Jack

Today we walked climbed up to the nearby Glen Shale Mine. I say "climbed" as it is up a very steep hill made more difficult by the loose leaves and shale underfoot. We needed to slide on our bottoms some of the way down it was so steep.
We went up there about 15 years ago and swore it would be the last time but when our friend Jack, on his recent visit here, said he wanted to go up again we didn't see how we could use age as an excuse (Jack is 81).
We were joined by another couple who brought along 3 friends. Two or three of them have walked the Camino and one the Inca Trail. That didn't help my confidence.
Jack had brought his lunch in a carry bag so I said it had better go in my backpack - sandwiches, large thermos and heavy china mug!
So we set off and Jack scampered up the rise like a mountain goat. The rest of us only just made it with lots of slipping, sliding and near misses. Larry got a very nasty injury to his hand when he caught it on a stick. I didn't see the wound but it certainly bled a lot. Not sure how he  managed to battle on for the rest of the day.
Anyway it was worth it when we found this old wheel (extra) which Jack had discovered in 1956. It would have been put there in about 1885 to haul shale skips between the valley floor and the mine.
Unfortunately we couldn't find the actual mine but believe the entrance has been closed off.