21 minute read
Caving Phil Hendy
Exploring Mendip’s minerals
FORmore than a thousand years the Mendip Hills have been known as a rich source of various minerals. Lead ore or galena was exploited by the indigenous Iron Age people and the mines were quickly exploited by the Roman invaders, who most likely used the local miners as slave labour. The only nonmetallic mineral, coal, was mined on eastern Mendip, from Nettlebridge north to Bristol and Gloucestershire. The mines are of little interest to cavers.
Lead was the commonest mineral, being largely found in the carboniferous limestone. Mines were opened all over central Mendip and much ore was extracted close to the surface.
The extensive trenches or “gruffs” at Charterhouse testify to the scale of the operation. After the Roman occupation, the heyday of lead mining was from the medieval period onwards, tailing off towards the end of the 19th century, although working of ancient lead-rich slag continued into the early 20th century.
Processing the ore into lead ingots requires water and there were four “Mineries”; two at Priddy, The Waldegrave and St. Cuthbert’s works at Charterhouse, and also on Smitham Hill. Independent miners took their lead to these works to be processed and paid a tithe of “lot lead” for the privilege.
It is thought that over the years in excess of 180,000 tons of lead was extracted from the mines. The metal was used for roofing and for holding the pieces of glass in stained glass windows. As an alloy with tin or copper, it makes pewter, for tableware.
Associated with the lead were two other valuable metals, silver and arsenic. The Romans knew about the silver, which was present in the galena at about 0.009%. It was originally extracted by cupellation, by which the lead was heated and oxidised, leaving metallic silver.
By the late 19th century, however, the Pattinson process was developed, which was much more efficient. Although it is thought that the Romans exploited the best silver-bearing ores, it is estimated that the Pattinson plant at Charterhouse was producing up to 100 pounds weight of silver annually between 1858 and 1878.
The value of arsenic was not at first realised; in fact it was a dangerous nuisance. Carried aloft in the smoke from the lead smelting process, it was known to poison the surrounding land, causing illness and death in livestock and people.
Long flues were built to cool the “flight”, allowing the arsenic to condense on the walls. Periodically it was scraped off and sold. The use of arsenic as a poison is well-known, but other uses included herbicides, wood preservatives, and, until the danger was realised, as a cosmetic.
Second only to lead was zinc, mined all over Mendip as the carbonate, calamine, in the dolomitic conglomerate. The main area was around Shipham, where evidence still abounds in the numerous spoil heaps.
One of Mendip’s longest mines, Singing River Mine, was originally excavated in the search for calamine. There are also mines around Sandford and in Harptree Combe. Around 100,000 tonnes of zinc were extracted from the hills, much being used to make brass in mills along the valley of the Bristol Avon.
Iron was also mined at various places across Mendip. This ore
With PHILIP HENDY
came in two main forms; the hard haematite, smelted to make metallic iron, and the softer red or yellow ochre. The metallic iron was used to make tools and other implements, the Fussell’s edgetool works in the Wadbury valley being particularly well-known, exporting its products across the world as well as throughout the UK.
Each region has its own preferences regarding edge tools and Fussells willingly catered for these idiosyncrasies. Yellow ochre was found across the hills, notably around Sandford and Banwell and on Axbridge Hill.
Some was extracted close to the surface, but there are deeper mines, rediscovered by cavers, which are more extensive. One such is Shute Shelve Cavern, while higher on the hill Axbridge Hill Cavern still has substantial amounts of yellow ochre and some mining artefacts.
Winford Red, from mines around that village, was famous; the deep red colour could be enhanced by roasting the rock. Red ochre was also dug at Compton Martin Ochre Mine, now a protected bat roost.
Ochre was not usually smelted to obtain metallic iron. Its main use was in paint manufacture and a thriving Bristol industry grew around it, remember Valspar? It was also used in the linoleum industry. This was a widely-used hard-wearing and waterproof flooring material before the invention of vinyl.
