Killhope, Spar Boxes and A Bit of Spookiness

KILLHOPE. Not an encouraging name, but I suspect anyone working there in the late 19th century would have felt it was appropriate.

I've been in Co. Durham, a county I've always longed to explore. Last week we took S. up there and one of the places we went was an old lead mine way out in the countryside. You can borrow wellies, a hard hat and a torch and go inside the mine... so we did.

If you look hard you can see the date "1851" below. It was carved by one of a small group of men who had spent a backbreaking year .....

cutting a narrow, uncomfortable tunnel by hand into the side of the hill.for perhaps seventy yards.

Here's the entrance to the tunnel where miners dragged wagons of lead ore over the rails. It's necessary to wade through a fast flowing channel of peaty brown water which is several inches deep throughout the mine.

So in we went. It was a warm enough day, but the temperature dropped as we splashed into the darkness, daylight fading behind. I decided to take photos without flash, to catch the atmosphere. The view below looks back to the entrance, past the dim figure of T with his lamp. I know it's just a trick of the light but it was a bit spooky, as if there was a luminous white figure following us... can you see it? You can see the water rippling beneath our feet too.

The mining was done mostly by candle light, and as it got darker, we turned off our lamps and the flickering candle flame took over.

S., aged 10, was interested t learn that children of his age would have worked at the mine, though they'd have been outside, raking the ore, rather than braving the conditions within.

Lead mines are not deep. The faces are vertical, exposed sometimes by the use of explosives. So in the filthy, dusty atmosphere, the miners had to work upwards, hacking out the lead ore and allowing it to crash to the ground, after which it would be collected and heaved into wagons.

It must have been desperately hard work. I didn't know what "heavy as lead" meant till I picked up a chunk of ore. I'm not weak but it was almost too much for me.

The ore has a bright silvery hue, (and does contain some silver) which gives a bit of a "Seven Dwarves" feel - it almost could be treasure, glittering away.

The lead miners suffered terribly, and their health was ruined by the work. Always up to their shins in cold water, they developed chronic foot rot, and were always cold. They could not get out of the mine even for lunch or to go to the toilet. A "thunderbox" was carried in and out each day, and set down in the swirling water for them to use.

The dusty atmosphere and lack of sunlight affected their lungs, and many died of tuberculosis. After a day of hard toil, they slept together in miserable dormitories on site, and many a man must have been kept awake by the coughing of his mates all night. They were paid a pittance, half-yearly.

There's a giant underground waterwheel in the centre of the mine, impossible to photograph but working incessantly in the dark - the wood is always soaking wet, and I don't know why it doesn't rot as it splashes inexorably round and round.

We spent a few minutes in pitch darkness by the water-wheel, listening to its relentless swishing and thinking of one miner who was trapped for three days in the wheel chamber. He drank the water and ate his tallow candles to keep alive.

Yes, it really could be a bit spooky down there, although I have always had a bit of an imagination. I began to think there were ghostly men tapping above my head, a figure with arms upraised ....

S. was more interested in making scary faces with his torch. This one is the most sinister - he was pleased with it.

It was quite a relief to reach the entrance again...and get out. As I admired the evening sunshine lighting up the trees by the river, I could only feel sadness for the men who spent their lives undergound.

So if you're in or near Co. Durham, I recommend a visit to Killhope. Click here for the website. The centre has a fascinating museum of impressive mineral specimens and traditional needlework and crafts. It also has a collection of spar boxes,

which are almost impossible to photograph (at least, they are for me). These weird bits of Victoriana are tableaux made of minerals and crystals, sometimes incorporating taxidermy. A few, like the one above, were very large and were exhibited on a cart, for money. Others were just created for fun. Many use mirrors and lights (originally candlelight) to create a fairy-tale atmosphere. Below, there's a garden of crystals and mirrors reflecting the beautifully detailed dolls' houses into infinity but I am afraid my photo really doesn't catch the atmosphere.

The centre also has some very accomplished work by local craftsmen in the shop, it runs all kinds of interesting courses and it's very eco-friendly. It even has a hand-made yurt conference centre and you can't get much more ecological than that.

Best of all the volunteers are charming, and one of them even gave S. a bag of minerals so he could build his very own spar cabinet. He's now looking for a little glass fronted box and possibly a little train to run through his stony landscape.

