 |
 |
Hi Listers With all the Whims I have come across in the Australian Bush, one thing is quite clear- the 'U' shaped yoke within which the horse is harnesed is quite free to rotate, so it is quite possible that idear was imported from the old country, possibly by the Cornish Miners?? Hope this helps. Take Care. Roger B Bradford, Of Elizabeth, South Australia. Ps Ex Hon' Project Officer for the S.A National Trust At Moonta Mines. -----Original Message----- From: Ian Forbes <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thursday, June 12, 2003 7:14 AM Subject: Re: horse winding >Dear list > >A friend has asked me to post the following query, about horse winding >underground. A horse whim was a simple and often crude structure, where >the only method of reversing the winding was to turn the horse(s) round, so >they walked in the opposite direction. The action of turning the horse >around must have needed considerable extra space beyond the diameter of the >horse circle. This would be no problem where the whim was at the surface, >but for winding from an underground station with a horse, space was clearly >at a premium - and would have cost money to make the winding chamber larger >than was strictly necessary to accommodate the horse circle. >So, the question is - has anyone ever come across any evidence (in situ or >documentary) of a gearing mechanism on a horse winder underground used to >reverse the direction of winding without turning the horse around? And if >so, how exactly did it work? >Ian