Being free is even more amazing once you have been and you realize just how wonderful this place is. We had a fantastically good time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We arrived about a half hour after opening to an almost empty car park. Once inside, we were directed towards the entry counter and 4 tickets were printed for us. You must have a ticket to proceed.
My one and only (minor) complaint about the museum is that there should have been clear and obvious information on the website, and big signs in the car park and at this front counter about the "no batteries" rule.
The main draw of the museum is descending down into the mine for a tour. This mine is still legally classified as a working mine, and as such absolutely NO BATTERIES OF ANY KIND (other than special safety ones on the lamp you are equipped with) are allowed to go down with you. This means no cameras, no cell phones, no watches, no car keys with microchips in them, etc. Had we known this before we got past that first counter we would have left watches, most phones, and Rio's camera in the car. As was, when they collected things to keep in a locker, we felt ridiculous handing over 3 phones, 2 watches, a big camera and a small one as well as car keys. But, it really is a minor detail that did not hamper the awesome experience at all. I mention it here primarily in case someone reads this and goes there and can learn from us and leave watches and phones in the car.
OK, so once you have your tickets you head through the turnstiles and upstairs to await your tour. You will pass a couple of displays and toilets on your way towards the stairs. Use those toilets; you will not see another set until you are out of the mine. There is a long, narrow room full benches that you fill from the front back while waiting for your turn. At the front of this are TV screens and it was THERE that we finally saw something about no batteries (and there being a locker). You cannot go back out to the car from there without losing your place in line and quite a bit of hassle, so it seems a bit odd to first mention the batteries there.
Here is Marika waiting in the long room of benches. We were on the third bench from the front (and people were not filling them in tightly at that point) and waited about 20 minutes for a tour. I was so glad we got there nice and early, as you can see in the photo, the benches behind us filled quickly; I imagine that those at the back must have had an hour or more wait. By the time we left the museum we could see the room was full and the line went down the stairs--what a wait that must be! I strongly suggest arriving first thing; at least if you are there on a weekend as we were.
TV of information at the front of the room
Small groups of about 15 are let in through the door to get ready for, and take, their tour. You get suited up with a hard hat, light with battery pack and emergency breather (just in case you didn't think it was real, you will now!) before they confiscate all of your contraband (batteries, and also lighters, etc--note if you hunt around on the website you can find this information: it is just not made obvious and hard to miss, and it does say that hearing aids and other medical devices are usually OK but to call first and discuss).
Rio getting outfitted
Yes, Rio was the only one of us not wearing a white coat to go into a coal mine! What can I say? We only had white coats with us on the trip.
After this our guide passed around a tote bag to put all our keys, watches, phones, etc into (one bag, everyone in the group's items all mixed up) and locked that away in a storage locker and we were ready to head down.
Obviously I have no photos from this part (which is the MAIN thing, though they did have an above ground simulated mine for those who do not want to head 400 meters below ground).
We started off by cramming, and I do mean cramming, into the elevator cage. I have never been so tightly stuffed in an elevator. And then we went down, and down, and down some more. Thankfully the guide warned us that the elevator would jerk midway and was supposed to and not to worry.
Our guide was phenomenal (night and day from the dud for the Doctor Who walking tour). All guides at the museum are former (or current) colliers (this is the preferred term for a coal miner, we were told) and ours had worked in mines since age 16 and eventually stopped to work on emergency rescue crews ( in mines) instead. He was full of great stories and had a really fun, dry sense of humor.
Most of the parts of the mine we were in were pretty tall as these things go--even David could stand up all the way about half the time. One of the first things we did was go through the doors past the elevator shaft and then he had us all turn off our lights to see what true pitch darkness is. There is NO light at all down there for your eyes to adjust to. None. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face (and, yes, I tried). Fascinating. There is a smaller door in this room where, our guide explained, the carts full of coal used to come through on their way to the elevator. For many decades it was the job of a young boy (often as young as six) to sit by that door in total darkness for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and listen for an approaching car and open the door when it came. I cannot imagine doing that to a child; but I know it happened and similar things still happen in parts of the world. Wow, that was sobering.
