Welsh Idyll

"Well, gentlemen, where do you want to start?" I asked.

"We'd like a table, preferably indoors, with a sink and water, if possible," Mr Jonas said.

"OK. The miners' canteen is probably the most suitable."

I unlocked it and they put their rucksacks on a table.

"What now?"

"If we could start on the work face, first, please," Mr Simpson said," And if you have them? A couple of frying pans. We want to try panning the river. You own that, don't you?"

"Yes. The first half mile from the waterfall to Blacktown. We were considering it for sport fishing. It is well stocked even if most of the fish are black from coal dust. They are good eating."

"OK. We'll take samples at the work face, from some of the slag heaps and come back her for the frying pans in about an hour. OK?"

"Yes. I'll have some coffee ready then."

I had brought a kettle, mugs and a Primus stove to the canteen last week. As yet there was no electricity connected to any of the mine.

When Mr Simpson and Mr Jonas returned they had black sludge in each of four buckets. As I made the coffee they unloaded chemical testing kits from their rucksacks. When the coffee was ready they were looking at samples in test tubes displayed in a rack. The test tubes and buckets had tape attached to show where the samples had come from.

"We won't know the results for at least half an hour," Mr Simpson said as they finished their coffee. "Have you got the frying pans?"

"Yes." I gave then two catering size frying pans.

"OK. We're going paddling. See you in about an hour."

"That will be lunch time," I said, indicating the bags with Blodwen's packed lunches.

"Good. We'll be ready for it then."

They walked off towards the stream. I made myself another coffee while idly looking at the test tubes. To me, everyone just looked like black sludge or was there a deposit at the bottom of all of them? Despite being a mine owner I know nothing about mining so it was a mystery to me.

I heard the noise of a quad bike approaching. I went outside to see who it was. It was Hugh, the son of Geriant the Milk. He climbed off and took his helmet off.

"Bill? I've been asked by Myfanwy to give you a message. Please would you telephone her?"

"Thank you, Hugh. Did she say what it was about?"

"Apparently Edwin, the Miners' Institute Chairman, is worried about something and needs to talk to you urgently. But Myfanwy will explain."

"OK, Hugh. I think I know why Edwin wants to talk. I'll ring Myfanwy. Thank you."

I gave him a ten shilling note. He was very grateful. Hugh works with his father's cows and is rarely paid because Geriant can't afford it. Very few of our young men in Blacktown have a job.

I opened up the mine office, picked up the phone and spoke to Cerys the Post who connected me to Myfanwy.

"Biill? Edwin's here and he is worried about the lease of the Miners' Institute."

"I'm not surprised, Myfanwy. Tell Edwin NOT to worry. We'll see him at seven o'clock tonight in the Miners' Rest and we'll sort it out."

"You don't want to speak to him now?"

"No. I'm expecting the consultants back any minute and I'm in the wrong building. Tell Edwin we'll see him OK."

"We?"

"Yes, we. See you later."

As I got back to the canteen I could see Mr Jonas and Mr Simpson approaching. They looked wet and muddy. They washed their hands before sitting down at the table. Mr Jonas looked at the test tubes and smiled. My Simpson produced a jam jar from a jacket pocket with his hands covering the contents.

"Well, Bill, our preliminary report is:"

Mr Simpson paused for effect and then put the jam jar down on the table still hiding the contents. He grinned. He took his hands away to show a yellow paste about an inch deep.

"You are the owner of a gold mine."

I sat down suddenly.

"A gold mine? You're not serious, surely?"

"We are. This is the result of about three-quarters of an hour's panning. Fifteen per cent came from the river, the rest from the slag heaps. The value of this amount? About two thousand pounds. That's not bad for two men panning for three-quarters of an hour and is about one month's worth of production for all the Welsh Gold mines together."

Mr Jonas picked up a test tube.

And if that isn't enough? You have significant deposits of lead, ample to make production a very profitable commercial proposition and some silver as well, but whether there is enough silver? That would require more intensive testing to try to find the lode. But you don't need the silver. The lead would be enough on its own, but the gold? A licence to print money."

"Thank you, thank you," I said, "not just for me but for the whole village of Blacktown. We needed hope. Now we can have it."

"You will need to increase the mine's security before this is known. Otherwise you would have thieves. It could be worth gold panning in the river by and below Blacktown but gold is heavy. It won't move far downstream but it might have done over the centuries."

