A suggestion has been made that it might be a good idea to have a conference
with a theme of the life and Death of an Engine House. The idea would to
bring together all the people with knowledge on the workings of these
magnificent buildings. To consider why they were constructed in such a way,
choice of Engines, how they were maintained, how the Engines were removed
and how are they preserved - obviously there are many other aspects that be
drawn out
Also like myself many people may understand the basics but would like to
learn a lot more and I would hope that post conference the papers can be
published.
I have considered where this could be located and feel that the South
Shropshire Ore field has quite a range of buildings, is in a fairly
compact location and easy to get to. A number of these buildings are in
various states of preservation and do require quite of bit of
interpretation. In addition there are various locations within reasonable
driving distance which can offer alternative sites including a working steam
pumping engine. My idea would be to have a mixture of lectures, seminars and
surface visits.
I have discussed the possibilities of organising this with Officers from
the Shropshire Mines Trust who in principal are willing to host the event
assuming there is sufficient interest in this project. No dates have been
set but along weekend mid May 2005 would seem an ideal time.
I would like to establish if there is sufficient interest in an event of
this kind and as a straw poll would be grateful if Members could let me have
their thoughts on this
I look forward to hearing from in due course and thank you for any help you
may wish to offer.
Cheers
Mike
For Mining, Caving, IA and Geology Books new and secondhand see my website
http://www.moorebooks.co.uk
British Mining Database <http://www.ap.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bmd/bmd.htm>
Shropshire Mines Trust <http://www.ap.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/smt/smt.htm>
Snailbeach Mine <http://www.ap.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/sbeach/sbeach.htm>
Tankerville Mine <http://www.ap.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/tank/tank.htm>
Friends of Bersham Colliery <http://www.ap.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bct/bct.htm>
Caves & Mines of Cyprus <http://a4.012webpages.com/cyprus/cyprus.htm>
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