There were a small number of manganese mines, most notably at Higher Pitts, south of Priddy. Manganese oxide, or Wad, is soft and dull black. It is a powerful oxidising agent, although the main uses were for clarifying glass and giving a black appearance to pottery.
Barytes, or barium sulphate, is often found in conjunction with other ores. It is a dense mineral and the use of the barium meal when X-raying the intestinal tract is well-known. Usually, the barytes was not worth harvesting, although it was sufficiently plentiful at Banwell to be mined for making white paint and quality paper.
Strontium, as the sulphate or celestine, is used to give a red colour to fireworks and has been used in Germany for refining sugar beet. Some was mined between Dinder and Westbury-subMendip, but the main mines were further north, at Yate and Chipping Sodbury.
Mining and the reworking of slags ended around a hundred years ago and many sites have been lost, due to land reclamation and for safety reasons. The industry has been well-documented over the years and enough mines can still be explored to give us an idea of what it was like to have been a Mendip miner.
Charterhouse rakes
Nuclear veterans call it a day
Words and photos by Ros Anstey
IT was a sad day for former members of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Association when they met for the last time at their outpost in West Harptree. The underground bunker is a leftover from WW2, when members kept watch in case of nuclear attack.
The outpost, numbered 12/66, is in a field behind the Wellsway Inn and has been maintained since the ROC stood down in 1991 by a small team led by chief observer Mike Parfitt.
It has even opened for visitors, or anyone interested in going down and seeing what the officers had to deal with when they spent days at a time down in the bunker. There have even been a couple of well-known visitors, including Fred Wedlock, who would visit quite often, and Acker Bilk.
Until 1991 volunteers from the ROC were prepared to sit out eight-hour shifts in this tiny bunker which is 14 feet below the ground, ready to report any blast of a nuclear attack.
Mike said: “We have decided to close it as it is getting into a sad state of repair and most of us find it difficult to visit regularly as we are all aging and most of us live a fair distance away. Many members have also passed away.”
It was a sad day but also an enjoyable one as members reminisced about times past. During the day Mike was awarded a commendation by the national secretary of the ROC association, Jenny Morris. It was “in acknowledgment of the meritorious service he had rendered”.
After the reminiscing, members went on to enjoy a meal at the nearby Castle of Comfort.
According to the ROC records, during WWI a need arose for plotting and reporting enemy airships. This role was given to the local police forces who on identifying the enemy reported to the authorities from the nearest phone. They informed the Flying Corp, thus enabling fighter aircraft to intercept and destroy the air ships, hopefully before discharging their weapons.
In around 1925 a more permanent system was deemed appropriate and the Observer Corps was formed to locate, identify, give height and direction of hostile aircraft. The Corps was updated prior to WW2.
After the war, The ROC continued to monitor aircraft in case of nuclear attack. The Corps had posts approximately ten miles apart in every direction and a considerable number of volunteers, on average ten per post.
About 1,560 underground posts were built in Britain and Northern Ireland and the post at West Harptree is one of the few left.
West Harptree at its standing down on September 29th, 1991 (l to r) Observer Jim Calloway entering the post, Chief Observer Mike Parfitt, Observer Lieutenant Bill Pitman and Group Observer Roger Wilsden Acker Bilk about to go down the bunker, with (l to r) officers Rex Chapman, Bill Pitman and Mike Parfitt
Mike Parfitt being presented with his commendation by ROC national secretary Jenny Morris
Crowds flock to Wellow duck race
ST JULIAN’S School in Wellow held its annual duck race, raising £1,450 for school funds. The day included maypole dancing, games, tombola, cake stall and more.
School head, Ruth Noall, said: “It was a fantastic evening with activities for the whole family.”
AROUND1,000 metal detectorists from around the world travelled to a site near Marlborough for a charity weekend of metal detecting, raising £36,847 for The Forever Friends Appeal at Bath’s Royal United Hospital.
