Last month I had been summoned to Edinburgh to do some sampling before the entire BGS (or rather, only that part of it which is located in Edinburgh; there's also a part near Nottingham) would move house. The timing was awkward but I agreed it was a good idea. And by now it has become very clear it was vital.
Later that December the move took place. But it's not an instantaneous thing. They're still at it! Thanks to the spiffing assistance of our lab tech we wizzed through the samples. I'm done now with these samples. But we can't get to the cores! The move is not done yet.
We also want to X-ray the cores. That is probably going to happen in late February. Let's hope by then we can get to the cores! And once we've X-rayed them we can sample the shit out of them. It means we cannot reasonably be done with them when we would like to, but hey ho, these things happen.
This lull means I have time for the upcoming teaching, my PGCertHE, and for processing the data we have. I'm making core logs for all cores we have sampled, or want to sample, and that's a lot of work. And it will be important to get things out of the way before that second, and enormous, wave of sediment will hit me!
01 February 2016
31 January 2016
Guy Fawkes' night
Guy Fawkes was a Yorkie. And in York, one does not celebrate the execution of a local! At least, that's what I read in "the History of York". I wasn't sure what to make of that; would they really not have fireworks night up here on the 5th of November? That would be quite some constraint. And now I know: yes they do have bonfire night up here; they just don't seen to burn effigies of Guy Fawkes... but there was a nice firework display on campus! I'm happy with the light and the noise, but not the bloodlust...
Picture by Abigail
30 January 2016
Exploring new ground again
If you're a mine explorer, you tend to pay extra attention to holes in the topography. We sometimes do trips to scout out holes that someone has seen during a leisurely walk through the countryside. And so we did last Sunday. A shaft, some adit and some stoping had been observed, and we wanted to have a look at it all. Some of these features were quite a way apart, so it would involve quite some walking around. The weather forecast was atrocious, but when we got to the parking place it turned out to be quite nice!
We had a nice walk past a stope that could only be dropped on a rope. We would leave this one for now. The we came to another stope which was a crawl-in. It looked promising, but there were bats there, so we left it for later in the season, when the bats would be on holiday. We continued down the hill, and passed a very wet adit. I lowered myself into it to see if it went; it turned out you could see that as well from the dam that kept the water in, without getting wet yourself. Oh well! But we walked on.
We then came to a little adit; this one only went a short distance. Then we tried a nearby stope; that didn't go far either. Then we figured it was a good time to have lunch. The weather was nice, the views were great, what more do you want? And we had to decide what to do next. I wanted to drop the shaft that had been mentioned, but David wanted to take Rich, our new recruit, to get to see some proper mine and not only a few trial adits. We decided to split up; half went off in the direction of the shaft, and the others in the direction of the entrance to a known through trip.
We decided to have a look at some work being done along the river, and then walk up to the shaft. It was quite a walk! When we got there I lay down to look in. It went a fair way! This looked promising. We started to rig.I was the first down. It was a bit of a challenging pitch; it wasn't quite vertical, and there was a lot of slosh that readily came down. Furthermore, a fully grown tree had ended up in the shaft, getting in the way and entangling the rope. I proceeded slowly!
We thought we had seen the bottom from the top, but that wasn't true; the shaft had a bit of a bend in it, and went further down. It went quite a way! And I didn't see any obvious way on but maybe there was a less obvious one. When I got to the bottom I unclipped from the rope. I saw there was a potential way on, down a rat hole at the bottom, but I was a bit weary about giving it a try. I couldn't communicate with the top, so any time someone would notice the slack rope and come down too. And throw who knows what on my head! There was pretty much nowhere to hide. I stuck my head in; it clearly went, but was the opening big enough? I'd wait for Edwyn. I wedged myself into the least exposed corner and waited for him.
Edwyn came down. As soon as I could hear him, I asked him to relay the message to the top that nobody else should come down until further notice; with nowhere to hide two people down was the maximum number. He yelled up and it seemed sorted.
