This was a pretty good day all round. I wasn't expecting many
to turn up but they just kept arriving. We drove to Ariundle
National Nature Reserve and there were more waiting for us
there as well; in all there were twenty explorers: Abbie,
Adrian, Alasdair, Alexander, Alexandria, Allan, Benjamin,
Chloe, Chris D., Donald, Edward, Elliot, Jamie, JD, John Donaldson,
Peter William, Robbie C., Robin D., Sarah and Thomas, eight
helpers: Ann Marie, Becky, Chris M., Dot, Pamela, Peter Philippa
and Sandra. Plus Bruce, Ellie and Lady to look for interesting
edible material.
The day was cold and several of the explorers seemed to be
rather lightly clad, so we set a brisk pace to warm everyone
up on the long climb through the Nature Reserve. As far as
the dogs were concerned, the high point was finding a deer
carcass with two severed legs. Both Lady and Ellie had a try
at them but only Ellie persisted in carrying the leg for the
rest of the trip, although it was considerably smaller at
the end.
Everyone was hot and tired by the time we reached the old
Miners' Bridge and stopped for a Tunnock's Break. It took
quite a time for the tail enders to catch up with the main
team, but they all set off at a run for the last climb to
the mines.
Fee Donald Mines are, thankfully, mostly closed off now and
the big attraction is the huge spoil heap where everyone looked
for crystals of lead ore, or galena. I think everyone who
really wanted to find a bit managed to take home at least
one crystal, some of these were really good specimens.
Then, just as everyone was starting to get chilly, I called
them all back and we went down the path at a good rate. This
was one of the longest expeditions and there were some sore
feet by the time we reached the Ariundle Centre for a much-needed
lunch.John Dye
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