I have been on a few walks recently some with the beautiful Socs others with my Dad but due to a really hectic three weeks, I've had no time to tell you about them. I must however tell you about today and the walk I had with my Dad and Mike up to Parys Mountain and then down to Bull Bay over to Porth Wen to see the old Brick works.
Parys Mountain in Amlwch Anglesey is one of the strangest environments I have seen to date. Prehistoric stone hammers and wood found underground have been scientifically tested to reveal that Parys Mynydd (mountain) is one of the earliest metalliferossa (mineral) mines in Britain dating back nearly 4,000 years. 2,000 years ago the Romans trained slaves in the copper mines of Rio Tinto in Spain and then transported them to the mountain to extract the Copper ore.
More recently on the 2nd of March 1768 a Derbyshire minor called Jonathan Roose made the "great Discovery" of vast amounts of copper ore and thus changed the once small village of Amlwch into what was the second largest town in Wales. It was said that Amlwch was at one time half the size of the then New York. Another local minor named Roland Puw was also present at the major discovery and was rewarded with wait for it..........a bottle of Brandy and a rent free cottage for life.
Thomas Williams aka "Twm chwarae teg" which translated means "Tom fair play" was the owner of the mines which employed 1500 men women and children as young as eight years old to extract ore from Mynydd Parys but this was by no means a good job as the procedures used to extract the ore were not only dangerous but also quite often fatal. Ore was mined and then the rocks were burned to extract the copper which has resulted in the red, yellow, brown, purple and orange almost lunar landscape you see today (pic 1). Believe it or not there could be at any one time 6,000 fires simultaneously burning on Parys Mountain. The sulphur released into the air was potent and deadly, 60% of children living in the surrounding area died before the age of six years old which leads me to the conclusion that "Tom fair play" wasn't that fair a guy after all.
Copper produced by the mine was used to line the bottom of Nelsons battle ships to deter the infestation of the notorious Teredo Worms known to bore into wood immersed in sea water. Teredo worms are not really worms at all they are a clam type molluscs that stick to the bottom ships etc and due to the fact there was no Toredo Worms on the underbelly of Nelsons ships his vessels were more maneuverable giving him a considerable advantage at Trafalgar.
As we walked along the path we could see the purpose built settling ponds (pic 2) where huge amounts of scrap iron imported from Amlwch port, were thrown into the copper rich mine water. A chemical reaction resulted in a "precipitate extremely rich in copper and an iron rich solution which when oxidized was used as a colourant for paint" pffft I'll be honest that last sentence went straight over my head.
A little further and you can see in the distance on top of the hill what remains of the only wind powered mining pump that exists in Britain. A local landmark since 1878 it was built to help power by means of five large sails the steam engine pumping the huge Cains shaft (pic 3)
As you round the hill there is a dilapidated engine house, the last of six originally situated on the mountain. Next to the engine house is what remains of a large fallen chimney. I got talking to a guy who informed me that the digger you see in the photo (pic 4) is recovering the original stones from the fallen chimney and these in turn are going to be used in the reconstruction of the original structure. He also said that he believes over the years local farmers have taken the stones to constuct their walls etc. The windmill is thankfully also going to be restored but probably not with the sails. I will no doubt return when the work is complete.
Minors at Parys mountain were paid with "Druid head" tokens (last pic) which could only be spent in the mine owners shops. This type of payment was widely used in the 18th and 19th century and the method was known as the Truck System. These tokens were minted by Matthew Boulton in Birmingham in their thousands and when you take into consideration that minors of that time had to buy all their own tools from the mine shops, it doesn't seem that "chwarae teg" either. These coins can still be bought by collectors for around £25.
My only complaint is that they have spelt the Parys bit wrong as of course it should read Parrys' Mountain