The event, The Rodney Cook Memorial Rally, was set up in 2018 by Gary Cook in memory of his dad Rodney who died from cancer in 2017. Proceeds from the ticket sales, raffle and extras will go towards the Dyson Cancer Centre at the RUH.
Gary, a member of the Trowbridge and District Metal Detecting Club, said: “The staff who cared for my father at the RUH were quite simply incredible, caring and wonderful people. I felt compelled to try and do something to raise some money for The Forever Friends Appeal to repay that kindness. So, from something awful, the RCM Rally was born.
“This year was our third event, as the 2020 rally was cancelled due to the pandemic. This year’s event was a huge success, we were blessed with the weather and we raised a new record amount of £50,000 for local cancer charities.
“Many amazing finds were made over the course of the weekend, including Roman and Saxon coins along with some Celtic coins.
“Since its inception, the Rodney Cook Memorial Rally has raised a staggering £116,000 for charity, an amount we are all truly proud of. I would like to thank everyone involved in the organisation and running of this year's event, everyone who has supported us and those that attended, please accept our heartfelt gratitude.”
Laura Cherry, events and community co-ordinator at The Forever Friends Appeal said: “Over the year, the Rodney Cook Memorial Rally has raised an exceptional amount, £75,325 to be exact, towards the Dyson Cancer Centre.
“On behalf of everyone at the charity, I would like to say a massive thank you to all the supporters of the rally, the incredible amount they have raised, as well as the awareness they have driven about our work, it’s truly inspiring.”
The rally organisers are always looking for new sites to hold future events.
Details: www.stjuliansprimary.co.uk
Dectectorists support Forever Friends appeal
Remembrance poppies
Pictured (l to r) Sue Lyons, Cathy Walters, Patricia Ardon and Jane Winsley
AFTERdecorating Chilcompton Bridge during the first lockdown, then making red poppies for Remembrance Day last year, the village’s Knit and Natter group have now created an altar cloth of poppies to be used on Remembrance Sunday in the village’s St John’s Church.
Other group members involved were Ann Brown, Marg Wilcox, Fenella Williams and Sue Coombes. SCHOOL pupils in the Shepton Mallet area are joining forces in a new creative project to improve their local communities.
Called 374 Ways to Change the World, the project aims to explore the power of performance and creativity to challenge, question and inspire action in young people.
Creative organisation Make the Sunshine CIC and Shepton Mallet Town Council are working with support from Creative Mendip through Mendip District Council. The schools involved are Bowlish Infant School, St Paul’s CofE VC Junior School, Shepton Mallet Infant School, St Aldhelm’s VA Church Primary School in Doulting, and Croscombe and Stoke St Michael School Federation.
Young people will design their own “social action” project working alongside a professional artist. It could be cheering up the local doctor’s surgery, or it could be creating a tea party with residents at a local care home; it could be an environmental craft campaign to MPs or staging a flash-mob performance for local key workers. Students will create a series of bespoke community events, campaigns and performances, as well as staging a production written and inspired by the process.
It is part of a wider programme of work under the same name supported by Wells Festival of Literature, Shepton Mallet Town Council, Strode Theatre and Take Art’s Barn Development Programme and Somerset Community Foundation.
Louise Lappin-Cook, from Make the Sunshine, said: “We are so excited about working with young people again locally – and this project feels especially poignant coming out of lockdown.
“We are so looking forward to seeing what aspect young people focus on and it’s going to be an amazing opportunity for them to try something new and to hopefully see the impact they can have on the world.”
Santa needs helpers
RADSTOCK and Midsomer Norton Lions are preparing to take their carol float around Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Farrington Gurney, Hallatrow, High Littleton, Timsbury and Peasedown St John, but need more help.
They say it’s an ideal opportunity for caravan owners to test their reversing skills negotiating the float around the streets! They also need people to carry collecting buckets and knock on doors.
They collect from 6pm-8.30pm during December up until Christmas. Call Derek Livsey 01761 416254 if you can help.