I'll try and post more about Durham soon - it really is cool. First, though, I have to write my article, and rather quickly too. Gulp.

Making the Most of Summer

I'm not at home right now, but I'll be back and visiting my favourite blogs soon. Meanwhile, here's what we did one day during the recent sunny spell. We took the kids to Chorleywood, on the outskirts of London.

Chorleywood Estate was once a private mansion with substantial grounds. Now, it is open to the public. Most of it is only accessible by foot, cycle or horseback. We were heading for one particular bit, a green bank alongside a shallow stretch of river where families like to come on sunny days. The river is very shallow and it's ideal for children, and since it is cut off from the road, there is no risk of traffic.

We could have taken the tube to Chorleywood, but we chose to drive. Maybe not such a great idea since A got sick. But anyway, we parked about half a mile or so from the river and walked the rest of the way on a nice little track, carrying the picnic. It wasn't arduous (but then, it wasn't a very large picnic).

The place was a little busier than usual - as you'd expect on a holiday weekend - and there were enough other families and kids there for them all to find friends, and for adults to watch out for the kids.

They found their own amusements. They fished for tiddlers and spotted some larger fish, too. One of the kids had brought along a bucket and several had nets.

... and played in inflatable boats.

And the charming little river is much nicer than a man made paddling pool.

And what about the wildlife?

Winners and 5 True Things about Me.

This is a bit of a catch up post - a few things I've been meaning to do for a while.

First, Mrs Black, who has a lovely blog (check it out here) recently awarded me the Kreative Blogger Award. I was very honoured!

Recipients have to share 10 things which their readers may not have previously known about them. We also also have to recommend 10 blogs which are worthy of the Kreative Award.

I am going to pass on recommending blogs, because last time I won an award, I felt very bad about recommending a few blogs above others. After all, I only follow blogs I like, And so if you want to find my recommended blogs, look at my blog roll - I can recommend them all!.

But I can tell you ten things about me that you probably don't know. Not true ones admittedly. But well, if you insist on them being true, I can probably think of five things right this very minute. So here they are.

1. I want to go and see ex-PM John Major at a literary festival, but I may be out of town on that day. Bummer. I have always had a soft spot for Ol' Grey Man, the only human being alive who is known to have run away from the circus to become an accountant.

I might buy a ticket anyhow and try and get back in time.

2. I have been invited to Rotterdam, Holland, for the launch of the exhibition 'Louis Kahn - The Power of Architecture" Kahn is an interesting international architect . Not always comfortable, sometimes a little intimidating, he's probably best known for his fortress-like parliament building in Dacca, Bangladesh, but he has also done a lot of work for Yale. .

He was creative, original and noteworthy. But to my dismay, this invite also clashes with something else and I don't think I'll be able to reschedule, although I am going to try. Bummer No. 2 .

3. I went to 16 schools. My family moved around a lot .. Some schools I liked, some I didn't. One of the schools I liked the best was this one (link) , Kendrick School in Reading. Here's the school crest. It is the coat of arms of the 17th century founder, John Kendrick. Our school song was all about our Founders, (his wife was also keen on the idea of the school). I am sorry to say I made up a naughty version of the school song. This caught on among the other kids and I was both thrilled and horrified when so many people sang it in assembly one day, that you could clearly hear the words.

Arguably my first creative success, at the expense of poor John Kendrick, who was only trying to do the right thing by a load of ungrateful brats.

Another of my schools was Sullivan Upper School in Northern Ireland. The school crest had a motto in Irish, which I could neither read nor pronounce.

I am grateful that I had the chance to go to these and other good schools, even though they probably did more for me than I did for them. (By the way, I was NOT expelled from any of them - as a couple of commenters have assumed! On the whole they seemed quite pleased with me, although I think I must have been a handful).

4. I am feeling depressed at my lack of gardening skills. Two years ago I bought a "Harry Wheatcroft" rose and have nurtured it like a newborn lamb. But it doesn't seem happy, its leaves are going yellow, and it produces pale blooms, nothing like the beautiful stripes I was hoping for. This is what it should look like. But it doesn't.

