Jobs finished, mountains climbed and holes in the ground.

It was a busy week at work last week.  I spent one day with my team of local volunteers.  We managed to finish off a job that had been started by the Yorkshire volunteers but couldn’t be completed at the time because the lake level was too high.  We have now completed the removal of some old, redundant fencing on the lake shore.  This job has also removed one unnecessary gate and the path around the lake now feels more open – it also looks better.

Another day was spent going to the top of Great Gable to photograph a war memorial.  This is part of a project that the Trust is carrying out for 2014 which marks 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1.  A photographic record of all war memorials and commemorative donations of land on Trust properties is being created.  It is important that we keep these in good order.

Daisy came with me.  I chose a route from Honister and up Gillercombe because there is a stream for part of the way for her to have a drink.  

I also filled up some water bottles to take on up to the summit.  She is quite a big dog now but, despite her irritation, I did carry her on a couple of particularly steep sections so that she did not overtire.  I needn’t have worried.  When I sat down at the top, she was orbiting me like a little comet.

Then one evening Jamie Lund (archaeologist), John Malley  (water adviser) and I had a little excursion into the coffin levels of an Elizabethan mine.

  Jamie has been researching the old mines on Trust land and wanted to see this one.  John made a photographic record. 

It is amazing to enter these coffin levels and to think that they were hand cut into solid rock. The pick marks can be seen in the rock. 

To minimise the amount of rock that had to be removed they are narrow at the bottom, widen for the shoulders and then become narrow again.  This gives them their coffin shape.  We three were not able to walk through with our shoulders square on.  Those miners must have been strong and fit but much smaller than we are.

Daisy here:

I’ve been up a big mountain.  Roy still carried me a little bit.  What’s that all about?  I showed him.  I had energy to spare running round and round. It was great. 

And I’ve been down a hole in the ground.  Not sure what that was about but it seemed to be fun.  Everybody went in.