Wednesday 21 May 2014

Photographs taken by J.C. Burrow show Cornish miners digging for tin in 1890s


  • Photographs taken by J.C. Burrow use early flash techniques to capture life underground

  • Mr Burrow was commissioned by mine owners to capture the once-thriving industry

  • But the frank photographs show the precarious constructions of the mines – which were prone to collapse

  • The collection of photographs will go on sale at auction this weekend and could fetch £2,000


By

Kieran Corcoran



12:05, 20 May 2014




|


15:33, 20 May 2014



These rare photographs show the hard labour of Victorian miners digging for tin deep below the earth in extremely dangerous conditions.


The images, taken in the darkness of four separate mines in Cornwall, were captured with the help of very early flash technology, which allowed photographer J.C. Burrow to bring the underground world to life.


Published in 1893, Mr Burrow’s photographs show the miners clambering through the warren of tunnels, held up by precarious wooden beams, as they dug out tin and copper and to fuel industrial Britain.


Toil: A bare-chested miner can be seen pushed a cart through Cook


Toil: A bare-chested miner can be seen pushed a cart through Cook’s Kitchen Mine in Cornwall, as fellow miners operate the machinery



Illuminated: Photographer J.C. Burrow used rudimentary flash technology to light up the underground scenes


Illuminated: Photographer J.C. Burrow used rudimentary flash technology to light up the underground scenes



Precarious: Miners clambered up rickety ladders and under the precarious timber beams holding the mine shaft together


Work: A bare-chested man works at a mining shaft


Precarious: Miners climb rickety ladders in the image to the left, while, right, a man prepared to load a mine cart with ore



The workers toiled in very harsh conditions – often for little pay – all the while breathing in filthy air under the ground. Accidents were common – indeed at Dolcoath, one of the mines pictured, seven men were crushed after timber supports gave way around the same time the photographs were published.


Some frames show the miners hard at work, drilling bore holes into the rock and setting up heavy machinery – while another shows them at rest, eating traditional Cornish pasties.


Mr Burrow was commissioned to take the photographs by local mine owners, who wanted to showcase the technology used in their underground enterprise. The illustrated guide which he produced – ‘Mongst Mines and Miners: Underground Scenes by Flash-Light – was later used as a teaching aid.


At least four separate mines were featured in his book – Dolcoath, a copper and tin mine in Camborne; East Pool in Redruth; Blue Hills tin mine in St Agnes, and Cook’s Kitchen mine in Pool.


Hard at it: In this frame the miners can be seen boring into the rock. The tin and copper from Cornish mines sold for millions across the nation


Hard at it: In this frame the miners can be seen boring into the rock. The tin and copper from Cornish mines sold for millions across the nation



Cramped: Mines would often have to scrambled between the beams in claustrophobic conditions


Cramped: Mines would often have to scrambled between the beams in claustrophobic conditions



At ease: In this more relaxed picture the miners are seen at rest, as many of them eat Cornish pasties


At ease: In this more relaxed picture the miners are seen at rest, as many of them eat Cornish pasties



Digging for victory: Here workers in East Pool Mine start work on a bore hole headed towards the surface


Digging for victory: Here workers in East Pool Mine start work on a bore hole headed towards the surface



In order to illuminate his photographs Mr Burrow rigged up a system of lamps filled with highly flammable magnesium powder. He then instructed teams of miners to light the powder, creating a bright flash which allowed him to capture the scene.


The process was difficult, time-consuming and often didn’t work – of the 100 images only 24 were deemed printable, and Mr Burrow wrote of how a whole day’s work would often turn out to be useless.


In a text describing his efforts, he wrote: ‘It is a

rather disheartening experience to find the results of a whole days

work with an energetic band of helpers are not “printable”, but such

experience was mine on more than one occasion.


‘The

work, however is so full of interest, and its performance so productive

of welcome enlightenment on many critical points, that I have no

intention of allowing it to remain where it is. I hope that at no distant date, the present attempt may be followed by another and more successful one.’


Technology: J.C. Burrows was commissioned to take the series of photographs to showcase the mines


Technology: J.C. Burrows was commissioned to take the series of photographs to showcase the mines’ advances



Widespread: At its peak, the mining industry employed as many as 25 per cent of Cornwall


Widespread: At its peak, the mining industry employed as many as 25 per cent of Cornwall’s working men



Shafts: Miners here stand on narrow beams as they arrange machinery


Volume: A book of the photographs is to be auctioned this week


Heritage: Mr Burrow was commissioned to photograph the mines by their owners, and compiled the results in ‘Mongst Mines and Miners: Underground Scenes by Flash-Light, right



Today: JC Burrows photographed in East Pool Mine, pictured


No longer: Cornwall


Locations: JC Burrows took his photographs in several mines, including East Pool, left, and Blue Hills, right. They are pictured above as they are today



A copy of the book is for sale in an upcoming auction, and is expected to fetch £2,250. It goes under the hammer at this year’s PBFA London International Antiquarian Book Fair, on May 23 and 24.


