How Well Is The Past Interpreted At The Blists Hill Museum?

Blists Hill open air museum covers about 50 acres and consists of buildings that have been there since the 19th Century and some buildings that have been saved from other places and re-erected on the site. Most exhibits are designed to recreate a late Victorian town and the museum has staff dressed in the appropriate costume explaining and demonstrating the historical sites.

Blists Hill demonstrates a limited understanding of what coal mining was like in the Victorian era. There are a couple examples of both the drift mine and the bell pit but there was not much detail and they were all closed off. This was really disappointing, as I could not gather much information about mining in the era from Blists Hill alone. I would need to gain extra information if I was going to get enough information. There was however, some information and it was represented correctly. It would have been better if it was working and people were telling you what would actually happen. Overall it was a poor showing.

The Drift mine is dug into the side of a hill and the earth above the coal seam is supported by wooden posts. It had tracks leading out of it which would have probably been used by the coal carts to get to the incline where the coal would be loaded onto barges. The mine was locked up which meant people weren’t allowed to go inside and the mine had been blocked up after about 10 metres. These were for safety reasons but it meant that I could not get a good idea of what coal mining was like. It was very low to the ground, at about 5ft high and about 6ft wide. This would have meant that small people such as young children would have been working down the mines.

Drift mines were dug deep into the hillside and help up by long wooden poles. This type of mine could only get a limited amount of coal as it was only used for mining the coal seams visible on the surface. The coal seam would have been very dangerous to mine as the poles could give way at any moment and there was an ever-present risk of flooding the deeper the miners went. Usually there would be an adit to drain the drift mine but it wasn’t very reliable. There was another major risk, which was gas. Flames were used to light the mines and when that came into contact with the gas there would be a big explosion. Sir Humphry Davy countered this in 1815 when he created the safety lamp, which consisted of wire gauze separating the flame from the gas. Young girls would carry coal in bags strapped around their heads to the surface and children as young as 5 would work down in the mines.

The Bell pit at Blists Hill was not operating and had been filled in for safety reasons. It had a winch and the cages that would carry people and trucks down to the mine. There were tracks leading down to the incline where the coal would be loaded onto a barge for shipment around the world. It was all overgrown with grass and some parts could not be made out. It also had a ventilation shaft not far away from it and that too had been filled in to stop people falling in.

The Bell pit had a ...

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The Bell pit had a narrow shaft which the windlass or the cages would be used. The coal seam would be at the bottom and the miners would be lowered down to start mining. This was dangerous again because of the gas and that could have been dealt with by getting a man covered in wet sacking to point a torch into the gas and then dive for cover. Another way to get rid of the gases was to dig a second shaft and put a fire underneath it to ventilate the mine. The gas would go through the trap doors and then the fire would push the gas out of the mine. It flooded a lot in the bell pit and there was no drainage apart from using hand pumps, so many people drowned. In 1708 Thomas Newcomen invented a pump worked by steam that could pump the mines dry.

Another big industry like coal mining was iron making and that was represented quite poorly at Blists Hill. There was nobody there to ask for information and there was only writing on walls to help. It was not very clearly set out and very disappointing. The information was correct but it was a misrepresentation of the past.

At the Blists Hill iron works there was a list of instructions of what would have gone on. Twelve piles of finish and scrap piles are loaded into the ball furnace at 1400°C to make its charge. This causes any impurities to run out and the iron to soften. It is then hammered by the shingling hammers until it forms a thick billet. The billet is then put through the rolling mills. That was all the information I could find as it wasn’t very clear and there was no help. I could not say that I have learned much about the iron works from Blists Hill because all the information is jumbled up and you have to find the correct order. The iron works weren’t working and this was because of the dangers of severe heat but I wasn’t able to learn about any dangers either. This was totally misrepresented and a late 18th Century ironworker wouldn’t be able to recognise what is at the museum.

The ball furnace would be charged up to 1400°C and then the pig iron would be added to the furnace to remove any impurities. After that it would be taken to a steam hammer where it would be hammered so that it is reshaped and softened. Then it would go to the rolling mills where it is shaped. There would have been many dangers such as the blistering heat. Many workers would have suffered severe burns and people may have even caught fire. There were also accidents in the rolling mills with hands or clothing being caught in the rollers. Parts of bodies could also get pounded in the hammers if not being careful. Two people had fallen into the furnace after an explosion occurred while lowering the charge into it.

As well as coal and iron, steam power was another major industry in the 19th Century. This was also very disappointing at Blists Hill because nothing running on steam was working. There was not much information because there was nobody to ask.