Inspired to change the world
Make the Sunshine’s Louise Lappin-Cook, headteacher Chris Partridge and deputy head Caroline Owen with some of the pupils at St Paul’s School at the launch of the project
A serious face in the middle of a display of vintage tractors
Music night in Holcombe
COMMUNITY group Holcombe Hive staged seven hours of live music on the village playing fields.
The Man Band – singing boy band covers
Lighting up the night on the playing fields Anne and William Golledge running the token stall for the bar
Some of the members of Shepton Mallet Big Band
Five Spice – young local singers
Talented soloist
YATTONMusic Society is looking forward to a concert by its own local musical protégé, Joss Wort.
During his time at Backwell School, Joss gained his grade 8 piano with distinction. Following this he has been taught by Helen Reid, a former BBC Young Musician of the Year keyboard finalist, and has taken part in masterclasses with Malcolm Young and Shelley Prior.
Joss has now entered the Royal Welsh School of Music and Drama at Cardiff where he hopes to augment his piano studies with forays into conducting.
Through his studies, he has developed a love for the works of Schubert, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and especially Beethoven.
For the Yatton concert at St Mary’s on December 4th, he will include music by Bach and his other favourite composers.
The concert starts at 7.30pm, tickets £10, half price for students over 16, children free.
Memories of The Bell Folk Club
ARTHURBrown was one of the enthusiasts behind the very successful Bell Folk Club in Banwell, which attracted both national and internationally acclaimed stars to the pub’s cosy skittle alley from 1975-1984. He’s also played guitar and mandolin in bands Magenta, which is recording a new album, Bulldog and Tex Braithwaite. When the pandemic stopped live performances, he decided to write a book about the Bell, drawing on a vast collection of posters and photographs collected years ago. For good measure he then wrote a book about Tex Braithwaite, fronted by his friend Jerry Blythe. He previously wrote a book about his journey through India and Afghanistan.
Arthur, who lives in Cross with wife Jo, said: “We’ve not been able to go out anywhere, so I decided to write the books. The folk club met fortnightly on a Saturday and hosted some amazing people.”
He’s publishing the books himself in small batches. His books about Bulldog and Magenta will be published this month.
Poster from 1984 Arthur Brown
Dave Cousins and Brian Willoughby at the Bell around 1982
Bert Jansch played at the Bell in 1979 and 1980
As Remembrance Sunday approaches, the thoughts of many families will be turning to relatives lost in the war. Sue Emmett has been researching the story of one soldier through the letters he sent home.
ONthe wall of the parish church in Stowey is a simple, oblong, Westmoreland green stone memorial, commemorating a soldier who died in WW2. These days, researchers can learn a lot from online sources, which is where some of the information below was found, although in this case there are also people locally who remember him, including relatives who have some family documents.
Sydney Richard Andow, known as Dick, was the son of the carter, sometime cowman, at Manor Farm, Stowey and the family lived in a cottage opposite the farm.
As well as the memorial inside the church, his name also appears on his parents' gravestone in the churchyard, plus on the 1939-45 war memorial plaque in the church at Chew Stoke, where he is listed as Richard Andow and on identical memorial windows in both Holy Trinity, Bishop Sutton and the former Methodist chapel, Bishop Sutton. These windows were paid for by subscriptions from the villagers.
Dick was actually born in Chelwood, where his father, William, is described as a gardener in the 1911 census. When the 1921 census is released, we may be able to work out more about his early childhood years.
What is certain is that in 1937 he was appointed as a postman in Chew Stoke and that within a year he had married Florence Clark, who was from that village. They were living there, in Scott Cottage up on Pagans Hill, when their son, David, was born in 1939.
However, very soon Dick found himself caught up in world events. By 1940 he was with the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in Norway, in what has been described as a disastrous campaign, taking with him a photo of his beloved wife.
He was then back in Britain for several years, so presumably was able to get home to visit his family, but early in 1943 the battalion set sail for Tunisia. They left there in December that year, landing in Taranto to serve in the Italian campaign. Sadly, Dick was killed in fighting at Anzio in January1944, only a few weeks after arriving.
