Miners lead tours and our guide George spent 27 years as a miner his periodic breathlessness indicates one of the hazards of the job. We did not descend into the mine but were shuttled along on an authentic “man cars" while seated we were only inches from the mine roof.

We enter the passageway and hear water dripping it is cold enough to wear a light jacket. George stops the car, he says this is the “claustrophobic stop” and if anyone wishes he will take them back; no one moves, he returns his seat and we continue on.

I did not feel claustrophobic, but this was a sanitized mine. It is one thing to travel with a group of tourists and another to actually mine in deep dirty conditions. I thought of the miner working in crouched positions semi isolated from his crew depending totally on his personal lamp. Then I had a claustrophobic moment.

We were driven in what turned out to be a loop 1500ft beneath the hill with stops at various sections where George explained the displays. He demonstrates the use of the miner’s most important tool the safety lamp. This safety lamp was invented in 1815 by Sir Humphrey Davey and was a great aid in improving the safety of the miners. Mines still use a modern version of that lamp to check for gasses each shift.

During the second stop he explains the role of the Fire Boss and points out the fireboard. This board is signed prior to each shift if the fire bosses signature is missing the men do not work
Next he displays the metal tag the miners use to mark their cars in order to be paid and to indicate attendance. In the early days miners were paid 20 cents per car and were expected to load ten cars per day.

He points out the miner worked 12 -16 hrs shifts; they did not have it easy. George demonstrated with pick & shovel how they dug rock and dirt from beneath a meter- wide seam, they then sat on the ground, a flat metal bar pushed against their chests to provide leverage they drilled individual holes with an auger, loaded the hole with a gunpowder shot wrapped in waxed paper. George said, “ You then yell, 'Fire! Fire! Fire in the hole!' and you hustle on out of there. In fact you've got very, very little time to get out”