Just a little anecdote passed on to me some years ago by a founding member of the Ironbridge museum Trust. The mine is one of the few exhibits in its original location and its shaft had been filled in soon after the mine closed. When the decision was made to recreate the mine for the museum the shaft had to be cleared. Unfortunately it was discovered that, from about 25 foot down, the shaft contained the remains of many cows. It later transpired that a local farmer had taken advantage of the filling of the shaft to dispose of the corpses of a number of diseased cows! (Clearly no DEFRA in them there days). I believe that the crew doing the work had to be inoculated against the possibility of disease. (Anthrax was mentioned to me but not confirmed).Gulp !

Photograph:

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