I was thinking of titling this post 'Here be dragons' since I thought the machinery pictured looked rather like a friendly dragon's head! It is in fact a huge piece of machinery called a Bucyrus Erie BE 1150 Walking Dragline Excavator, known as 'Oddball' for short. It is a relic of the opencast coal mining that created the site that is now St Aidan's country park. It has been preserved thanks to the work of enthusiasts who raised money from a number of sources. It stands as a memorial to the 'sunshine miners' who worked the site to produce coal, alongside those (like my grandfather and great-grandfather) who worked the deep pits. More about it HERE if you're interested.
Whilst in East Siberia I admired a handsome Russian Orthodox Church. To my utter astonishment I was told the British National Coal Board had financed it as part of a deal to buy coal from Russia, after we had closed virtually all our own pits.
ReplyDeleteA Dragline Dragon -- perfect!
ReplyDeleteIt does look rather monster-like!
ReplyDeleteOddball is a fitting memorial to the bygone days of open cast coal mining.. was an informative link Jenny ✨
ReplyDeleteIt does seem beastly.
ReplyDelete