I went out to the LandRover to get some bottles of Myfanwy's beer so we could toast the new gold mine.

"We could do more assaying," Mr Jonas said, "but what's the point? We have proven there is enough lead to make mining that profitable, and the gold will be easy."

"I need three million pounds to provide an access road to replace the railway," I said.

"Three million pounds? Half a dozen men with basic washing tools such as rocking cradles or flumes, and you'd have that in gold in three months' or less. You're going to be rich, Bill." Mr Jonas said.

"How much land does the mine own?" Mr Simpson asked.

"Everything within the fence and about one hundred yards beyond plus some parcels of land in the village. But it has the mineral rights to a square mile above the waterfall."

"If I were you, I'd buy the land for which you have the mineral rights, Bill." Mr Simpson said. "It is likely to include the underground source of the gold, not that you'll need that for decades. Who owns it now?"

"Geraint the Milk. It is mainly mountainous and he only uses it for occasional summer pasture after a wet Spring when the grass up there will sustain cattle. Most years it wouldn't."

"So it would be cheap?"

"I expect so."

"Then buy it before the news of the gold gets out. Since you already own the mineral rights no one could make any profit from the gold, if any is there, but owning it would give you unfettered access."

"OK. I'll talk to Geraint this evening at the Miners' Rest. You're staying tonight?"

"Yes, but we'll leave after breakfast. We could do more, but what's the point? You know that the mine has a future. We'll post and fax our written report to Sioned, probably by Wednesday." Mr Jonas said.

"But you will need to improve security -- now, before the news gets out." Mr Simpson added.

"OK. That I can do. There are enough unemployed youngsters around to build a better fence and to patrol it."

"Quis custodet ipsos custodies?" Mr Jonas asked.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem. The whole project is to benefit Blacktown, not to make me rich. Almost all the able-bodied men and many of the women will be employed. It is their future."

"We won't say a word, either here or back in London. Our findings are confidential but you can't start extracting the gold without people knowing..." Mr Simpson said.

"OK. We'll go back to the Miners' Rest. I'll make a few phone calls while you clean yourselves up and meet you in the bar. Then we'll have to tell the other part-owner, in confidence."

+++

I drove them back to the Miners' Rest. They went upstairs to shower and change. I went back to my house after telling Cerys the post that I would using my home phone. I gave a long list of instructions to Sioned before returning to the Miners' Rest. I asked Myfanwy if she, I and the two mining consultants could meet in her private kitchen. She asked Blodwen to take over the bar. We sat down with cups of tea.

"Well?" Myfanwy asked.

"We have a future," I said. "We can run a profitable lead mine, with perhaps some silver, but... Mr Simpson?"

Mr Simpson grinned and produced the jam jar which he put in front of Myfanwy.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Gold," Mr Simpson said. "About two thousand pounds' worth, the product of less than two man hours' work. You own half a gold mine."

Myfanwy didn't believe that it wasn't a joke. I had to pour her another cup of tea before we could convince her.

"What does that mean, for us, and for Blacktown?" She asked eventually.

"It means, Myfanwy," I said, "that if we get some men panning for gold, in three months' time we will have enough money to buy the railway line and to build the road. After that? We can probably employ everyone in Blacktown. But at the moment, gold is a secret. It is a lead mine. OK?"

"So what you gave me on Friday is half a gold mine, Bill?"

"Yes. But it could have been nothing until today."

Myfanwy jumped on me and kissed me furiously to the amusement of the mine consultants.

"OK," she said when she stopped kissing. "Dinner will be in half an hour, and then, Bill, you're meeting Edwin."

"We're meeting Edwin," I corrected.

"Whatever. Now I need to relive Blodwen or dinner will be late."

We all went into the bar. I saw Geraint in a corner with his son Hugh. I went across to them.

"Geraint," I said. "You know the mine owns the mineral rights to your summer pasture?"

"Yes. My grandfather sold them fifty years ago. So?"

Myfanwy and I now own the mine. We want to buy that land outright to give access. What would you want for it?"

Geraint sipped his pint.

"As pasture that I can only use sometimes it's not worth a lot but some cash would be useful. How about two thousand pounds?"

"Dad!" Hugh protested, "It's not worth that much!"

"Maybe not, Hugh, but I'm bargaining with Bill the Banker, the richest man in Blacktown. I can ask what I want. His offer might be less. We'll see."

