One last reminisce - I was brought up in Leeds and Mum used to scour the steps
and window sills like everyone else. In our neighboruhood it was the style to
scour the step edges and a square patch at either end . I can remember that
new technology came in and some households painted their steps in the same
positions. The ladies who did this were rather looked down on for their
perceived idleness but eventually most households went over to painting the
steps. Scouring stone was very light and porous. If anyone wants to buy
some now, I recently saw some on sale in the chemists shop at Haworth nr
Keighley, Yorks.
One presumes it was also used at sea:
For six days shalt thou labour
and do all that thou art able.
On the seventh, holystone the decks
and scrape the anchor cable.
Regards
Richard Smith
[log in to unmask] (Peter Claughton) on 27-05-2000 11:10:17
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Subject: Early 'hearthstone' mining or quarrying
Can anyone help with the query below? The material I believe they are
interested in is the soft stone used for whitening hearths and steps -
commonly used in industrialised areas in the 19th century, and I can
remember my grandmother using the same - but is there evidence for its
extraction in the pre-industrial periods?
I have a nagging suspicion that I have seen something recently on
hearthstone working - perhaps in one of the mining interest group
newsletters - but, with usual efficiency, cannot but my hand on the reference.
Peter
>This is going to sound like a strange request, but I'll ask anyway. I
>am a librarian at Heim Middle School, in Williamsville, New York (near
>the city of Buffalo, on the US/Canadian border).
>We are trying to do some research on a mineral called "hearthstone." In
>particular, we are trying to find out how far back the mineral was used
>or known (including mining or quarrying), and if it was known by this
>name in the middle ages or the renaissance.
>David Saia, Heim Middle School <[log in to unmask]>
______________________________________________
Peter Claughton, Blaenpant Morfil, Rosebush, Clynderwen,
Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. 01437 532578; Fax. 01437 532921; Mobile 07831 427599
University of Exeter - Department of History
School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/
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