5. Our first car was a Jowett Javelin,,known by everyone else as "a wonderful classic car."

Sure, they were wonderful in their day (1953) or so we were told, but by the time we got ours, it was very much past its prime. T quickly discovered that he DIDN'T want to spend all of his spare time maintaining a classic car, but by then it was too late. The Jowett had a genuinely malevolent personality. It wasn't stupid enough to crash itself, oh no. But it sat in the garage, and it waited, and it thought, and it planned ways to cause the most trouble in the most creative way, at EXACTLY the most inconvenient time for us.

Our hate-hate relationship with the Jowett ended when it needed an MOT test (for non-UK readers, this is a test that old cars have to take in Britain, to check they're roadworthy). . We had missed the correct date by one day, so the Jowett's papers were out of date. "We'll drive really carefully to the testing station. It's just a short trip, and nobody will have any reason to ask for our papers." we told each other.

But the Jowett was one step ahead. Halfway to the testing station, it blew a hole in its exhaust. And immediately it started to make an ear splitting noise, guaranteed to deafen anyone in the vicinity and certain to attract the attention of any passing policeman .

We abandoned it on the side of the road. Just couldn't risk driving a car making that amount of noise with out-of-date papers, even if they were just one day out and even though we were on the way to the testing station.

"I'll never drive you again!" T snarled to the Jowett, kicking it as hard as he could. The Jowett was built like a tank, so it showed no sign of having been kicked at all. I would say it just sat and smirked. But T damaged his foot and was limping for the next few weeks.

My Dad, a car nut, took pity on us. He organised a pickup for the Jowett and brought it to his house. He organised the MOT and then sold it for a good price to someone who liked classic cars.

"And then" said my Dad, "I made the sign of the cross, barred our front door, and didn't answer the phone for a week - just in case he returned for his money back!"

-------

I still remember the Jowett's registration number. It was FHH 438. If you have it, beware - it really is alive.

The other bit of catching up is to announce the winners of the giveaway for the super book Inter-Rail. The winners are two good writers, Jo Carroll and Teresa Ashby. Check out and enjoy their brilliant blogs, and I hope they enjoy their books!

Goodbye mascots and odd sights.

Last day of the Olympics. We'll soon stop seeing these unfamiliar sights around London - like the troops and a pillar box sealed with cling film (why?) :)

How long will the weird Wenlocks and Mandevilles remain? All the Olympics mascots are different, decorated to reflect their surroundings or various themes. This, below, is Cockney Wenlock, not one of my favourites. It is hideously painted in gaudy colours to represent cockney rhyming slang (which pretty well nobody uses now). You see "apples and pears" for stairs.

And this is Bishopsgate Wenlock, stationed at one of the original medieval city gates of London.

I've posted a few Wenlock pictures but there is also another mascot, called Mandeville. This Mandeville represents Victorian times in the park, and he stands in Regent's Park. He looks quite elegant, (so far as any of these mascots can look elegant.) I shall rather miss them.

But I'm not saying goodbye to them just yet. I daresay many of them will remain until the end of the Paralympics, which start soon.

A Mini Trip to Denmark

Just an ordinary scene in Starbucks, somewhere in London's docklands. But wait - what's that just outside the window?

Yes, the Vikings have arrived at St. Katharine's Dock, London.

St. Katharine's Dock is just a few steps from the Tower of London. It's good for a drink or a wander around, specially if you like visiting a yacht broker or simply ogling unusual and/or expensive boats.

But Denmark, one of the homes of the Vikings, has chosen St Katharine's Dock for its open-air, "open house" event during the Olympics. I have fond memories of Denmark, not only as an adult but also as a child. I remember swimming in the sea (full of jellyfish - intriguing to a kid) visiting Hans Andersen's papercut-festooned birthplace in Odense, and singing around a bonfire at midsummer on the beach, when I believe we burned a witch. (though not a real witch)

One of the most famous Danish products is Lego, and the Lego pavilion at the event had a super model of the Olympic park AND a professional Lego-maker in attendance. Needless to say a queue of little boys were wanting to know how to get a job like that.

Here's the Lego Olympic Stadium.

I liked the little pink Danish bacon pigs around the place. Here's one supervising the popular table soccer (made by a Danish firm).

