Blackball Mine Track

 

Yesterday we had such a nice warm Autumn day that B and I decided to drive out to an old mining quarry. There is a historical background to this...

Where I live on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, it's well known for a coal and gold mining history which is still going today. 

This particular no longer used coal mine has some old relics and equipment and tunnels (which are unfortunately fenced off) and the whole area is dangerous to check out up close. The walk itself takes about 25 minutes mostly uphill to a lookout at the top.

The mine was in use in the early 1900s and is apparently where the idea of a lunch break began. The miners were unhappy with having a 15 minute break and so they went on strike for 3 months in 1908 demanding the right for a half hour break instead.

The miners ending up winning and Blackball was known as a town that stuck up for New Zealand workers.

Apparently the judge had told the miners their request was unreasonable while enjoying a 90 minute lunch break for himself.

The 1908 strike was important for union history in this country and some of the leaders were later involved in starting up the Labour Party.

The mine operated until 1964 but today it is a preserved site that still has a large chimney, fan houses and equipment scattered around like old wheels.

 Some more old mining equipment...

And this is the view from the top over the nearby Blackball township which is about 20 minutes out of Greymouth.

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures and Happy Tuesdays. 

Denniston Incline

About a year ago when my parents visited us we took them out past Westport to visit the old historical Denniston Mines. This in particular for myself and my father was a bit nostalgic as his 3 times great grandfather was a miner here m the late 1800s. 

My father reading some of the information near the entrance. The road that is currently there leading to this site was not built until about 1902 so I imagine the trek up here was hard work by either sitting in a coal wagon and being pulled up or up a pack track.

B in the above and below photos reading more infomation in one of the old disused sheds.

For many years Denniston was the country's largest producing coal mine which was then loaded into railway wagons and lowered by a cable down a very steep sharp incline 

There actually was a village and community of people here of around 1500 and back then the amount of rain that hit the west coast was a lot more than what we get now. There is a book written called "Denniston Rose" which is a novel based on a young girl's life growing up here.

The demand for coal decreased over the years and in 1967 the railway closed and production slowly ended.

In 1995 coal mining through coalcorp here stopped completely but private mining is still going.

The view from the top - Denniston is now classed as a category 1 historic place.

So enjoy the rest of the photos I took and the video at the end of this post.

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Gold rush

Right smack bang in the middle of town is this small monument dedicated to Greymouth's gold rush history. 

In 1854 gold was discovered here in the Grey district which bought 29,000 diggers by ship and across mountain passes to Te Wai Pounamu (the place of Greenstone). Many never made it as floods and shipwrecks were frequent. Bodies washed up on the beach and in most cases many were recorded as unidentifiable. At that time the area was known as Mawhera Pa which was accepted by Maori who arrived here 1000 approx years ago. Storekeeper Reuben Waite sailed up the Grey River in 1864 with 70 gold prospectors and a contract to precure 40 tons of coal from further upstream. 3 million ounces of gold was extracted during the gold rush. Greymouth was one of the busiest ports in the country with the gold financing alot of the growth. Westland's coal fire the furnaces that industrialized New Zealand.

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