Marblaegis Mine.

[John]

Shane, I thought I'd share this with you. Can't recall the numbering on the belts, but think the gantry was No1, drift No2 etc.
Well where you turn under the No3 belt after reaching the drift bottom, you walk a couple of yards then turn left on the parallel walking road to the belt road. Just on your right is an old small air door, more an access door to the old workings.
Just behind that door is an old diesel loco, narrow guage and I think either a two or three cylinder engine, I also think it's an old Ruston. It is a "inertia start", there is a handle which spins a flywheel, then when it's up to speed you throw a clutch to engage the starter with the flywheel of the engine.
It had been there years when I worked there, so suspect it's still there.

[John]

Here's one of those stories, but it's true!
As you are aware, you don't have a lot of surface cover over you down there. One area they were working, almost level with the Bunny entrance, but on the opposite side of the mine, working at right angles to the main face line. Shotfirers almost always used to fire more than 100 rounds in one firing off the Beethoven batteries, sometimes they'd get away with 200!!
We were getting complaints from tennant farmers above us that their cows were panicing and running off, that milk production was going down and one farmers wife was claiming damages for a hutch that fell over and smashed her best china!
The shotfirer who was in that area had been called to the office a couple of times for "overcharging" headings, he was a pretty "dry" bloke about 6ft 2 tall, can't recall his name now.
Anyway, the insurance company wanted siesmic readings of the shotfirings, so times were set up as to when the area was to be fired.
The shotfirer was careful, he kept to the designated times, but only fired single headings, and made sure it was 50 to a round or thereabouts!
Not a lot showed up on the readings on the surface, but the company paid up to keep goodwill.
About a week afterwards things went back to normal! BOOM! ;D

[John]

There should be an old M&CS MC3 loader down that mine, retired by now!

[dazbt]

Using a Beethoven
"things went back to normal! BOOM!"
shouldn't that be more of a ;
Bubber ber bum bubber ber bum ............?

[John]

dazbt said:

Using a Beethoven
"things went back to normal! BOOM!"
shouldn't that be more of a ;
Bubber ber bum bubber ber bum ............?

Never could count delay shots Daz..

[brewtime]

John, the drift is no3, the junction at the bottom of the drift is sealed off to the right and to the left is a short run round for vehicle access. no3 extends by the junction by about 50 metres, never really looked around the pit bottom as most old roads are stopped off or those that are open, you wouldn't venture into due to the poor state of the roof. so the loco is probably still there

[John]

What a shame! We used to drive down the drift in a landrover and turn right under No4 jib end and then turn left up the transport road to the crusher/control room area. The old workshops used to be turn right when you got to the control room when I first started, then we moved the stores and workshops inbye a couple of miles about a year before I left. We were only a short walk to the Bunny drift, more of an addit though, from the "new" workshops.

[brewtime]

workshops still in same place, just travel a different roadway to get there.

[John]

brewtime said:

workshops still in same place, just travel a different roadway to get there.

Good grief, they've been there a long time now then!
I ripped the fence off the bridge leading into the workshops one night with a scooptram! I'd had to jerry rig the wiring to get it started on the face as half the wiring had got ripped out when a conduit bracket dropped off. I had to leave the battery drawers open and drive back real slow. I turned right giving plent of clearance for the battery drawers and got to close to the guard rails behind me. The more I tried to extracate myself, the more tangled I got!!
In the end time was getting short, I just said F it! And gunned the engine, ripped the whole lot our with the bucket.
I popped my head in the office at the lamproom and told Jack Nelson what had happened, I expected him to blow up, but no, he said "OK John, thanks for letting us know" then started laughing! ;D

[John]

I was a bit stupid there too, nowt's changed though ;D
I wondered how fast I could go in a Landrover, there was one stretch of road I got up to 60mph!!!
Scoop drivers managed 25mph on that stretch too!

[John]

Here's another one. Nightshift, about half way through, Jack Nelson came into the shop and asked me if I'd drive him outside to the powder mag and det mags as they were short of powder and dets on the face.
We'd loaded the back of the Landrover with boxes of trimenite, and he was loading the big leather det bags with dets, about four of them if I remember right. He signed the books to say how many he'd taken etc and threw the bags in the passenger side then climbed in.
I just happened to say it's illegal to carry dets and powder together in the same vehicle. He said, ahhh don't worry John, there'll be nowt to prosecute if this lot goes off. ;D ;D

[John]

This is one that I got the pee taken out of me for a long time! I lived on Clifton Estate, opposite the Comprehensive school on Farborough.
I decided I'd get my old pushbike out, afterall East Leake wasn't that far off! Hmmmmmm I soon found out!
I was on nights, so gave enough time and set off, snap bag round me neck and one of them wheel driven dynamos for lighting. I'd gone past Gotham and a car had past me and I wondered if my rear light was OK, so twisted my head to look back. MISTAKE!!!! I ran off the friggin road went heat over tits!!! Should have heard the expletives! I got up, brushed myself down, straightened the handlebars up and got back on the road again. Shoot, I did the same thing again a few yards down the road!! ;D I got to work alright, but went and blabbed what I'd done. By the time we got down the drift, everybody knew! Took me ages to live that one down.
I also found out it was uphill all the way from Gotham to Clifton! A hot sunny morning too, I needed a bath when I got home. First and last time I used the pushbike to get to work there!

[John]

I'm on a roll here now!
I'd been called outside one night, someting wrong with the belts on the surface. I took off in a Landrover drove up the drift, parked at the bottom of the gantry and got the belts going again.
On my way in, I thought, jeeze these headlights are crap, so I stopped, cleaned the dust off them, got back in and started down the road again. Still bad, so thought to myself I'd change the bulbs out when I got back to the shop. On the way, I took my glasses off and everything was really bright and clear!!! I'd got two tonnes of dust on the lenses!

[brewtime]

the last of the old land rovers consigned to the graveyard up the northeast last year , drive about in new Toyota pick ups now, lot warmer than the open top land rovers. not as good though. speedos disconnected on the scoops, stick to the speed limits

[John]

One of the other electricians who became charge hand, Bryan Can't recall his last name now, had the smelliest feet I've ever come across. His locker was next to mine in the showers. He would put his dirty socks on the bench and go for his shower. One of the other blokes would get a stick, open a window, and get the socks on the stick and toss them out the window, God they stunk!! He couldn't help it, he'd got a bad foot condition that he couldn't cure.

[John]

brewtime said:

the last of the old land rovers consigned to the graveyard up the northeast last year , drive about in new Toyota pick ups now, lot warmer than the open top land rovers. not as good though. speedos disconnected on the scoops, stick to the speed limits

They only used to keep the Landrovers for two years, then put them up for auction.
Roads must be higher than when I was there then, as there wasn't enough height to keep the cab and rear shell on them.

Renison Bell had Toyota's, they told me Landrovers couldn't handle their conditions at that mine.

[brewtime]

strange feeling when your flat out doing 6mph in an open top land rover with the roof only 4 foot above your head and solid pillars to your left and right

[brewtime]

roads 2.4 metres high

[John]

brewtime said:

roads 2.4 metres high

About the same then, there were some roads under six foot, mainly belt roads. But driving with that headroom and seven yards wide, makes for an exillerating ride at 60mph! Top speed was 14mph if I recall. Thats OK when you have a load of men in the back.

[limey]

A little off topic, but I worked for BPB Instruments that were (and still are, but under a different name) located at the East Leake site. We used to go to the works canteen for lunch - a hell of a lot better than NCB canteens!