Yes, possibly and No, definitely - with/without bark probably depends on the source of the timber that is supplied by the Gibbon brothers.Shouldn’t they still have the bark on them?
Pit props were cut to 7, 8, and 9ft lengths, and cut to shorter lengths underground.Shouldn’t they still have the bark on them? They look a bit thick too for the 1:12 - 1” diameter per 1 ft of prop. I only remember seeing them loaded on end, never horizontally. Dave
Correct.Yes, possibly and No, definitely - with/without bark probably depends on the source of the timber that is supplied by the Gibbon brothers.
I recall reading in something written by Adrian Marks that timber could not be imported into the UK with bark as that offered home to undesirable insect life. Props from timber grown in this country could have bark.
Were J & O Gibbon the suppliers of pit props to the colliery at Ynysybwl Fsch?
regards, Graham
Mmm, sounds like a trick played on apprentices! As an apprentice with BP Llandarcy I was sent all around the refinery looking for the key to the Nullah. That's another story.I suspect that Adrian may have been mistaken. I've just been looking at a large number of photos of pit props arriving at Welsh ports from Scandinavia, Canada etc and all are bark-on. However, depending on the length of the props and the type of wagon used, some timber was loaded and transported horizontally.
Old miners referred to 'Jaspers' - large flying beetles - often found among Russian props. They were so big that they could open your OXO tin lunch box and steal your grub. Two Jaspers could alledgedly derail a (empty) dram!
Dave
[...]So I asked the obvious question about what then kept the roof up while they were working. He said that the roof simply fell in behind them as the props were removed.
Isn't that leachate discolouration coming from mineral absorption into the groundwater filling the mine workings, rather than from rotting machinery?