In this video, we return to the ladders going up the raise in the mine first seen in episode 55. This time, with the kit to get up them. What mysteries do we find at the top?

Enjoy!

[youtube]Mvy9T6f2q4s[/youtube]

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If you dont mind some advice, a method I use is the climbers method of rope and running belays. You tie off a hard belay at the bottom, then while ascending clip the rope to attachment points as you ascend, if something goes this limits your fall to the distance between each attachment point. One has to use whatever is there, metal brackets or whatever, or take an 18V Makita up with you. These are the lightest and best for purpose according to popular opinion.
Of course, crumbly shale rains on ones parade somewhat.

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Thanks Roy,

I always appreciate advice. We did discuss bolting it but nobody had any training in this. The angle was relatively shallow so if the ladders had have gone, likely possible to slide down. The rope was more to assist with the last leap of faith and getting back down should the ladders go completely with somebody up there. We had descenders on us for this scenario. He had it tied to each individual section of ladders too.

Steve

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Of course, crumbly shale rains on ones parade somewhat.

Or if you are moderately unlucky, on your head and down the back of your collar.

Yes, not shown in the video, but we did remove some shake from tge top that could be knocked down by accident. Plus as you see, whole level is in shale, so much, even jono was complaining about too much shale that day lol.

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Too much shale. First world problem!

Good to see my steel ladders still holding up after 21 years, pity about the deterioration in the level - much worse now with all that shale spall.

Going Left (outbye) we had that wet arch totally drained - I put a bit of hose to divert a water trickle out of a stope, it must have blocked or failed.

Going Right (inbye) you turned back just short of the vein, by the look of it. There is no progress along the vein as the arch is totally crushed both ways, but there are the initials GP in white chalk, left by Prof. Granville Poole of English Lead Mines Exploration Ltd who surveyed many of the nearby mines in 1937 and who was ultimately responsible for re-starting production in the locality.

The mine manager was Capt. Higgins, an Irishman who had a fondness for onions. One of the miners, John Tom Tarn, was heard to remark "Blackdamp was bad enough, but Higgins' onions were worse!"

MARK

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John tom tarn was the underground foreman in the mine ,he was also my maternal grandfather one of the tales I heard was when doing his rounds if he found a piece of ore he would drop it in a certain disused ore hopper maybe for a rainy day?another miner got wind of what john tom was doing and ask him for the location of the hopper buy me a pint in the club says john tom and al show tha,no pint was forthcoming so no ore for tight miner who was that tight he would take a hand brush and small coal shovel to get the last bit of ore and dust to go in his tub:)

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The surname Tarn cropped up quite frequently during the research into Pike Law and there is a Tarn Streak running SW-NE across the top of the site. Having said that certain surname were quite prevalent in the Teesdale mining industry, including Pinkney :o

As regards careful ore gleaning there are still quite large chunks of galena lurking on the site a bit surprising how ruthless mineral collectors have been, so presumably that tight fist was not very adventurous.

Jim

Fascinating to hear that memory and conncetion, Dave. :thumbup:

Jim, regarding the Pinkneys, I recently discovered amongst family papers an employment reference handwritten in exquisite copperplate script by Mark - the LLC Chief Engineer whose photograph appears in Raistrick & Roberts.

MARK

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Jim regards to the name Tarn being common in Teesdale research has been carried to the history of the name,it seems they were german miners how came over in elizabethan times to cumberland and migrated to teesdale later on Tarn was spelt then as Tarne most of this information comes from the Tarn branch in USA:)

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