A miner's life for me - 07/10/2009

In the fourth instalment of our Quality Badge series, we explore how groups can get to grips with the life of a miner at Killhope, The North of England Lead Mining Museum.

Owned by Durham County Council, Killhope, The North of England Lead Mining Museum, is promoted as the UK’s best preserved 19th century lead-mining site, high up in the centre of the North Pennines, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The site is deeply committed to the principal of offering hands-on experience and learning through fun. At Killhope, whatever the weather, groups are encouraged to roll up their sleeves and get involved and, as far as possible, feel what it was like to be a miner or washer boy over 150 years ago. Open-ended questions or problem-solving exercises can help develop enquiry, observation, recording and communication skills, and Killhope prides itself on being a worksheet-free site!

Understanding life underground

School groups normally spend three hours on site, one hour of which is devoted to the underground mine trip. A member of Killhope’s staff will accompany each group of 14 children and a school staff member. Each person is equipped with a pair of wellingtons, hard hat and battery-powered lamp for the pitch black mine. Modern equipment not with-standing, students will gain a powerful impression of working life deep underground in a typical 19th century Pennine lead mine.

There is nothing contrived about the activities that Killhope provides. All school groups are encouraged, under expert supervision, to process the ore and have direct hands-on experience of the type of work they may well have been employed to do a little over 150 years ago.

Having appreciated exactly how the galena was processed on the washing floor by hand, the guide will follow the route of a mine tub along the rails and up the ramp to a viewing platform, eye-level with the top of the wheel. This is an ideal spot for discussing how water power was used to drive machinery, to do essentially the exact same work that pupils have indulged in that morning. They can see some of this machinery working in the Jigger House.