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Chris Don't be put off publishing, from a personal point of view I think we all have something to add, of course it is only right to be as accurate as possible. My wife bought the book in question for me, but I've only dipped in and not been grabbed, I'll have a closer look later, but I expect that it covers areas which I know very little of. As for costs at the National Archives, book into one of the B & Bs at Kew and take your camera. They aren't that expensive and Kew is a very nice place, you only get distrubed by flights into Heathrow on alternate nights. With a camera you can photograph all you like for free. You do need two hands though from time to time. Ian In a message dated 26/08/2011 19:09:26 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Dear List I have not seen the publication in question so can’t comment on its content. What I would like to point out is that information in the public domain varies quite considerably regarding the same mines in some cases of Devon’s mining past. Newspaper reports, often hyped up to entice potential shareholders to part with their hard earned cash differ from company records found in Public Record Offices. Facts and figures quoted are sometimes different to the Official Returns… it’s hard to believe some of the newspaper reports as well as the Mining Journal reports. I know that the editors only published with good intent the information supplied. In my personal opinion if two well-known academics (Peter & Roger) have reviewed the publication and have made their observations known, then there are discrepancies, which may deter the mining enthusiast from purchasing it. Maybe the author didn’t use all available material at the time of research. If that’s the case then personally I feel that future authors should take note, and access all available material before their research is put into a publication. I have been pondering on writing a book on Devon’s tin mining in the 19th century. I am concerned that I might not be able to access all material due to the high cost of photographs and photocopies of material from Public Record Offices. I sent a request to the National Archives and received a telephone number… or that’s what I thought it was, until I read it was their price for the material I’d requested. The articles requested were from the Board of Trade listed on their website for a number of tin mines of Devon. So that was that … Kindest regards Chris Kelland