Form 6 Visit Killhope Lead Mining Centre

(05 July 2010)

Instead of joining in Familiarisation Day at Bow, Form 6 went on a visit to Killhope Lead Mining Centre in Weardale. We left school armed with waterproofs, warm clothes and a packed lunch.

An hour later we split into three groups and joined our guides for the day. We would each get a chance to do four activities. First we went to the living quarters where we saw the extremely cramped conditions the miners lived in during their working week. Some of the children tried on costumes from Victorian times.

Next we had our trip down the mines. We had to be kitted out in wellingtons and hard hats, as well as a lamp. Once we were through the entrance to the mine we had to wade through the constant stream of water. At one point we had to bend almost double because the ceiling was so low. We arrived at one of the work places, put out our lights and saw the very dark working conditions. We tried out some of their equipment to see how heavy it was. Walking further on we saw where they sat to eat their lunch and the ‘thunder box’, or toilet, which had to be cleaned out each evening and brought back in the morning. After seeing other parts of the mine it was back wading through the water to the entrance. Lunch followed.

The third part of the trip involved looking at how the water level in the mine was controlled and how the lead ore was crushed. Finally we made it to the washing floor where boys as young as ten years old earned some money by breaking up large rocks containing the lead and generally sorting through pebbles, stones and grit to collect as much lead as possible. Nothing was wasted.

Finally, we had the compulsory trip to the shop and then we left for school, arriving back just on home time. It was a very enjoyable trip and the children were well praised by the Killhope staff for their behaviour, their questions and their general demeanour.

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Monday, 06 September 2010

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