 |
 |
Underground Clwyd / The Armchair Explorer’s Guide / A pictorial expedition into the nether regions of Northeast Wales by Cris Ebbs. December 2000. 72 pp 64 B&W photos, 3 colour photo on front and rear covers. SB £9.95* The sub title Armchair Explorers’ Guide is very apt as this book depicts many mines which I am never likely to visit. They have either collapsed,been filled in or are just too difficult to get to. So instead of diving a sumped passage or abseiling down a 400 foot shaft Cris takes one on an underground journey from the comfort of one’s own armchair. The book is conveniently divided up into 6 sections: stone mines, slate mines, collieries, lead mines, bone caves and sporting caves. In an ideal world each section would warrant one or more books each, but Cris has condensed this down in to one gem of a book by selecting the best photograph for each topic, often calling upon other photographic experts to provide some of their best photographs. For example Martyn Farr provides a superb shot of the limestone mines at Hendre. Here, there is a massive pillar and stall passage, nearly 100 foot high and invisible to the ordinary caver with his everyday caving light. But Martyn has somehow managed to illuminate this passage and show its true size with seemingly minute figures for scale. Other memorable photos are the Suspension Bridge in Moel Ferna, the 5.75 ton Howitzer in Grange Caverns and the heavily scaffolded entrance to Gas Pot. A memorable collection of photographs and an essential addition to every mining historian’s book shelf. TO * I got my copy from Mike Moore: [log in to unmask] _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.