Lead Mines - backblip

Thursday 31st May

Lead mining and panning for gold. We took a very scenic route to visit Scotland's highest village situate on the Southern Upland Way at Wanlockhead. I took a grip of myself and actually went down the mine along with 4 others, Mr T and Jan our lovely guide, to see how lead was mined as long ago as 1756. I survived the underground bit and we both thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the tour of the Miners' Cottages, the Library and the Museum. All beautifully done and a stark reminder of progress through the ages. We were shown how to pan for gold and found out all about prospecting, particularly in this area which hosts the Scottish and British Gold Panning Championships every May. We just missed the competition but did see a few panners still around.

Whilst at the mine site we saw two young boys with their Grandparents eagerly doing some panning and finding tiny slivers to put in their vials. Mr T suggested to the older boy that if he could find enough gold then perhaps it could be made into a wedding ring for a partner in the future?!! Ever the romantic is Mr T!