Hi,
Has anyone else read the children's book "The Lost Mine", by Pamela Grant - published by Oxford University Press in 1996? It is, in my opinion, a superb story set in Middleton in Teesdale in 1870 and centres on the friendship between Jamie Shields, a 13-year-old washer lad on the dressing floor at Coldberry Mine, and Iona Vipond, the young daughter of the local vicar.
Jamie suffers from claustrophobia and is dreading his 14th birthday as he will be forced to start working underground from that point, Iona is haunted - literally - by the ghost of a Roman Legionary, an ancestor of hers, who was murdered over a silver mine when the Romans were in the area. A chance encounter on the fell above the town leads to a friendship between the 2 as they both try to overcome their fears - Jamie's claustrophobia and Iona's loneliness and fear of not being able to help her restless ancestor. Eventually, combined with Jamie's older brother and sister - Jack and Mary - and Iona's freelance lead miner brother - Joshua 'Jos' Vipond - the long-lost mine is discovered during a storm, although Jos and Jack are nearly killed by the local LLC Mine Agent, Mark Duncan, who has been fueding with Jos over the mine, and later, Mary as well.
The grittyness of the life of the lead miners at the time is not ignored. Jamie's mother died during childbirth before the start of the story, and his father is dying from 'Miner's Disease' during the book - he dies just after Christmas. The lack of other employment in the town for Jamie is the real cause of his fear of going underground - he knows that he has no choice once he is 14. Iona seems to be ignored by her family, except her brother, as they think of her as witless or mad due to her connection to the ghost of their long-dead ancestor.
If you have not read this book, please check it out! All the locations in it can be found in Middleton today, which made for an enjoyable day's exploration when I did it a few year's ago 🙂
Chris