Edwyn touched down, and I showed him the situation. I tried the squeeze; it felt unpleasantly tight. Not a good idea to get stuck! I retreated. Then Edwyn had a look, but he didn't want to go too far in. We decided to go back up. I went first. Edwyn suggested I go up to a side passage I had missed on the way down, get off the rope, and let him go up while I scouted it out. From there we could go up all the way. I set off. I was reminded of the fact my chest croll slips. It has lost some of its teeth! I had noticed before; in early December already, to be precise. I had failed to take action on it though. Now I regretted that. I went up awkwardly! But I got there. I got out of the rope. Within seconds I had seen the side passage didn't go any further. There was, however, a big clump of lead in it. Edwyn had commented on some mostly-buried lead at the bottom and that it would be worth a lot. Maybe he wanted this more accessible clump?
He came up. He liked the clump! I suggested he go up to the top while I tie the lead to the rope. And so we did. When I was up we teamed up to lug the lead up, de-rigged, and went back to the cars. There we changed, and waited for those who had done the through trip. It was quite pleasant! It may have been January, but I was happily lingering around in my T-shirt. And we had a good day to look back on! And after a while we saw lights. The others! They had had fun too.
The stope was had passed without dropping it was a good candidate for being on the other side of thew squeeze we had seen. It would be worth dropping that and seeing if that was indeed the case! We might even be able to make the passage bigger from the other side. Well worth the try!
We had a nice walk past a stope that could only be dropped on a rope. We would leave this one for now. The we came to another stope which was a crawl-in. It looked promising, but there were bats there, so we left it for later in the season, when the bats would be on holiday. We continued down the hill, and passed a very wet adit. I lowered myself into it to see if it went; it turned out you could see that as well from the dam that kept the water in, without getting wet yourself. Oh well! But we walked on.
A nice stroll in the countryside
We then came to a little adit; this one only went a short distance. Then we tried a nearby stope; that didn't go far either. Then we figured it was a good time to have lunch. The weather was nice, the views were great, what more do you want? And we had to decide what to do next. I wanted to drop the shaft that had been mentioned, but David wanted to take Rich, our new recruit, to get to see some proper mine and not only a few trial adits. We decided to split up; half went off in the direction of the shaft, and the others in the direction of the entrance to a known through trip.
We decided to have a look at some work being done along the river, and then walk up to the shaft. It was quite a walk! When we got there I lay down to look in. It went a fair way! This looked promising. We started to rig.I was the first down. It was a bit of a challenging pitch; it wasn't quite vertical, and there was a lot of slosh that readily came down. Furthermore, a fully grown tree had ended up in the shaft, getting in the way and entangling the rope. I proceeded slowly!
We thought we had seen the bottom from the top, but that wasn't true; the shaft had a bit of a bend in it, and went further down. It went quite a way! And I didn't see any obvious way on but maybe there was a less obvious one. When I got to the bottom I unclipped from the rope. I saw there was a potential way on, down a rat hole at the bottom, but I was a bit weary about giving it a try. I couldn't communicate with the top, so any time someone would notice the slack rope and come down too. And throw who knows what on my head! There was pretty much nowhere to hide. I stuck my head in; it clearly went, but was the opening big enough? I'd wait for Edwyn. I wedged myself into the least exposed corner and waited for him.
The tree in the shaft
Edwyn came down. As soon as I could hear him, I asked him to relay the message to the top that nobody else should come down until further notice; with nowhere to hide two people down was the maximum number. He yelled up and it seemed sorted.
Edwyn touched down, and I showed him the situation. I tried the squeeze; it felt unpleasantly tight. Not a good idea to get stuck! I retreated. Then Edwyn had a look, but he didn't want to go too far in. We decided to go back up. I went first. Edwyn suggested I go up to a side passage I had missed on the way down, get off the rope, and let him go up while I scouted it out. From there we could go up all the way. I set off. I was reminded of the fact my chest croll slips. It has lost some of its teeth! I had noticed before; in early December already, to be precise. I had failed to take action on it though. Now I regretted that. I went up awkwardly! But I got there. I got out of the rope. Within seconds I had seen the side passage didn't go any further. There was, however, a big clump of lead in it. Edwyn had commented on some mostly-buried lead at the bottom and that it would be worth a lot. Maybe he wanted this more accessible clump?
