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NEWS
| "Widowmaker"
dry rock drill and drill bits wanted to
add to our display of artifacts. Can
anyone help please? |
A display of artifacts from other mines in the
area is being created alongside the track between
the drying shed and the tramming level adit.
Currently the display comprises:-
- Hardinge
Ball Mill from Great Rock Shiny
Ore Mine, Hennock - the rotating
part only and not the bearings.
This and the next two items were
previously at Okehampton Museum.
Inside the mill body were some of
the iron balls and other assorted ferrous items performing the same
service. Also inside the mill were two jaws of the Hammer
Mill at Great Rock. The mill is now mounted on a
wooden cradle which supports the hollow axles.
- Climax
Rock Drill Former/Sharpener from
Great Rock Mine, formerly at
Canonteign Falls. Climax were
later taken over by Holmans. This
item has been restored as far as
is practical and can be operated from a
compressed air soppy. More information on
this equipment is sought.
- Tram
chassis, reputedly from Holne
Chase Mine (near Ashburton) but
looking very like the 20th
century side tippers used at
Great Rock.
- Slab sided steel
tram body from Great Rock.
- Trusham
Quarry tram chassis.
- Two stretcher bearer
tram from English China Clays Broadway Mine (Kingsteignton).
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PROJECTS
- The early waterwheel
pit on the side of the mill has
been refurbished. Some of the
stonework has been rebuilt with
lime mortar and new timbering is
in place. The pit is 22 feet
long, 9 or 10 feet deep and 28
inches wide, and is reputed to
have housed a 16 foot diameter
wheel.
- The shrouds (or
outer rings) of a 16 foot wheel,
probably manufactured about 1850
by William Willmitt of
Wellington, Somerset, have been
purchased from Wigdon Mill, near Okehampton. The wheel was
originally supplied to Chubworthy
Farm, Raddington, Somerset. New
hubs (or naves) have been fabricated together with new
metal spokes and the plates to
fix them to the shrouds. New steel buckets have
been fitted to the shrouds and the complete wheel
has been assembled horizontally on a jig. It has
now been dismantled and reassembled in the above wheelpit
adjacent to the mill. Water is supplied to the top
of the wheel via a wooden launder from the pond behind the earth and
stone dam just above the mill. The wheel is now fully operational; it is
well balanced, runs true and develops about one
horsepower
- A set of lightweight
Cornish stamps with four heads
are being constructed in the
style of typical stamps. Cornish
stamps are known to have been use
at Kelly Mine and two sizes of
stamp head have been found on the
site. These stamps are modelled
on the smaller head size. They are located in the mill
and will be driven from the new waterwheel. The
stamps are nearly finished and a belt drive from
the waterwheel is being implemented.
- The
top of the old shaft is being stabilised. A
reinforced concrete ring beam has been inserted on
the bedrock surmounted by reinforced concrete
walling to restore the original dimensions where
coning has occurred. Some stabilisation of the
shaft below the ring beam has been required. A
wooden headgear is being erected over the shaft
and it is hoped that winding and pumping machinery will be installed.
- The 18
inch gauge railway at the top of the incline has been extended
past the shaft and a turntable for a branch to the
shaft is in position. It is proposed to install
another turntable for a second branch to the
shaft.
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Updated 3/11/09
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