I laughed.

"Hugh is right, Geraint. It isn't worth two thousand pounds as pasture without the mineral rights. But I agree. Two thousand pounds and..."

"And?" Geraint queried.

"And, if we extract any minerals from that land? Five per cent of the profits."

"What? But we don't own the mineral rights." Hugh said.

"Exactly. But there might be something there and your great-grandfather might have sold them too cheaply. So I'm offering two thousand pounds and five per cent of the profits if there are any."

Geraint reached out his hand and shook mine.

"Done," he said.

I gave Hugh a banknote to get more pints of beer.

"I'll get my lawyers to draw up a formal bill of sale, Geraint. I'll cover all the legal fees."

"You're very generous, Bill."

"I can be. You'll know why in a few weeks."

Hugh returned with the pints and the change. I could see Myfanwy signalling me from the bar top say that dinner was ready. I nodded to Geraint and Hugh and went to join the mining consultants.

After the meal Myfanwy came across to us.

"Edwin is waiting for us, Bill. He's worried."

"He won't be for long, Myfanway. Just agree with me, please?"

"OK, Bill. I trust you."

Edwin got up as we came to his table.

"The treasurer has told me the Institute has a problem, Bill," He said.

"And I know exactly what the problem is," I replied.

"You do, Bill?"

"Yes. The mine owned the freehold of the land on which the Institute is built. You pay the mine a ground rent..."

"Which we haven't paid since the mine closed," Edwin said. "And you now own the mine so we owe you years of arrears and this year is a ten year review of the ground rent which should increase by inflation..."

I held up my hand to stop Edwin.

"Have you got a pound that you could claim back from the Institute, Edwin?"

He looked puzzled but reached in his pocket and produced a pound.

"Please give it to me, Edwin?" I asked.

He passed the pound to me, still puzzled.

"OK. For that pound, you have just bought the freehold of the Institute and all arrears are wiped out, Edwin. I will get my lawyers to draw up the property transfer papers this week and there will be no legal fees. You agree, Myfanwy?"

"Yes, Bill."

"There you are, Edwin. Your problem is solved and both mine owners have agreed."

"But the arrears for ten years at fifty pounds a year were..."

"Were, Edwin," I said. "There are no arrears now. You and your Treasurer can sleep soundly tonight."

"Thank you, Bill. I was thinking about winding up the Institute because we don't have enough people who could afford the subs. Even now, of half the members are in arrears."

"Soon, they won't be, Edwin. But now I want something from you and the Institute, please?"

"Whatever, Bill. We owe you a lot."

"OK. What I want is for you to invite all the unemployed men to the Institute at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon for tea and cakes. They should bring their CVs if they have them and if not just a piece of paper with their name, address and date of birth. Can you contact the Women's Institute to provide the tea and cakes? This is for them."

I handed over thirty pounds.

"So much, Bill?"

"I want the best cakes the women can do, Edwin. Tomorrow afternoon I'll give you the invitation letters. You can get them delivered?"

"Of course, even if I have to do them myself. It is less than sixty men."

"Thank you, Edwin. I'll get the letters to you as soon as tomorrow's post is delivered."

We left Edwin shaking his head in shock.

"Can you afford it, Bill?" Myfanwy asked.

"Not me. The company, Myfanwy. But it hasn't sunk in yet, has it? We have so much gold we could employ every man and woman in Blacktown and probably every unemployed man in the big town too. But the Blacktown people will be enough."

I sat down with a pint and thought about what I had to arrange before Saturday. Sioned and I would be very busy this week.

I caught the same train as the mine consultants on Tuesday morning. All that day and every day until Saturday I was busy making arrangements.

+++

I walked into the Miners' Institute on Saturday afternoon to a buzz of conversation. The Women's Institute had excelled themselves. There were some wonderful cakes and ample supplies of them. Cerys the Post was sitting at a table just below the stage. I climbed the steps to the stage and switched on the microphone.

"Gentlemen, could you please give your CVs or details to Cerys?" I said. "I hope to provide employment to the men folk of Blacktown as I open the mine again."

There was a rush and then a queue formed to give papers to Cerys. Ten minutes later she held up a thumb. She had them all. She made a list, as I had requested, of the eighteen youngest men. She passed it to me. made a sign to Edwin. He opened the doors of the smaller hall.