The Blists Hill mine used a steam engine to lift the windlass and to lift the cages down the shaft. This however was not working for safety reasons because the mine was closed off. There were also two steam engines that would provide hot air blast for the blast furnace but those weren’t working either for safety and because it was too expensive and dangerous to get the furnaces up and running again. There were two blowing engines called David and Sampson but they weren’t working either. They were very tall and would have produced lots of steam. Overall Blists Hill was very disappointing for the steam engines because nothing was working, meaning I didn’t get a good look at how anything worked or any important uses.

Steam power was very important because it was used to speed up the industrial revolution. The first steam engine was built in 1698, but in 1708 a man called Thomas Newcomen invented the first practical steam engine as shown below on the following page.

Steam engines were used for many types of jobs including transportation and for working in the mills or for powering factory machines. In 1781 the basic design was improved by adding a flywheel which meant that the engine could turn a wheel. Steam powered machines worked better if they were kept running and so the staff were working long hours to operate them. This also increased coal mining because more steam engines were needed and so coal was needed. This caused the coal miners to work long hours in bad conditions to get it. Without steam engines there would be no railways and they played a major part in peoples everyday lives.

Road, canal and railway transport was a major part of the 19th Century. It was shown quite poorly at Blists Hill because all though there are some good examples there is nothing working on it.

At Blists Hill there is a canal that runs through most of the museum but unfortunately there are no barges moving on it. This is a poor example because it shows nothing about how canal transport would have affected peoples lives in Blists Hill. There is also an incline that would have been used for rail transport but it was not working either meaning that I could not get much information from it. There were dusty road tracks and a disused tollhouse. The roads were made up of lots of stones with a gravel surface as shown below. The tollhouse was a good bit of information because at this period in time they would not be used any more and Blists Hill shows that they understand this.

Railways were boosted by the demand for coal, iron and steel as the railways were needed as a way of transporting them quickly and the steel would produce the rails. This new service also allowed fresh food to be brought in from around the country and also national newspapers. The railways also provided a break for families as they could now get on the train and go for day trips to the beach at places like Blackpool. The roads were not used much for car travel but when they were, the cars would travel at really slow speeds and someone would have to walk in front of the car waving a red flag. That was to warn people that a car was coming and so they could get out of the way. There are also tollhouses, which were set up at the beginning of each stretch of road. They allowed the travellers to use the road in return for money.

I didn’t really learn anything about the working conditions in the iron works because there was nobody there and nothing was working.

The conditions in the iron works would have been very dangerous, as there was lots of boiling hot iron all over the place. There would also be the danger of falling in the furnace Many accidents happened at the iron works because it was so dangerous and many people were left dead or severely injured.

At Blists Hill there was a varied view on living conditions. There were some good examples of the poorer people and of the slightly rich.

At Blists Hill there was a squatters cottage that would have been used by a mining family. This was a fairly basic house and the owners would be poor. A family of a skilled worker would own the tollhouse and the man was not there. This was accurate because the man would have been at work for most of the day. Unfortunately there were no back to back houses at Blists Hill as they were in their original place. That also kept things realistic, as they were next to the factory where the people would be working. There was a house that was owned by fairly well off people and they rented out a room to the local doctor for his surgery. This was because he was out of town a lot and only needed the one room so he could just come and the patients didn’t have to travel far.

Many people would have a daily routine e.g. Monday – Wash day, Tuesday – Shopping day etc. Terraces or back to back houses were the most popular. About 12 people would live in a single house and there was very little room. There was only enough room for 2 people. This meant that if one person in the house caught a disease, the others would be certain to catch it. The water was often contaminated as well. There would be many shops around for groceries etc and there would be a pub for a social meeting place. There would be sawdust on the floor to mop up any spit (causes TB) and to clear up any spilt beer. Many miners would go to the pub after working in the mines.

After considering all of this evidence I have been able to find out that Blists Hill does not represent the time efficiently. Although there are good examples of living conditions, most of the over exhibits are either not working or there is nobody to help you with it. The worst exhibit was that of the iron working because there is no help, nothing working and all you have are a few boards with writing on and you have to find the correct order. Some of the reasons that they are shut is because of money problems or it would be too dangerous to run but it would still be better running because then people could experience the conditions and dangers that people in the 19th Century would have experienced. If you were looking for more answers about what life was really like then you could use the CD-ROM, go to another museum or look in books. A few more exhibits could be added to improve it and maybe start some things working again. It would also be helpful if there were people at each of the exhibits to tell you a brief history about them and to answer any questions about them. This living museum, by that I mean a museum that tries to bring past to life by using the houses from that era and having people from that era, is not really good at showing the past.