tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6908362959739425575.post3583521078607123204..comments2024-03-26T21:47:45.016+00:00Comments on MEI's Barry Wills: The life of a Cornish miner in perspectiveMEIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834780351452765156noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6908362959739425575.post-89588542968898604312015-08-14T08:39:45.285+01:002015-08-14T08:39:45.285+01:00The photos aren't hellish, but the conditions ...The photos aren't hellish, but the conditions underground certainly were. And yes, of course they were posed, that was the nature of photos in those days with very long exposures. MEIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14834780351452765156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6908362959739425575.post-11723044113218790262015-08-13T21:07:10.127+01:002015-08-13T21:07:10.127+01:00Burrows photos are anything but "hellish.&quo...Burrows photos are anything but "hellish." For one thing they are "posed," with the debris and broken rock (that would otherwise have been there) removed. Conversely, he is to be commended for being able to get the photos at all. In fact, prior to the advent of digital cameras, one needed to use a 35-mm camera with a good lens together with 400 or 800 film to get an image and that with lots of spotlights...Doug Hambleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6908362959739425575.post-88384958839038071532015-07-08T20:07:10.975+01:002015-07-08T20:07:10.975+01:00The completion of the Superstack in 1972 and the r...The completion of the Superstack in 1972 and the reductions in sulfur emissions going to the stack have resulted in much improved conditions. The NASA astronauts can no longer use Sudbury as an analog for the moon because vegetation has regenerated to an extent that anyone familiar with the conditions pre-1972 would scarcely believe. There have also been cleanups in the watersheds-- it is now allowable to swim in Kelly Lake, which is downstream of the slag heaps. It was not considered safe to swim in it for close to 100 years...Doug Hambleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6908362959739425575.post-72910615589602448432015-07-02T17:30:17.330+01:002015-07-02T17:30:17.330+01:00Yes Doug, conditions around Sudbury must also have...Yes Doug, conditions around Sudbury must also have been pretty horrendous. What is it like these days?MEIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14834780351452765156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6908362959739425575.post-70602338388727845762015-07-02T16:55:50.573+01:002015-07-02T16:55:50.573+01:00Yes, they were subject to many diseases due to the...Yes, they were subject to many diseases due to the conditions, which as you point out were horrid. However, they had to be of sturdy stock. My Hambley forebears have been miners going back to the 1820s and likely beyond. My Dad's generation inhaled sulfur smoke as children from the roastyards that were used until the1930s in Copper Cliff, yet 5 of the 6 of them were in their 80s and 90s when they died, including an uncle who spent his entire career in the Copper Cliff Smelter. This is natural selection at work! Doug Hambleynoreply@blogger.com