Heading further into the mine we saw safety systems, horse stalls (horses, or "pit ponies" worked in the mines until relatively recently -- the last in 1999), and various shafts as we continued down another 150 meters and sometimes were in low enough areas that the 5 year old on the tour had to duck his head a bit (but the route is carefully planned and none of the very low areas were too low to manage, even for David, and none went on very long). Eventually we came back out where we started and took the elevator back up.
The tour itself lasted just under an hour, but we were all so enthralled that we felt like it flew by in a snap. All four of us were thoroughly impressed and consider it a top attraction in the area and one of the more interesting places we have visited.
After the tour, you can continue up the mountainside and check out some exhibits and machinery, etc. It was worth checking out and we spent about a half hour wandering (And got the ever hungry teen boy a snack to hold him over until we could stop for lunch) but the highlight is by far and a way touring that coal mine. Here are some photos from outside, both above and below:
The canaries they keep on display (we were told that it is a myth that the canaries died to signal a problem, that most of the time they only became very quiet or passed out but generally were fine once returned to the surface with the colliers)
Very few people seemed to go down the hall past the cafeteria and see this little display about the medical office on the work sites. I almost missed it myself--the signs looked, at first glance, like they were for an actual modern day first aid station in the event of injury.
All told we were at the museum for about 3 hours (including wait time for the tour) and had a wonderful time. If you are going to be in the UK and are making a long flight over from the US or Canada most especially, I think it is well worth the time and money to plan for a couple of days in Wales. Spend a morning here at the Big Pit, and afternoon at the fabulous Caerphilly Castle, and if you have any Whovians among you, take some time to visit the Doctor Who Experience as well. I really do not think you'll regret. London is amazing, but so are these places in Wales.
OK, now that I am done promoting Wales---the rest of the day was pretty simple. We stopped at a pub we passed along the way whose parking lot was full, figuring that must mean it was good. It was good, and reasonably priced. I don't even know what town we were going through so I cannot tell you much about it. It wasn't the sort of place you'd make a special trip to anyway--just good basics for decent prices, which is perfect when you are driving from place to place.
We had booked a Mercure hotel about a half hour from the ferry port (very near Leeds castle) for our last night of the trip. We did not visit the castle (it is 25 pound per person and only open until 4--we elected to go to the Bit Pit instead and do not regret it) but enjoyed this little church nearby and then dinner at The George Pub we were supposed to have found a week prior (it was good, but our accidental The George remains our favorite meal in the UK)
We found it this time!
The hotel was a bit of a disappointment (ok, quite a bit of one). Based on reviews on Tripadvisor, I am guessing that about half of the hotel has been remodeled and those rooms are nice, but if, like us, you are stuck in one that has not yet been updated you are stuck paying 4 star Mercure prices for a very dated and run down room (and, over the holiday weekend they seemed to be understaffed and those working were mostly not that pleasant)--even the pool closed early, 7:30, because it was a holiday, which seemed odd with a fully booked hotel of vacationers):
This shower was groovy back in 1974, perhaps.
The chipped Formica and tiles and the like were everywhere--not just a spot or two.
The kids say their room was equally dated, but did not have major problems (I did not even think to check) whereas Dave and I had mold behind our bathroom sink and along the top edges in the shower, above the bathroom door, etc and a weirdly too small for the sink faucet mounted in such a way that it was near impossible to wash your hands:
Front desk staff acted as if we were lying when we brought it up and check out (after having been asked how the stay was), but to the hotel's credit, when David responded to the survey they sent out with details and photos they contacted us, having inspected the room and found a broken ventilation fan and the subsequent mold, and offered us a fair compensation in the form of frequent traveler points added to Dave's account.
I guess I would say that if you are going to stay at the Mercure Maidstone, request a newly remodeled room.
Easter morning, we headed to the ferry port. On the Dover side there is a building with gift shops and a Burger King to wander around in while you wait to board--much fancier than on the Calais side.
We did little Easter "baskets" on the trip over and enjoyed the views of the White Cliffs under the sunshine.
In her new Easter bonnet
And so ends our most recent ramble abroad. Coming up soon will be a visit to Neuschwanstein, right here in Germany and then a Baltic cruise.
--Hadley
