Magpie mine
The pump engine house at Magpie Mine Just before attending the Imp Club National, I camped for a few days at Monyash in the High Peak. This was a good choice because within a few miles was the site of an abandoned mine. I'd already researched the area and discovered that there was a Cornish engine house at Magpie Mine, reputedly the best preserved lead mine in the country. I'd never been to the Peak District before and was very pleasantly surprised by what I found. It's quite beautiful and not at all crowded. It made a pleasant change to find a part of the British Isles that I did not know at all. When I approached Magpie Mine, though, I felt back at home. You can see the engine house for some way off and it had all the hallmarks of a Cornish engine house. It was built by Captain John Taylor who operated mines all over the UK, as well as in Mexico, and he brought a team of about twenty Cornish men to Sheldon to There were other mine engines of this type in the...