And there were lots of Vikings in furs and leather boots. Not sure what's going on in the photo below, but the guy on the left seemed to be mixing up a potion to use on the younger one. Hmmm...

And a replica Viking boat, Alas, it didn't set sail.

It sure looked like hard work building a boat, slaving away in the hot sun chipping at oak logs.. I can't help thinking that the Vikings might have preferred to do a bit of pillaging and use the money to buy one of the boats in the background of this picture.

There were lots of other things - a big screen showing Olympics (commentary in Danish- at first I thought my ears were playing up because I couldn't understand a word). Beer and free hot dogs,

And sophisticated Danish cuisine in a gorgeous kitchen, Viking games, and a house full of well designed Danish furniture....

Yes, I think I might be feeling a trip to Denmark coming on.

Olympic Volunteering

I didn't think of volunteering for the Olympics. I was one of the grumblers, I'm sorry to say. But I'm eating my words now. Here in London anyway, the whole Olympics event has highlighted what ordinary people can do, and how amazing it can be.

The above pictures are part of a fascinating display in the National Portrait Gallery, one of my favourite museums in London. As part of their Olympic theme, photographer Nadav Kandar photographed some of the torch bearers who took turns in carrying the Olympic Flame through Britain to London.

The three shown are (left to right) Kenneth Reid, blind from the disease retinitis pigmentosa, who volunteers for many organisations to help the blind. Second from left, Abtisam Mohamed battled a tough upbringing to take a law degree and began a charity to raise the aspirations and achievements of Yemeni women in Britain, and their children. Third, Andy Tutte, an ex heroin addict and homeless man, who now teaches young people about health through fitness and sport.

There are several photos and descriptions of other inspirational people in the gallery, and a link to the portraits here.

And then, how's this for volunteering? This nice BMW, whizzing through a restricted area, might have been driven by someone I met yesterday. He'd volunteered as a driver, and said it was one of the high experiences of his life to be part of a huge once-in-a-lifetime event.

He'd been allocated to drive around foreign bigwigs in a gleaming BMW. Sailing through London, preceded by many cops with blue flashing lights, stopping all the traffic. How cool is that?

He had felt very "challenged" at the start, because everything had to be perfect. But his Olympic pass lets him into many events for free, and he's mixing with people of all colours and cultures from all walks of life. He also said he's never seen so many celebrities. All such a change from his normal life, he said.

I asked if he was a driver in his normal life, and he said, "No, I'm a managing director of an international company." (!)

And then, I spotted these bandsmen outside the American Ambassador's residence on the first day of the Olympics. Michelle Obama was there hosting hundreds of poor London kids, plus 700 American kids, and a group of top athletes and celebrities had a day of Olympic themed activities. What an experience for them!

When snapping this photo, I was taken by the guy in the truck. He reminded me of someone from a Norman Rockwell picture.

I sure hope that whoever is organising the Olympics in Rio, 2016, will also involve all members of their community. Meanwhile, I'm mad I missed out, but I am so enjoying being in London and seeing everything. And I am very proud that the organisers of this games have done so much to be inclusive of everyone in our country.

Just give 'em space.

Here's something I'm sorry I missed - darn, I was doing something else that day and I was so upset. It's a mini-Olympics for the local kids. I have posted before about the large private gardens in the area where I live, and these gardens, or "greens" as we call them, are fantastic community resources.

Our area was developed as middle class housing in the 1880s, but instead of giving the houses long gardens, the developers gave them tiny back gardens and used the rest of the space for a communal space - traffic free and private to the residents. It is even more useful now that the vast majority of the houses have been divided into flats.

I don't know why more planners don't create these traffic free spaces in cities. IN the countryside there is usually a field or something where people can congregate - not so in towns or suburbs.

Our area is not the only one where there are these greens. I once visited one in Brighton which really reminded me of ours. The early nineteenth century was a good time for communal spaces - squares, "circuses" (round recreational areas) and so on. Perhaps the owner of the building firm who developed our area grew up on something similar.

Anyway the greens offer a big space for all kinds of things - parties, bonfires,

(before the Health and Safety rules put an end to those) or organised games and once even a landing space for an air ambulance! When they organised the last kids' Olympics, it was amazing to see how even the toughest and most anti social local teenage boys really got into it, training like mad and very proud when they won medals.

