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TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 31 ● Number 4, 2006 Ecton Rises Again! ALASTAIR FLEMING The Ecton Copper Mines are set for a new life! Many ESTA members know of the Ecton Copper Mines in the Staffordshire Peak District and their use as a base for educational activities, started under the aegis of the former Mineral Industry Manpower and Careers Unit (MIMCU). Indeed many will have been there, or to the nearby spectacular structural geology of Apes Tor. Figure 1 View of the Boulton and Watt Engine House, and the buttress around the balance shaft for Deep Ecton Mine, from the ruined buildings around Dutchman Mine. Ecton provided intensive one-day courses for both A level Chemistry and A level Geology students. Other users ranged from primary school groups to GNVQ students to undergraduate geologists and PGCE Science groups, from local church groups to professional experts and researchers. Supporters of Ecton included the Royal Society of Chemistry, which ran several teachers’ courses there, the local group of the Geologists’ Association, and the Royal School of Mines. Five years ago these educational activities were suspended during the foot-and-mouth disease out- Figure 2 Eyes down! Picking mineral specimens from the old tips at Waterbank Mine. This mine was more lead-rich, less copper-rich, than Deep Ecton Mine. break, and other factors then prevented the resumption of those activities. In those five years the small band of volunteers who ran these courses under the banner of the Ecton Hill Field Studies Association (EHFSA) kept up their hopes of an eventual re-opening. In that time the mines’ owner, Geoff Cox, sadly died, which put the future of the mines themselves into doubt as his estate was settled. However there is now new light at the end of this tunnel, as the ownership of the mines, with their mineral rights, and the Ecton Educational Centre itself, has been transferred to a newly-formed charitable trust company called the Ecton Mine Educational Trust. The aims of the Trust are primarily for education and conservation of heritage, so the Trust will make the centre available for educational activities, including the revival of EHFSA courses. So what did those courses entail? The A level activities evolved from earlier two-day MIMCU courses, eventually refined into an intensive one-day (10am-4pm) course, normally with two tutors and a maximum of 30 students with their teachers. A typical day would start with a briefing on the background to mining at Ecton. The party then set off up Ecton Hill, past the old powder hut, to the top of the Deep Ecton shaft and the original Boulton and Watt engine house, and the hole where the main Ecton ore-body originally outcropped at surface. A walk over the hill led to Waterbank Mine, where the old mine dumps offer a rewarding opportunity to collect mineral specimens. These were analysed, in a session in the outdoor laboratory, by wet chemical qualitative analysis techniques to identify the compounds in them. A further practical session introduced some mineral separation techniques and the science behind these, and, as a climax to the day, an unforgettable underground tour into Salt’s Level in Ecton Mine. EHFSA will again operate the courses for schools. The revival of these courses will take some time. It is hoped improvements can be made to the centre itself, and perhaps a wider range of courses offered. The first development in preparing for re-opening has been the updating of the one-day A level Geology course programme covering minerals, mineralization and mining, and associated structural geology, with accompanying teaching and learning materials. Peter Kennett is presently editing these materials, and we are grateful for a Curry Fund grant which has enabled this updating process. Essentially a package of mainly practical activi- www.esta-uk.org 24
TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 31 ● Number 4, 2006 ties is being created, covering a wide range of topics including: ● the geological setting of Ecton Hill ● modelling primary mineralization ● investigating secondary mineralization ● AS/A2 investigations involving (i) structural geology in the field (ii) engineering geology ● limestone weathering underground ● mining in a National Park – environmental issues. Teachers of visiting groups will be given a choice from the final menu to suit their needs and interests. We are also being encouraged to consider industrial archaeology courses for A level Archaeology, and the revival of Geophysics days. CPD courses for teachers are being planned, backed by the Royal Society of Chemistry and perhaps other institutions. A tutor workshop took place in September to update the A level Chemistry course programme. The operation of courses will remain on a voluntary basis, with a band of enthusiasts as the tutorial team. Experienced tutors are eager to get going again, and a group of new tutors is in training. We are hoping to run the booking arrangements with the help of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (usually known as IOM3!), who have been active in promoting this revival. If progress can be maintained, the first courses should be run in 2007, with a full programme from 2008. If you are interested in being kept in touch with progress, please contact us (see below). It would help our planning to have expressions of interest in these courses from schools, colleges, universities and adult educational groups, indicating the type of course or other activity that would be of particular interest. So we are waiting to hear from you! In the first instance, please email a message to Alastair Fleming at fleming.a.z@btinternet.com, or to Eileen Barrett at Eileen1Barrett@aol.com Acknowlegement: Peter Kennett for the photographs. Figure 3 (top) Geophysics day courses were provided by Imperial College staff. Here a sixth-form group record a seismic event! Figure 4 (middle) Modelling mineral separation by jigging – and it really works! Figure 5 (bottom) Discussing the structural geology seen in 3-D in Salt’s Level, inside Ecton Hill. 25 www.esta-uk.org
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