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Product name	Snailbeach Lead Mine Shropshire
Publisher	Shropshire Mines Trust Ltd.
Price range	£9.00
Web link	http://www.moorebooks.co.uk/shelves/cart.php?target=product&sns_mode=featured_product&product_id=18731&category_id=249
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Full Review

Snailbeach Lead Mine, Shropshire
Editor: Adrian Pearce
Publisher: Shropshire Mines Trust Ltd.
ISBN: 978-0-9556081-2-4

172 pages, 112 photos, 28 illustrations and 3 maps, £9.00 plus £1.50 P&P

"Snailbeach Lead Mine lies in South West Shropshire and was once the largest metalliferous mine in the country. Described as having more lead per acres than any other mine in Europe this mine provided 10% of the UK's lead and 25% of its barite."

Snailbeach Lead Mine, Shropshire has been published by the Shropshire Mines Trust as a general guide to the mine's history, operation and legacy. By its own admission this book is designed to be read by people with only a general interest, rather than to be a weighty, technical tome. However I felt this introduction sold the book somewhat short and the book will appeal to those with a casual interest, perhaps to people who have seen surface remains at Snailbeach and wish to learn more, and to the more knowledgeable mine explorer or historian.

The book is extremely well written in an easy to read style that encourages you to read on. History and narrative is mixed with geological, historical and technical fact and the book contains many photographs and some excellent illustrations and scans of period documents.

Snailbeach Lead Mine, Shropshire starts with a description of the area's geology and mineralogy before leading onto the mine's history from Roman times, to the peak output in the 19th century and it's eventual closure in the 1950s. The book is logically laid out, with chapters dedicated to the working lives of the miners, the notable George's shaft disaster, living conditions and community, the Snailbeach District Railway and the area's wildlife.

I particularly liked the narrative sections within ‘Working Conditions' written from the perspective of the Rowson family; from 43 year old miner Nathaniel Rowson to the youngest daughter helping her mother dress the ore. Whilst almost certainly fiction based on historical fact, it gives the reader a far clearer and more vivid insight into the lives of the miners and their families than a series of facts and figures.

Also of note are the sections dedicated to the surface and underground tours. The surface tour section includes a map with numbered highlights and descriptions of each. This will really add to a surface walk at Snailbeach.

For readers wanting to learn more, a detailed bibliography is included.

The standard of photography throughout the book is excellent; anybody who knows how hard it is to take high quality photographs underground in damp conditions will be impressed by the underground photography. It would have been nice to have had some colour photographs included although this is mentioned as a comment rather than a criticism since this would have added greatly to the price and as well as being an excellent read this book represents very good value for money.

Some of us mine explorers may be guilty of being ever so slightly parochial about our own parts of the country, I knew nothing about lead mining in Shropshire before reading this book, and it provided a fascinating insight into the history of this very important lead mine and the community and culture that grew up around it.

In summary, a really excellent book, highly recommended, and with proceeds going towards the heritage funding for Tankerville Mine, in a good cause as well.

http://www.snailbeachmine.org.uk/ [link]
http://www.moorebooks.co.uk/ [link]

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