"I am going to read out a list of names. Could they go into the smaller hall, please? I will come back to the rest of you, shortly. Meanwhile, keep enjoying the cakes."

A few minutes later I walked into the smaller hall.

"OK, gentlemen. If you want it, I want you to start work on Monday morning. Your first task will be to build a temporary security fence under the direction of specialist contractors. After that I want security guards 24 hours a day. You will be on eight hour shifts and trained by the security company that will be installing television monitoring. Any of you afraid of dogs?"

They all shook their heads.

"OK. There will be frequent patrols between the existing fence and the new ones, accompanied by guard dogs. The whole area will be illuminated by spotlights and covered by the television feeds. Four people will patrol the area; two will sit in the security office and watch the monitors and they will change over during the shift so not everyone is out in the cold and wet all the time. OK?"

"Hugh? I know you can drive. Anyone else?"

There were no takers.

"OK. Hugh? I will speak to you later. So, if you want work, you can start on Monday morning. Anyone not interested?"

Apparently they all wanted work.

"OK. Come to the mine office at nine o'clock on Monday morning to sign your contracts. You should be wearing boots and work gloves if you have them."

"How much will we be paid?" someone asked.

"A fair and reasonable question. You know from your fathers how much the miners were paid."

A couple groaned. The miners hadn't been paid well unless they were classed as skilled.

"OK. As a starting wage you will be paid a third more than a skilled miner used to be paid. After six months? That depends on how well the mine does. Every employee will get a bonus depending on the profits."

"What if there aren't any?" someone asked.

"There will be, believe me, there will be." I replied. "And now? If you form a line I will give you ten pounds each as a thanks for coming this afternoon. Afterwards? Stay in here for a quarter of an hour while I talk to the others. OK?"

There was a scramble and some pushing as the line was formed. The final one was Hugh.

"You wanted to speak to me, Bill?" He asked.

"Later, Hugh, please, after I have spoken to the others. You can stay?"

"Yes, Bill. I'll stay."

"Thank you, Hugh. See you soon."

My talk to the thirty-eight older men was similar except that I wanted them to start on Monday week, as miners doing less difficult work than the old mine workers had done. I asked if any had carpentry or woodworking experience. Four had.

I asked those four to report to the mine office at eleven am on Monday, after I had started the younger men. I wanted them to build rocking cradles and flumes for extracting lead (and gold but I didn't admit that yet).

I asked Hugh if he could drive the LandRover.He thought he could. He drove his quad bike and his father's Austin Seven. I said I would drive the first couple of trips from the station to take fence panels on the trailer and then he could carry on if he felt competent.

+++

That evening The Miners' Rest was busier than it had been for months because every man of working age had a tenner to spend. When Myfanwy stood at the door to be serenaded she had her arm around my waist. After they had sung Myfanwy, they sung, in Welsh, "For he's a very good fellow" to me. I blushed as Myfanwy kissed me to cheers from the crowd.

I was tired when Myfanwy and I went to bed that night. She treated me slowly and gently and I went to sleep cradled in her arms.

+++

On Monday morning the security company's three staff had stayed overnight at the Miners' Rest. As Hugh and I moved fence panels from the station to the mine, the eighteen younger men started assembling them as they were shown how. By that evening they had erected about a quarter of those needed.

I was slightly late for the four woodworkers but I produced drawings and pictures of what I wanted made. But they end of the day the first cradles and flumes had been made and now they knew what they were doing they hoped to make a half dozen of each by the end of Tuesday.

By Friday evening the new temporary fence had been erected and the new security guards were working with the television monitors and the guard dogs. The full patrols started as soon as the other workers had left the site. It would take another month for the permanent security fence to be in place but even what we had was a serious barrier to any unauthorised person.

When I handed over the first week's pay packets some of the men were in tears. This, for some of them, had been their first earnings for a decade. But, as yet, no one except Myfanwy and I knew that we were operating a gold mine. That would change on Monday morning.

+++

Saturday night with Myfanwy was a refuge from days of hard work.

+++

On Monday morning the cat was out of the bag. I had brought it some older gold prospectors to show the new employees how to pan for gold using the rockers and flumes. By lunchtime everyone knew this was a gold mine. Even I was startled. Despite learning this morning and only a couple of hours' unskilled work each, we had twenty thousand pounds worth of gold and enough lead for a ton of ingots.