Adrian,
Thanks for the reminder on NAMHO's code of practice for artefacts.
One interesting artefact group which we recently discovered was a hoard of
empty whisky bottles stashed behind some old timber in a crosscut. The
bottles were relatively modern in so far as they were machine made with metal
external screw closures (as today) and paper labels.
The mine where they were discovered was worked initially by the London Lead
Co up to ca 1900, then intermittently until just after WW2.
I mentioned this discovery to a friend who worked in the mine at that time
and he suggested that they were hidden there by one of the team (also
suggested a name!!) who rehabilitated the mine after WW2, especially since
their hiding place was behind a pile of cleared debris, and that whilst the
mine was working in that period, all manriding was done on a diesel loco and
nobody ever got off half way. Indeed my friend could remember every detail
of the horse level (which helped enormously with our explorations) but had no
idea whatsoever of the branch levels beyond the gleam of his carbide lamp.
Thus, artefacts and their context have helped us flesh out the recent history
of an important mine.
I would prefer not to disclose the location of the mine for the moment.
MARK
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