The Olympics is supposed to be about encouraging sport, but I wonder how many other British communities were even able to hold sporting events. It makes it so much easier if there is space, and when there is, people will generally get together to find something to do.

It's not all idyllic on public spaces, of course. People are people and some of them are a real pain. There are always issues about dogs, kids playing rowdy games or bullying other kids, noise, smoky BBQs, litter and so on. But at least it gets folks talking to each other, even if they are only complaining and arguing (as it sometimes seems at the time).

And the kids are definitely more active, since most of the time they would rather be outside with their friends and have lots of space to play in, than sit inside with their computer games on their own.

Two Golds !!!!!!!! And Qatar.

Yay! Two golds! Forgive me for being patriotic, I don't usually go over the top like this... but I'm so proud of the women's rowers, Heather Stanning and Helen Glover, (Helen only took the sport up four years ago). And, cyclist Bradley Wiggins, first Englishman ever to win the Tour de France and the holder of more gold medals than any other Englishman, I heard someone say. (I haven't checked that)

The two golds were even worth the damp behind I got as I sat down on some outdoor chairs to watch one of the many screens beaming the Olympics in Bayt Qatar, next to the Savoy Hotel. "Bayt" means house or home, and this is where the emirate of Qatar hosts athletes, journalists and visitors during the Games.

Most Qatar money comes from oil, but it's branching out into tourism. It's playing up its difference from its neighbours. Not as modernized as shopping-crazy Dubai, and less intolerant about women than Saudi Arabia, and so on. And talking of this, there was a large photographic display of Qatari female athletes, at which one of our party declared loudly, "This is all just lip service! How hypocritical!"

And it is the first year Qatar's had Olympic women, that's true. But it is trying to improve, with three women competing this year, including shooter Bahiya al-Hamad as a flag carrier at the opening ceremony. >Part of the reason, I'd guess, is that Qatar wants to get itself into a fit state to bid for the 2022 Olympics, and it won't win if other countries don't like its attitude to women.

Al-Jazeera (which is bacled by Qatar) has a media centre in the house, and there were enormous screens everywhere, many tuned to live events. In the rather glamorous bar, we had cucumber smoothies (there was no alcohol on offer, which is not unusual in Muslim places). We were invited also to try a BATAK fitness training machine, which tests the reactions and is used a lot by racing drivers.

Here's a demo of the machine. It wasn't the one we saw but it saves me having to describe how to use it. It was surprisingly good fun

We also saw various architectural models of new developments in the Qatari capital, Doha. We didn't get a press kit at the time, so I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about them - and that, too, is why I don't know what kind of building this is, let alone exactly where it is. What do you think?

A sports stadium, I think. Are those pools around it? (A prize of a Qatar enamelled pin to anyone who offers the most convincing answer.)

There was a very comfortable little performance space, illuminated in brilliant colours...like the cosiest kind of private cinema. Here, you see the bandstand is set up. They're running entertainments and showing films to the general public during the games, as they seem proud of their film industry.

The general public can visit the ground floor of Bayt Qatar beween 3 pm and 3 am every day, free. THey're only allowed on the ground floor, but we were taken to the top of the building, to the white-carpeted restaurant. (Imagine, a restaurant with white carpet.) All the food comes from Harrods, which is now Qatari owned. Yes, for a country of just three quarters of a million, they are VERY rich).

My photo has

come out looking pink in this picture, but it was really dazzling white. It won't be used till 9 PM tonight, as it's Ramadan and many Muslims don't eat at all during the daylight hours.

Then we climbed even higher,up a spiral staircase to a rooftop garden with wonderful views over the Thames. And that is when I got my wet behind. Because I just HAD to leave the group for a few moments to watch the cycling and see if I could cheer Wiggo on.

So I sat on a red divan like the one below. They're wonderful for lounging in the open air, but are not really suitable for England's climate....

Oh, they were wet!

But the view was impressive, with St. Pauls, the Gherkin and the Thames.

There are all kinds of interesting things to see around London at the moment, and I'll post some more soon. When I'm not glued to the television watching to see if we get another gold, that is.

PS ... if you are in London and want to go along to Bayt Qatar, the address is 2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL. I believe they have a lady henna-ing hands and people serving special Qatari tea in their "souk" area :)