I'll not forget the sunday evening one summer, when Si Hughes and I attended one cow down a 20ft shaft - it was on the old workings of Penybanc mine above Erglodd, at Talybont. It turned out to be a difficult job. It was "the right way up" on attempt #1: Si got it well trussed up - full body harness pretty much, but it panicked and thrashed about so much coming up that it freed itself and went back down head-first and upside-down. The farmer suggested the best thing would now be to go back down and shoot it on euthanasia grounds, but I thought, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and abbed back in and thinking "**** or bust because otherwise it will die anyway" clove-hitched its thrashing back legs with big tape slings, arranged the ropes, got out and gave the thumbs-up to haul. The air had by then gotten pretty vile down there so it was now-or-never. Up she came and boy did she kick off when she reached the grass. Some months later the farmer took me to see her and her calf - both looked well and content with the world. She (the cow) never bloody thanked me, mind!