Bookseller Michael Kemp said: ‘Mr Burrow was attempting to showcase the mining technology of his age, but in doing so he devised some pretty groundbreaking methods of his own.


‘Using explosive materials in the open air would be challenging enough back in 1893, but to do it in the pitch dark confines of an underground mine shaft seems unthinkable.


‘Evidently our late Victorian counterparts did not share our modern day obsession with health and safety.’


INDUSTRY THAT FUELLED AN INDUSTRIAL EMPIRE: THE DANGEROUS HISTORY OF MINING IN CORNWALL


Cornwall’s rich veins of tin and copper have made it a centre of the mining industry since pre-historic times. Cornish mining interests are suggested as one reason for the Roman invasion of Britain, and medieval documents attest to the productivity of the early mines.


But it was with the advent of the industrial revolution when mining in Cornwall really came into its own, prompted by demand for the valuable metals in industrial production. At its peak, mining in Cornwall employed as many as 25 per cent of the county’s working men.


Plans: South Crofty was Europe


Plans: South Crofty was Europe’s last functioning tin mine, but closed in 1998. It has been suggested that rising prices could lead to the mine re-opening, but this is yet to happen



Although the conditions underground were unforgiving, the work paid better than the alternatives of fishing or farming. Billions of pounds worth of metal was dragged up from the earth during the industry’s late 1800s peak, though the Cornish industry experienced periodic slumps as prices rose and fell due to competition and new technology.


By the latter half of the 19th century many mines in the area had been forced to close thanks to intense competition from mines elsewhere in the world. According to Cornish Mining Heritage, as many as half a million miners left Cornwall between 1815 and 1915, often setting up their own mines in other countries such as Australia, South Africa and the the U.S.


The industry continued in Cornwall – albeit at a much lower capacity – until the late 1990s. South Crofty mine – the last working tin mine in Europe – remained open until 1998. Plans have been suggested to re-open the mine in light of increased global tin prices, but have yet to materialise.









Comments (62)


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steveh2731,


MALVERN, United Kingdom,


17 hours ago


And this was 60 years after slavery was abolished in the British Empire.





Sandy Brown,


London,


17 hours ago


Looks like they are eating Cornish pasties in one of the photos. That is what they took down with them to eat as it was designed for them to take with them down the mines. I love Cornish pasties. The ones that are made down there, properly. Not that rubbish that the Prince of Wales sells to Waitrose. Ginsters are very good too and they are Cornish. When we lived in Plymouth, we used to eat them a lot.





Graham Stark,


Camborne, United Kingdom,


8 hours ago


Ginsters are the Devils Spawn !!





Graham Stark,


Camborne, United Kingdom,


8 hours ago


Ginsters are the Devils spawn !!






Kram666,


Dunstainable, United Kingdom,


18 hours ago


In picture 2 centre, I would be telling that Miner ” NO NOT THAT BIT”.





bigkidsmate,


leicester, United Kingdom,


19 hours ago


Slavery?





Labrador1,


Strood, United Kingdom,


20 hours ago


The scene of loading a mine car (tub) is almost the same as in 1976/7 the chutes were a it tidier but just as functional. The story went that a Mr Cook found a vein of tin ore and described it as, ” As wide as my kitchen “





JimBobElrod,


Michigan, United States,


20 hours ago


In the late 1800′s many Cornish miners emigrated to the U.S. to work in underground copper mines in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Mine captains were almost all Cornish due to their experience in the tin mines of Cornwall. Cornish surnames and pasties are still common in the upper peninsula. Underground photos taken in the Michigan copper mines are remarkably similar to the ones shown here.





mims,


Phoenix,


21 hours ago


Isn’t there a mine in the UK that still uses ponies in the mine?





selbsdownwest,


camborne, United Kingdom,


22 hours ago


I once read about a blind miner who for whatever reason lost his job down the mine because there were no government hand outs at that time had to find another way to earn money to feed his family. He got a job as a labourer on a building site, he lost his life when he fell from a scaffolding that he was working on.

Very sad but true





wontgetfooldtlnxtime,


Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom,


18 hours ago


This story could be today only you didn’t mention atos plus the fact the mining industry is destroyed .





gangle,


madrid, Spain,


22 hours ago


Looking at them pictures I don’t think they was taken over a hundred years ago. I was in Cornwall two summers ago and most of the blokes looked like that. Just a little deranged, hard to put your finger on it really, slightly mad – and grimy.





Ben,


TRURO,


20 hours ago


…however usually not illiterate, as you seem to be.





Concerned,


Plymouth,


22 hours ago


Before lifts to take them to the bowels of the earth, the miners had to decend dozens of ladders down, down, down.





Julie,


Leicester, United Kingdom,


17 hours ago


And worse still at the end of a back breaking shift they had to climb back, up up, up…



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Article source: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/01/4530953/manfrotto-school-of-xcellence.html


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