Comments on: Going to California . . . Via Teesdale

By: McEff

McEff — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 16:02:16 +0000

Thanks for that, Steve. I’ll take my banjo next time I visit the area.

By: Steve Bibby

Steve Bibby — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 15:19:53 +0000

Maybe no cotton in Blaenau, but there were american paddle steamers operating on the Conwy (taking people to the spa at Trefriw).

By: McEff

McEff — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 21:19:02 +0000

That’s great. New York, New York. Someone wrote a song about it.
Cheers, Alen

By: Scotlands Mountains

Scotlands Mountains — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:19:26 +0000

My wife was born in New York.Not the one with millins of people but the one with about 4 houses on the western side of Loch Awe :)
Her mum was taken to the shops in Oban twice a year and transported in the back of a forestry lorry !

By: McEff

McEff — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 18:32:07 +0000

Hi Dohn. I’m glad you dropped in. It’s good to hear you’re feeling better, so here’s hoping you are back out under wide blue skies soon.
All the best, Alen

By: earthstonestation

earthstonestation — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 17:48:46 +0000

Thanks for bringing a bit of adventure into my life today Alen. A great hike. Past 6 months I’ve not gotten out due to the debilitating effects of chemotherapy treatment. That is almost over and I look forward to hitting the trails again. In the meantime you give me something to aspire to and as always inspire. Thanks for that.
Happy Trails, Dohn

By: McEff

McEff — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:39:00 +0000

Hi Carol. I think there’s a great deal of irony in mine names. There are three quarries in the Lake District named Spion Kop ??? which was a hilltop battle in the Boer War in which the British were defeated. This is also where the Liverpool Kop gets its name, for North-West regiments played a major role. It’s a fascinating subject. Someone should write a book on it.
I haven’t been to Roughton Gill for years. That’s an interesting area. I shall look out for your post.
Cheers, Alen

By: mountaincoward

mountaincoward — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 03:21:04 +0000

I think the exotic mine names in Britain are probably the miners’ ironic streak coming out myself…

I was just thinking about your mining posts the other day when I was poking around Roughton Gill and High Pike’s mines on our latest Lakes trip. Always an interesting way to spend the day! :-)
Carol.

By: Jo Woolf

Jo Woolf — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:31:23 +0000

Haha, no I had no idea! But thanks to you I have got Hotel California complete with that brilliant guitar riff going round in my head, which is never a bad thing! :) I will look into a bit of the mining history here, too – I know nothing about it. (“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave…”

By: McEff

McEff — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:21:12 +0000

Hi Jo. Blimey, you’ve raised a few points there. Firstly, I would have been bloody surprised if someone had answered the door. I’d probably still be running. Secondly, I had loads of songs lined up for the title of this piece and one of them included the word “hotel”, I just couldn’t make it work so I gave up. Have you any idea how many song titles include the word “California”? I did a search and it’s mind-boggling, but I’m glad to learn there’s a California near you.
Thirdly, I’ve heard of the term “bings”. There was an episode of Rebus where a body was found buried in the bings. It’s a lovely word and I’m glad it’s still in use. Fourthly, I wondered about the ecclesiastical connection. Eggles and Eccles usually denote the existence of a church, but I don’t know of any. I shall look into it.
All the best, Alen

By: Jo Woolf

Jo Woolf — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:17:48 +0000

Excellent post and photos, Alen, and it’s good to see a ‘normal’ one of you! (What are you doing knocking on the walled-up mine entrance? Would it have shocked you if someone let you in?) There is a California somewhere near us, too – around Falkirk, I think. We have never been through it but I always wonder if it has a hotel. I’m pretty sure I’d be disappointed though! Apparently the spoil heaps around here in West Lothian are called ‘bings’ – where they used to extract crude oil from the shale. I wonder about the origin of the ‘Eggles Hope’ place name – suggests to me that there may have been a church here.

By: McEff

McEff — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 22:18:14 +0000

Hi James. Thanks for your comment ??? you’ve stirred some of my own memories there. I spent a lot of time during the 1980s messing around in the mines around Nenthead and occasionally in Weardale. Even the more popular mines (Sir Francis Level, up to your chest in water for hundreds of yards) were a bit of a challenge. They were great places to explore and there was a real sense of adventure. But as you say, the more remote ones have stood the test of time well, and nowadays I appreciate the ruins and remains left on the surface more than I did back then. I can spend hours poking about among tumbled walls.
And as for sanitised, family-friendly visitor centres ??? no thanks.
Cheers, Alen