A cute mushroomed pine cone I found in the side passage
He came up. He liked the clump! I suggested he go up to the top while I tie the lead to the rope. And so we did. When I was up we teamed up to lug the lead up, de-rigged, and went back to the cars. There we changed, and waited for those who had done the through trip. It was quite pleasant! It may have been January, but I was happily lingering around in my T-shirt. And we had a good day to look back on! And after a while we saw lights. The others! They had had fun too.
The stope was had passed without dropping it was a good candidate for being on the other side of thew squeeze we had seen. It would be worth dropping that and seeing if that was indeed the case! We might even be able to make the passage bigger from the other side. Well worth the try!
28 January 2016
Another Welsh book
The new Pontio building is proud of its Welsh roots. They make quite a fuss of their row names in the cinemas and theater; they go A B C CH D E FF etc. And that's a bit of a gimmick, but they make more serious efforts to promote Welsh culture too. In February they host a play, in Welsh, about the big strike of the quarrymen in nearby Penrhyn Quarry (the one that now holds Zipworld Velocity). I didn't know about this strike, in spite of it being a rather big event in regional history.
It's a sad tale, really. In good old Victorian fashion, the quarrymen were not treated well. It seemed things got heated when the quarry didn't allow the union to collect fees from the quarrymen. The quarrymen went on strike. Spoiler alert: the strike lasted 3 years, brought many to destitution, emigration or an early grave, and it also devastated the reputation of Welsh slate. The quality of the product wasn't doubted, but one figured you could order some, only for the quarry to shut down due to a strike. That doesn't help. So in the end the quarrymen lost, the quarry owners lost, and the entire Welsh economy lost. In a way, it's a tale of why one should treat one's employees well; if that would have happened, maybe Penrhyn Castle, which was built with the money made fromt he quarry, would have been less flashy, but in the long run, everybody would have benefited. A wisdom that has not sunk in even more than 100 years later!
But what about the book? When I told my tutor Jenny I had received an invitation to go to the play, with whoever from my Welsh class who wants to go, she advised me to read the book. That's the biggest spoiler alert there is, of course, but she figured I would need my brain cells for struggling with the language, and reading the book might help me with that. If you see it as a language exercise then already knowing the plot doesn't matter. So I read it!
The story follows one specific family of which the father and the oldest son are strikers. The second oldest son has worked in the quarry too, but only for a short time, so he had lost his job before the strike started. You follow the family as they try to sit it out until the strike stops. They hope, of course, it's the quarry management that yields in the end, but it won't be. In the years in between, one son moves to the coal mines of South Wales; one finds employment as a journalist; and one goes offshore. The youngest goes nowhere; he's too young. He later dies. The daughter of the family is already doomed from the beginning as she ended up being made pregnant by, and thus having to marry, some alcoholic awful person who turns scab at the nearest opportunity. And while there clearly are opportunities, none of them are without their disadvantages; going offshore or into a coal mine are dangerous; a skilled quarryman would only be a semi-skilled coal miner, and journalists may be tempted to spend their money on drink rather than send it home to their struggling parents. A bleak book!
It wasn't the best book there is; it's clearly written for a young adult audience, and written in the seventies. What I liked, though, was that they had (purposefully, I suppose, given it played just after 1900) used rather old-fashioned language, to which I am not exposed very often (though certainly sometimes). It's good to see what language has been in order to know why it is nowadays the way it is. We'll see what the play is like! It's as good as sold out; clearly, there is a place for this kind of art!
It's a sad tale, really. In good old Victorian fashion, the quarrymen were not treated well. It seemed things got heated when the quarry didn't allow the union to collect fees from the quarrymen. The quarrymen went on strike. Spoiler alert: the strike lasted 3 years, brought many to destitution, emigration or an early grave, and it also devastated the reputation of Welsh slate. The quality of the product wasn't doubted, but one figured you could order some, only for the quarry to shut down due to a strike. That doesn't help. So in the end the quarrymen lost, the quarry owners lost, and the entire Welsh economy lost. In a way, it's a tale of why one should treat one's employees well; if that would have happened, maybe Penrhyn Castle, which was built with the money made fromt he quarry, would have been less flashy, but in the long run, everybody would have benefited. A wisdom that has not sunk in even more than 100 years later!
