Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Book in excellent unread/unused condition. Pullouts present. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> I first came across Cas at a farm just with my family on holiday staying at a farm just outside St.Columb Major. I already had an embryonic interest in mining and it was during that holiday that the farmer introduced me to an old miner who did some part- time work on the farm. He told me something of his experience at “Castle” and he gave me a sample of wolfram from the mine. As a result of this chance meeting I managed to persuade my reluctant parents to take me up to the mine. Castle-an-Dinas was by then seemingly abandoned and derelict but the whole place was almost complete and un-vandalised. This was the first real mine that I had seen and I found it fascinating. A couple of years later some fellow students from the Camborne School of Mines and I managed to explore some of the underground workings. At that time it was still possible to climb down North Shaft to Nos. 3 and Nos. 4 levels. Unfortunately both levels were blocked just south of the shaft but it was possible to walk out to surface via the No.4 deep adit. This book should have been written by the late John H. Trounson. Jack as he was known graduated from the Camborne School of Mines in 1926. Initially he worked at East Pool mine before moving to South Crofty where he stayed for most of his professional life. He was closely involved with Castle-an-Dinas from about 1938 until its closure. In particular he was responsible for much of the design of the South Shaft complex in the early 1940’s. Without his articles and notes it would have been impossible for me to have pieced together much of what happened. Jack was a lovely man and he was always prepared to talk mining and to share his information without any thought of personal recognition with anyone who showed a genuine interest. I was privileged to know him and was able to discuss Castle-an- Dinas with him on more than one occasion. I wish that I had listened more closely but had no idea that one day I would be researching the history of the mine.