Ye Olde Lead Mining

Katherine, former mayor of Richmond and key citizen and former school teacher, gave us a wonderful lecture on the important time periods of this historic town. She was informative, interesting, and funny. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to spend more time with her. What a lady!

Yes, these stiles were very narrow. It was nearly impossible to squeeze through some of them.

Today John and Moira Deighton joined us on our 6.5 mile walk. John is a retired mechanical engineer who worked for Cummins and is very familiar with Columbus, Indiana, and Brown Country where he and Moira have trekked over the hills and vales of the most lovely part of our state. Bill also happens to be an expert on the now defunct lead mining industry in North Yorkshire.

Lead was first mined by the Romans. In the nineteenth century the industry was a booming business and the area provided lead shot so Americans could kill one another during the Civil War.

I don't remember much about the walk yesterday since I was bored most of the time except that Nancy from Southern California and I have developed a prototype for a new invention: Winter in a Box. She is a computer science geek and programming expert and I'm a creative nut so we've decided we'd make a good team in developing an app where you could choose the perfect winter setting to provide the proper book reading atmosphere. Anyway, I don't know much about lead mining, but I do know that Nancy and I need investors. Anyone interested?

After our trek over we were picked up by Pack Horse (a bus transport) and taken to Richmond. Richmond has over 50 namesakes in England and in American, but this one is the original. The castle was built by a relative of William the Conqueror five years after the Norman invasion.  This is also the castle of Henry VII who defeated Richard III, thus ending the line of Plantagenets and starting the Tudor Dynasty. Katherine, a former mayor and long time city council member, led us on a tour of the town, pointing out the important historical and architectural sites. We then were treated to a view of Council Chambers and the Mayor's Reception Area where we saw a framed letter from President Theodore Roosevelt. Although the town has only 8000 residents, it is a cultural and educational magnet. I could stay here for a year and be perfectly happy. Katherine's son works for the BBC in America and lives in Brooklyn. She is an amazing lady in her early 80s.

John is explaining the process of lead mining and lime burning. He also taught us about Crack Pot Hall, the ruins of a hunting lodge favored by Henry VIII. I think if he wore a robe and pointed hat, he could be Gandolf.

We spent the afternoon walking around various sites. Tomorrow we will be transported over the "boring parts" of the C to C, so we can spend most of the day hiking the Moors. "Moor" later.

We spent a couple of hours in Muker. There was a county fair going on, but these folks were hanging out at the local pub. Can you see the men in white shirts and ties? Wonder if they got any work done that afternoon.