I am by no means a good photographer let alone an expert in mining
photography. I do however have an anecdotal reference to underground
mining photography.
On the reverse of one of the photographs I have, (taken in Lightmoor
Colliery, Forest of Dean by my ancestor Arthur Bernard Clifford), there is a
hand-written note which states "I am sorry that this one turned out so
poorly, due to a miscalculation of the flash powder........."
The picture was sent by Arthur to his father and is one of a series of
underground shots ( I have 37 of them) taken by Arthur at the time. The
picture to which this note relates is a shot of timbers breaking under
pressure in an area of the mine.
I understand that the Forest of Dean pits were not gaseous but this does
prove that using a flash device for photography was allowed there at that
time (circa 1920)
Phil Clifford
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Vickers" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 5:45 PM
Subject: Re: [MINING-HISTORY] Mining Photography
> Unless the regulations have changed in recent years (and I have to admit
to
> not being up to date on this), the principle used to be that no
rechargeable
> battery could be made of flameproof construction as the batteries must be
> able to breathe. Cap lamp batteries were not of flameproof construction,
> they were deemed to be safe because of the method of construction and use.
> Likewise loco batteries were not of flameproof construction.
>
> I do recall some photography being carried out underground in the 1950s
and
> 60s using a power supply and lighting unit which was of flameproof
> constructions. The complete unit was about 0.75 m x 0.75m x 0.75m and was
> quite heavy, consequently it was not used very much. This may be the main
> reason why there was not too much underground photography carried out in
> safety lamp mines at that time.
>
> Alan Vickers.
>
>
>
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