Victorian Slate Mining; A social and economic study; I. W. Jones,
Landmark Collector's Library, Landmark. 2003; 142pp. £15 95, HB.
Another new title from Landmark's admirable, 'Collector's Library',
there is obviously a market for Welsh slate mining books, the latest in
this burgeoning genre takes as its theme the 1893-4 Parliamentary
investigation into the conditions then prevailing in the Merionethshire
slate mines and the Llechwedd Mines in particular.
The eminent Cornish photographer J. C. Burrow was officially employed
to illustrate the Committee's work and, unknown to this reviewer, the
owner of the Llechwedd mines took the opportunity to employ him in a
private capacity to produce a series of lantern slides illustrating
underground and surface scenes of the mines, these, in addition to many
other contemporary photographs are reproduced here. From memory
Burrow's photograph(s) used in the final Committee's Report is/are so
poorly reproduced as to be almost useless, caused, again from memory,
by the poor quality of the paper used to print the report. However, as
befits Landmark's attention to quality the photographs are superbly
reproduced here.
The author examines the evidence, conclusions and recommendations
reached by the committee and he also provides a brief synopsis of the
Llechwedd mines under the ownership of the Greaves family, one of whom
was appointed as a member of the 1893 Departmental Committee.
For anyone who has an interest in Welsh slate mining this book will
surely find a place in their library, it also bears the distinction (?)
of being the first mining history tome to include an underground
photograph (not by Burrow's!) of a scantily-clad 'Page Three' model-
further comment would appear to be superfluous!
Pete Challis
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