A few of Dick's letters to his wife from this time survive, in the care of family members, and I have been privileged to be allowed to read them. He obviously loved his wife and son dearly, writing to them weekly with many a fond message, although probably not all letters arrived safely.
Certainly it seems that he had received no Christmas mail in December 1943, the rumour being that the boat had been sunk. So no cigarettes from home to replace the Indian ones then being provided by the army, which he disliked very much.
His messages were resolutely reassuring and cheerful, although he describes the “blistering heat” in Tunisia, where the wind “burns like a furnace”. He was in Africa during the malaria season and they were having to be very careful with the food and water. They were able to visit the coast and sometimes go into Tunis, but generally he preferred to be in the shade.
A bathe in the warm waters of a Roman bath was much enjoyed. There was no electric light in the camp, so they managed with light from a tin of oil, with a wick. However, they were receiving news bulletins every night at this time, and later on the officers read to them from the French newspapers.
The battalion were in Italy for Christmas 1943, waiting to go up to the Front. Conditions were not good, either for the soldiers or for the local population. It was bitterly cold, the nights were long, the only light being from their tins of oil and heat from a tin of charcoal in the tent. But their Christmas dinner had been “lovely”.
Dick's last surviving message is a postcard of Vesuvius, which he sent to his son, describing what a wonderful view there was from the snow-capped top.
Florence, at this sad time, was at home in Chew Stoke with David, now about five years old, and her mother nearby, visiting Dick's parents in Stowey, with their beautifully tended garden, when she could.
She sometimes helped out at the
Sydney Richard Andow
A card from Italy, December 1943
village shop, especially at busy times. Her eagerly awaited letters to Dick do not seem to have survived. She later remarried, living locally until her death, aged 86, in 2003.
The Andow family played a big part in the life of Stowey for many years, with Dick's mother an active member of the parish council and his brother Sam
Florence –the photo Dick took to Norway
(real name Albert) farming at Stowey Mead Farm.
He kept poultry in the studio formerly used by painter Henry Strachey, where the wall paintings for Stowey Church were created. When Sam died, in 1996, he left a very welcome legacy to Stowey church for the upkeep of the churchyard, where his parents are
Dick with his family in 1939
buried.
And Sydney/Richard/Dick's plaque has been on the wall in Stowey church for 70 years now. At least one local resident remembers being there as a young girl in 1951 when it was dedicated. The text is below - full marks to the eagle eyed amongst you who can spot the error it contains.
IN MEMORY OF SYDNEY RICHARD ANDOW, GDSM, 2ND BATT, SCOTS GUARDS. KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE IN ITALY ON 30, JANUARY 1944.
Tribute to Burma Star veteran
A WORLD War Two veteran from Frome, who was awarded the Burma Star, has died aged 101.
Ron Stone was a familiar face at Remembrance Day services in front of the Memorial Theatre in the town, where he recited the Kohima Epitaph.
Ron, who was born in Frome in November 1919, joined the Royal Marines in 1940 and went on to serve with 44 Commando in Dakar (West Africa), India and the Burma Campaign down in Arakan and in the infamous Battle of Hill 170.
Ron was always proud to have served with the Royal Marines and on his 100th birthday was invited to the passing out parade at Lympstone, where he was presented with a plaque of the Marine Monument at Achnacarry. His favourite saying was:
Ron Stone outside Frome’s Memorial Theatre
“Royal Marines, second to none.”
At his funeral in Corsley, Ron was laid to rest to the singing of Amazing Grace, after which, in tribute to his wartime experiences, a Royal Marine bugler from HM Royal Marines Collingwood blew the Last Post and Reveille, with Jane Norris from the Frome branch of the Royal British Legion reading the Exhortation and Kohima Epitaph. A guard of honour was formed by members of the Royal Marines Association and Royal British Legion and standards were dipped in respect.
