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I am new to this group so a few words to introduce myself. I am a retired civil engineer and a member of a number of caving and mining societies. I live close to the freestone underground quarries at Box in Wiltshire UK and have some knowledge of them. I have just returned from a rainy holiday in Alsace and was lucky enough to be invited to spend a working day in Schauinsland mine over the border in The Black Forest. In a niche at the top of one of the shafts was an efigy of Saint Barbara who, I was told, is the patron saint of miners in that area. Does anyone know the history of Saint Barbara and if she has that role in other countries? Mike Breakspear %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%