Getting shafted

Going on an excursion to a mine was something I had thought I probably would not do between the ages of, ooh, 11 and 65, but nonetheless I found myself on the Levant mine bus trip... from the university to the Levant mine the drive took about an hour, and was worth it on its own as it gave us a chance to see the Cornish scenery - endless mine shafts, hedges, farms, stone walls, villages aplenty, rolling hills.
The conference organiser provided us with commentary, and a short history of Cornwall, along the way - along with torturous asides: the pub on the left is one of the few in England that brews its own beer on the premises, the thirteenth century church on the right is one of the only ones to survive the Reformation with its original wall paintings intact - and the bus would keep on driving right past, as we had a mine to get to...
The Levant mine was operational from Roman times until the 1980s, and is unique for its mine shaft which goes straight down, and then out underneath the sea bed - unfortunately earlier miners did not realise that the sea floor sloped down 100 metres off the coast or so, so that created a few problems for them at one stage. The mine is now maintained by National Trust volunteers who run the tours, and were nigh on devastated that we were only there for an hour, as apparently one can't fully appreciate the mine in all its glory in under two and a half hours. To be honest an hour took me to my limit of clambering about on a hillside in gale force winds and up and down narrow staircases examining mine openings and machinery. In years past miners began work at the age of nine, and were lucky if they lived to forty. It took at least two hours from the top of the mine to the face, which was when they started to be paid - those of you that have to commute a fair way to work might be at least heartened that it doesn't require you to climb 150 ladders en route. Some miners used to stay down in the mine for several days at a time to avoid having to climb in and out and walk home. Pit ponies were taken into the mine by tying their legs together and lowering them into the mine upside down, and they would stay in the mine for the rest of their working life - when they were taken out of the mine and put out to pasture they would be blind.
After our bracing lesson in mining history we were taken to a local pub for a cornish cream tea *note: VERY different to the vastly inferior devonshire tea - or so we were told* I have to say cornish scones are a thing to behold. When we got back on the bus it was discovered that one of our party was missing, and after frightening visions of the first Australian casualty to Cornish mining, it was discovered, via the local fish and chip shop, that someone matching their description had caught the bus to Penzance. So we decided to take the coachload and go in pursuit, and see if we could meet him in Penzance. At which point I deduced the following:
Penzance = Pirates
Pirates = Johnny Depp
Therefore: I am going to see Johnny Depp!
He didn't seem to be around however. Or maybe he was just feeling shy.
Our intrepid traveller had not arrived either, so after enquiries of bus drivers, we returned to the campus, where thankfully, he was awaiting us, having managed to beat us back to the site.
The conference dinner was the night before, another display of how the university catering, while being lovely people, have not encountered advances in catering since about 1975 (one of the lunches featured, brace yourself, cottage cheese and pineapple), they have however discovered the wines of Chile, and for that I thank them. I ended up on a table with the university provost, and much to the delight of me and another delegate, we got to grill him and his wife about the Queen's recent visit - I'm not much of a royalist, but it was bizarrely fascinating hearing all the details about protocol and the experience of the Royal Couple.
This morning I presented my paper, which I think went well, was a relief to get it done!
The conference is over, all bar the drinking, which is my cue to bid you farewell for the moment - I'll be heading to London tomorrow, and probably won't be writing quite so much when I don't have internet in my room... but hey you never know.