But what about the book? When I told my tutor Jenny I had received an invitation to go to the play, with whoever from my Welsh class who wants to go, she advised me to read the book. That's the biggest spoiler alert there is, of course, but she figured I would need my brain cells for struggling with the language, and reading the book might help me with that. If you see it as a language exercise then already knowing the plot doesn't matter. So I read it!
The story follows one specific family of which the father and the oldest son are strikers. The second oldest son has worked in the quarry too, but only for a short time, so he had lost his job before the strike started. You follow the family as they try to sit it out until the strike stops. They hope, of course, it's the quarry management that yields in the end, but it won't be. In the years in between, one son moves to the coal mines of South Wales; one finds employment as a journalist; and one goes offshore. The youngest goes nowhere; he's too young. He later dies. The daughter of the family is already doomed from the beginning as she ended up being made pregnant by, and thus having to marry, some alcoholic awful person who turns scab at the nearest opportunity. And while there clearly are opportunities, none of them are without their disadvantages; going offshore or into a coal mine are dangerous; a skilled quarryman would only be a semi-skilled coal miner, and journalists may be tempted to spend their money on drink rather than send it home to their struggling parents. A bleak book!
It wasn't the best book there is; it's clearly written for a young adult audience, and written in the seventies. What I liked, though, was that they had (purposefully, I suppose, given it played just after 1900) used rather old-fashioned language, to which I am not exposed very often (though certainly sometimes). It's good to see what language has been in order to know why it is nowadays the way it is. We'll see what the play is like! It's as good as sold out; clearly, there is a place for this kind of art!
27 January 2016
Calm Thursday
This Thursday's mine was nice and small. We got out fairly early after having seem pretty much all of it! But it was one of the lesser visited places so it has nice artifacts in it. Among them the best shoe I'd ever seen underground! It was marvellously preserved. It's nice to sometimes have a small trip!
Powder horns
26 January 2016
Unexpected Burns night
Jaco and Marjan invited me to go for dinner with them. That already sounded good before they told me it would be a Scottish night out! Bagpipes, haggis, whisky... count me in. It was a Scottish night, of course, because Burns Night was approaching. (I should have posted this on the actual Burns night! But I forgot.) And the venue was a nearby college that, among others, educated student to be chefs, hotel staff, asnd other functions in the hospitality sector. They seem to cook and serve a big meal every week in order to practice, and if you're on the diner club list you can come and eat it! Marjan and Jaco are, and they can bring guests. So I had a very neat name sign on a table (they go all the way there) as "guest of".
I made sure I looked fairly tidy as I had been warned it was a civilized affair. And the venue indeed asked for that! We had silver cutlery with initials (of the college, of course, not of the diners) and five courses and the poshest containers for butter and whatnot. And there was a fully equipped piper to welcome us.
When we sat down we got a speech, about Burns, the college, the person who had initiated the diners club, and whatnot. Then the dinner actually started; the first course was salmon. Very scottish! It was good. The second course would be haggis, as it needs to be on Burns night it seems, and it was indeed marched in by the head chef, who followed the piper. Then the master of ceremony recited a poem about haggis, while the waiters brought glasse sof whisky around. All good!
The haggis was lovely. And the whisky too. I was enjoying myself! Then the mains came; slow cooked beef rump with pearl barley. That wasn't much of a success; anything slow cooked should be tender but this beef was chewy and dry. Oh well, if these students have nothing more to learn why would they be here? The dessert was amazing.
After all the food we joined beside the tables for a "For Auld Lang Syne"; I know the tune, of course, as it has been recycled, but I didn't know the words, and struggled a bit with the scottishness of it all ("We twa hae run about the braes"; how exactly should that be pronounced?) but we had the lyrics on a sheet. I think I pulled it off! Not sure about the logic of a Dutch woman celebrating Scottishness in Wales but hey ho.
As Marjan does not drink I had her whisky. And I had two beers too; it was Scottish night, after all. I would feel that the next day! I don't drink much these days. But it had been worth it!Who knows, maybe we'll go again...
I made sure I looked fairly tidy as I had been warned it was a civilized affair. And the venue indeed asked for that! We had silver cutlery with initials (of the college, of course, not of the diners) and five courses and the poshest containers for butter and whatnot. And there was a fully equipped piper to welcome us.
