because there are more.

Well we all know what these are or we think we do.....Knowing my luck they are Dollies! The gated entrance is the adit and the masonry will be of this standard for a mile or more. STOPPED FAST?.....Definitely Fast. The observant will note that the majority are of this type. All were pulled from the mine in pairs by a pony.

NO WHEELS......This had shafts and was a pony cart.

That's it for today, lovely sunny day, bit of a nip in the air but no complaints... For once! Wait till tomorrow, the forecasters are promising rain. Need it mind you, I noticed that by lunchtime the water table had dropped dramatically, I had to stamp really hard to raise a splash, and I'm at a thousand feet above sea level.

For those interested I bought two books £2.99 each.

Insects Of Britain and Europe ISBN 978 0 00 781019 2

Butterflies and Moths of Britain and Europe ISBN 978 0 26 167404 2

Both in the Collins Nature Guide series RRP £8.99 each.