Martin,
> Frazers I used to know quite well
>and it is absolutely classic hard rock mining as it used to be. Is there any
>serious interest or will these be levelled as effectively as most other
>recent mine closures?
>
>It seems bizarre to me to be fascinated by the remains of 16th or 19th
>century mines yet to stand by and let these more recent operations
>completely vanish - which they will do very rapidly.
I would agree that we should be interested in recent hard rock mining but,
with the underground operations being the most interesting feature of such
mines, are we talking about maintaining access through continued drainage of
workings below the water table?
As regards the surface operations - the Americans have managed to preserve
the milling operation at Silverton, Colorado and such a scheme might be
possible for surface features in the UK given generosity on the part of the
mine owners, co-operation on the part of the local planners and the
committment in resources, particularly time, by local interest groups. Go to
America's Mining Heritage - http://www.cr.nps.gov/crm - and look at Volume
21, No.7 (1998), Beverly Rich, The Mayflower Mill - Reclamation and Re-use,
for details of the American experience.
Much depends on the local authorities' concept of landscape in areas
increasingly dependent on tourism as a major source of income.
Peter
______________________________________________
Peter Claughton, Blaenpant Morfil, Rosebush, Clynderwen,
Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. 01437 532578; Fax. 01437 532921; Mobile 0831 427599
University of Exeter - Department of History
School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/
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