When we sat down we got a speech, about Burns, the college, the person who had initiated the diners club, and whatnot. Then the dinner actually started; the first course was salmon. Very scottish! It was good. The second course would be haggis, as it needs to be on Burns night it seems, and it was indeed marched in by the head chef, who followed the piper. Then the master of ceremony recited a poem about haggis, while the waiters brought glasse sof whisky around. All good!
A stock image of haggis
After all the food we joined beside the tables for a "For Auld Lang Syne"; I know the tune, of course, as it has been recycled, but I didn't know the words, and struggled a bit with the scottishness of it all ("We twa hae run about the braes"; how exactly should that be pronounced?) but we had the lyrics on a sheet. I think I pulled it off! Not sure about the logic of a Dutch woman celebrating Scottishness in Wales but hey ho.
As Marjan does not drink I had her whisky. And I had two beers too; it was Scottish night, after all. I would feel that the next day! I don't drink much these days. But it had been worth it!Who knows, maybe we'll go again...
24 January 2016
Into the snow
The previous weekend I had only admired the snow from a distance. But it was still there, and the message had come home I probably only have another year to enjoy the amazing beauty of Snowdonia. I decided to forget about work and just head into the mountains this weekend! I had a look at the map; I wanted to start somewhere that would get me into the snow fairly quickly, but not in dangerous terrain, and not too far away. I settled on the Snowdon Ranger path that leads to the top of Snowdon (duh) from the northwest. I had no intention at all of actually getting to Snowdon, but I thought I might just have some snow fun on the nearest ridge. I'd play it by ear!
I got up early-ish and got ready. I got into the car and set off. When I was already on the road to Caernarfon I realised I had forgot my ice axe. Oh dear! Don't underestimate Snowdonia in winter. But I didn't turn around to get it. I had crampons; that would have to do.
I parked at the designated space, kitted up, and off I was. The path started green, but soon a dusting of snow appeared, and the path got icy and slippery. It was higher up the mountain than I thought! So I kept going, beyond the first ridge. When I got to a pass I made sure to have a look into the valley on the other side. It was very beautiful! I had a look on the map; would I go on? But the path onward still looked perfectly safe and I was enjoying myself, so I kept going. The snow was getting deeper!
The next time the path got to the ridge I had another look. I also had a chat with two chaps with whom I had been leap-frogging all the way. They turned out to be scousers (plastic or otherwise) and they didn't have a map. They took a picture of mine, and on we all went. But quite soon I had my head in the clouds. I was here for the views, so that was my cue for turning around. I got to something like 670m. It had also started snowing! I scampered down again.
Down was quick. I didn't even have to slow down where it had been very slippery on the way up, as the few hours of thaw had sorted most of the ice out. I was back at the car at ~12:15. Time left for chores! A day with fun and usefulness. My kind of day!
I got up early-ish and got ready. I got into the car and set off. When I was already on the road to Caernarfon I realised I had forgot my ice axe. Oh dear! Don't underestimate Snowdonia in winter. But I didn't turn around to get it. I had crampons; that would have to do.
I parked at the designated space, kitted up, and off I was. The path started green, but soon a dusting of snow appeared, and the path got icy and slippery. It was higher up the mountain than I thought! So I kept going, beyond the first ridge. When I got to a pass I made sure to have a look into the valley on the other side. It was very beautiful! I had a look on the map; would I go on? But the path onward still looked perfectly safe and I was enjoying myself, so I kept going. The snow was getting deeper!
Starting out in the green
Soon the landscape turns brown with white
Brown with white turns to white with brown
The next time the path got to the ridge I had another look. I also had a chat with two chaps with whom I had been leap-frogging all the way. They turned out to be scousers (plastic or otherwise) and they didn't have a map. They took a picture of mine, and on we all went. But quite soon I had my head in the clouds. I was here for the views, so that was my cue for turning around. I got to something like 670m. It had also started snowing! I scampered down again.
Selfie with decorative valley
It must have been windy here in the previous days
This is what the path onward looked like; not characterized by great views! I turned back.
Proper snow.
More snow falling
Down was quick. I didn't even have to slow down where it had been very slippery on the way up, as the few hours of thaw had sorted most of the ice out. I was back at the car at ~12:15. Time left for chores! A day with fun and usefulness. My kind of day!
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