Old Wheels

I took the Euphling to junior band at Newtongrange, Midlothian, this evening.

While he was having a great time enjoying his promotion to the ranks of the first cornets (who have the tune and are therefore dead cool) I popped along to the former Lady Victoria Colliery, now Scottish Mining Museum.

Big wheels

I have great memories of coal-mines. In my early to mid teens I played in the Gresford Colliery band, in North Wales. While my little sister was playing in the junior band, me and my mates would pop round to the canteen, have a glass of ice-cold milk and occasionally buy some menthol snuff! Miners are not allowed to smoke underground so a large selection of snuff and chewing tobacco was always available for addicts.

We were taking snuff, and we thought we were cool!

So here is the Lady Victoria winding-gear in the evening sunshine, with a bit of added contrast for dramatic effect