The Peak District Lead Mining Museum

A specimen of Labradorite at the Peak District Lead Mining Museum

After the guided tour of Temple Mine and an introduction to panning for Fool's Gold, the Sheffield U3A Geology Group joined up together again and, crossing to the other side of the busy A6 road, we finished our day out to Matlock Bath with a guided tour of the Peak District Lead Mining Museum – housed in the Grand Pavilion, built in 1910, which is now being maintained and restored by a local charity.

The Grand Pavilion

When living in Bakewell, where I carried out a survey of Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS) on behalf of Natural England and the Peak District National Park Authority, I made good use of its bookshop, to purchase British Geological Survey maps and memoirs, but I didn't go into the museum itself.

A general view inside the museum

As a geologist, I obviously have an appreciation of the economic exploitation of mineral resources and I have enjoyed visits to such places as Chislehurst Caves and the National Coal Mining Museum – as well as Temple Mine - but I have to say that the Peak District Lead Mining Museum had never been on my list of places to see; however, I found the talk by our guide interesting, especially the descriptions of the various pumps used to drain the mines.

Part of the Howie mineralogical collection

The real highlight for me was to see the fantastic displays of minerals, which contains part of the Howie mineral collection. Professor R.A. Howie, as every undergraduate in Britain for the last 50 years will know, was the co-author – along with J. Zussman and W.A. Deer - of An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals - a classic textbook that is now in its 3rd edition. Along with Rutley's Elements of Mineralogy, I put this to good use 20 years after graduating as a geologist, when cataloguing and packing the collection of 1500 minerals at Clifton Park Museum in 2002, and I still have occasion to use it in my work.

A general view of a mineral display

Time, unfortunately, was not on my side and I was only able to have a quick scan of the wide range of excellent specimens on display and I would like the opportunity to see it again, although its relatively remote location makes it unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Various minerals

Although it is necessary to pay to see it, it is to the great credit of the Peak District Lead Mining Museum that they maintain this collection of minerals, and it puts many regional museums to shame, especially since many of these – Sheffield and Rotherham in my region – contain very good collections themselves, yet have no desire to show these wonders of nature to the general public. I have only seen better collections in London, Madrid and perhaps Barcelona and it was a great surprise to discover this one in Matlock Bath.

Various minerals

In writing this Blog, I have described my visits to places that I think that other people with interests in geology and the wider applications of Geoheritage and Geodiversity – which includes building stone, ancient monuments and historic stone buildings – would like to see. This includes professionals from Catalonia and Sardinia, who work in Geoparks or have expressed their interest in bringing groups to England, as well the Sheffield U3A Geology Group and others and, if I were arranging an itinerary, I think that I would make a point of taking them here.

Derbyshire oak stone