And a sunny walk by the river.

We looked at projections, scale, elevation, and of course cataloguing. There were contemporary maps, antiquarian maps, maps of fictional places and places that never made it further than the planning room (like this canal, planned but never created).

Books on the mezzanine 😍

And this one from 1667 (disclaimer - I *think* this is vellum that has been dyed or else developed a strange, dark green patina over time).

The best part? We have several stunning examples in our heritage collections. Like this record from 1668

Unlike leather, vellum isn't tanned. Instead, skins were soaked in lime, scraped, and stretched. The result is a stiff, durable, waxy material in a variety of colours (depending on the original and how the patina has developed).

The word "vellum" comes from the Latin vitulinum (meaning "made from calf"), evolving into Old French vélin. In the medieval period it was the material of choice for religious texts, and later became a favourite for bookbinding.

Vellum is a durable material made from untanned animal skin, usually calf or lamb, and has been prized for centuries in bookbinding. It is resilient, smooth, and ages well. If you've come across an old book with a creamy, slightly translucent cover - that's vellum.

Golborne Colliery closed in 1989. The @iom3.bsky.social library holds reports on the official investigations into historical mining accidents, preserving the history of disasters like Golborne so that they are never forgotten.
#WeAreIOM3 #MiningDisaster #MiningHistory

Investigations found that when an auxiliary ventilation fan stopped working methane levels spiked dangerously. Following the disaster, new safety measures aimed at improving methane monitoring, enhancing ventilation systems, and tightening safety checks on electrical equipment.

By 1:40 PM, rescuers had found the last missing miner - John T. Berry, buried under debris. All eleven missing men were accounted for. Tragically, despite several being pulled from the rubble alive, only one survived his injuries - 20 year old Brian Rawsthorne.

As the search continued, the rescuers found Desmond Edwards, Patrick Grainey, Raymond Hill, and John McKenna.

At 12:00 PM, just 40 minutes after the explosion, professional rescue teams arrived from Boothstown Mines Rescue Station. Stretcher crews pushed deeper underground, where they discovered Brian Sherman, trapped under rubble but still alive. Nearby lay Colin Dallimore, already deceased.

Maguire and Baxter soon found the first casualty - Bernard Trumble, badly burned and crawling blindly toward safety.

One by one, the rescuers found others:

Peter Grainey, burned but able to walk.

Walter McPherson, barely able to move.

Brian Rawsthorne, severely burnt and disoriented.

McGuire, along with locomotive driver Baxter, were the first to push into the dust-filled tunnels. 80 meters into the Plodder Seam, visibility dropped due to airborne debris.

Elsewhere in the mine, Smith heard a bang and saw ventilation doors blown open by the force. Both of them raised the alarm, setting into motion the rescue efforts that would unfold over the next few hours.

18th March 1979 11:20 AM. Deputies McGuire and Smith sensed something was terribly wrong. McGuire heard muffled thuds, saw a cloud of dust, and felt a popping in his ears - a telltale sign of a pressure wave from an underground explosion.

But the men of Golborne Colliery weren't to be lucky again. Here's how the day unfolded.