sparty_lea
16 years ago
Does anyone know where the wood came from for these bridges, or what type it is?

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-038[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-038[/linkphoto][/link]
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Peter Burgess
16 years ago
I have no idea, but I believe the baulks of timber for use at Devon Great Consols were of such a size that they had to be imported from Scandinavia or North America. Or is that a myth? If that was true then maybe a similar source was required for these bridges.
sparty_lea
16 years ago
Their sheer size certainly made me wonder if they were imported. Wherever they came from it would have been quite a job moving them around.
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AR
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16 years ago
I'm sure I've seen reference to the favoured wood for pump rods being Canadian pitch pine. Certainly, it would be far easier to source extremely large timbers from virgin forest in Canada or Scandinavia than it would be from the UK - one reason the Forestry Commision was set up was to address the over-reliance on imported timber, particularly for pit props.
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Dolcoathguy
16 years ago
I thought they used cedar in some parts of South Crofty.
I have some left over off cut bits of timbers from South Crofty left by the previous owner of my house from the 1970's. they are a bright orange-red colour.
I don't know if it was popular in other mines.
Is it safe to come out of the bunker yet?
sparty_lea
16 years ago
Just came across this while rootling though a 1940s book on mine timbering

Oak- Pit wagon underframes, soles, splendons, buffers, also as lagging for haulage and winding drums.
Ash- Lockers and sprags for pit wagons, brake sticks, shot hole stemming rods, and pony shafts or limmers.
Elm- Sump timbers, wagon controllers and squeezers, wagon boards, underground ventilation doors and frames, but the last named are usually preferred in soft wood.
Poplar- Brake blocks and tram boards.
Softwood including Pine, Larch, Fir etc Pit Wagon boards, ventilation doors, and frames, battens for covering underground haulage wheels etc.
Pitch Pine- Shaft guides, spear rods, sump baulks, and shaft timbers at the surface and landings or shaft insets, also headgear and wheel frames.

Maybe Pitch Pine should include 'bridge timbers'
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sparty_lea
16 years ago
Got a new problem now

What on earth is a splendon??
There are 10 types of people in the world.

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AR
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16 years ago
Judging by what comes out of a google search, something to do with kitchen furniture! :blink: Nothing on Wikipedia either....
Follow the horses, Johnny my laddie, follow the horses canny lad-oh!
simonrl
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16 years ago
"sparty_lea" wrote:

Got a new problem now

What on earth is a splendon??



As it's in with other wagon bits it must be wagon / rail related... Where's merddinemrys when you need him!
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
carnkie
16 years ago
One important aspect of the deforestation of Cornwall was use of timber in Blowing Houses for charcoaling. As early as the 16th century considerable journeys were made looking for suitable wood. Expeditions were sent to the Dartmouth forests and in addition to this large quantities were imported by sea from the New Forest.
The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.
Vanoord
16 years ago
I've often wondered how the beams got down there: they are pretty massive and the process of getting them to the incline head and then lowering them and manhandling them into place wouldn't have been easy.

From what I've seen further along the back vein, I'd not be surprised if the beams were put in place while the floor below them was still there, albeit dropped enough to allow the bridge beams to be put in place - that seems a lot easier than trying to put them in place when there's 50' of air under them.

That may also permit more accurate dating of the bridges, ie they could be dated by when the floor below was developed.
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
simonrl
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16 years ago
I think some are made up of overlapping layers aren't they? Rather than one huge beam that is.
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
Vanoord
16 years ago
"simonrl" wrote:

I think some are made up of overlapping layers aren't they? Rather than one huge beam that is.



Aaaaaaaah!

:light comes on in Vanoord's head:
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
grahami
16 years ago
I believe the Oakeley bridges were pitch pine - certainly the mill roof beams were. (And the latter were solid!) There should be a reference in the 1895 Slate Mines Enquiry - but I can't put my finger on it at the moment.

Grahami
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ian S
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16 years ago
there was a lot more big timber standing in the 1800s than there is now and i would dare bet Douglas Fir was widely used because of it's growth rate,size and strength
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ditzy
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16 years ago
spoke to jd about his specialist subject of wood n it uses
he says that the big bridge timbers are honduras pine from there but were also grown ib s of france but woodnt have got big enogh there
he says pitch pine is not one tree but lots of different ones bur never big enogh for bridging and can also get pitch tar from hinduras pine

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