Tuesday 12th August 1834

Up at 7.15 later than dearest never spoke all time of dressing – scarcely – wanted to go out without me – waited for me, silent & grave – walked to coal pit – dearest conversation with me – very kind, too kind & too grave to make me happy – walked home to Inn after an hour’s absence, dearest made tea for me, very grave, ended by explanation, all made up – & dearest quite as fond & kind to me as ever – off at 11.33 – for St. Chamond, at St. Etienne 3.15 a tire is [gap] covered with dust – had soup – then off at four to Ecole des Minerales – thence to Coal pit Co[mpagnie] de [ink smudge] côte Chiolliere [Thiolliere] Mr. Vachier, ingenier [ingénieur] de mine. went about third of way down mine then returned, dearest went to bottom – distance [gap] pump for pumping off water done by steam, & very curious – waited for dearest an hour walked to top of hill, & by burning coal – back at Hotel de l’Europe at 7.30 dinner, man agreed to take us next day for 10 francs & our paying for horses’ food –

Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale WYC:1525/7/1/5/1/26

[up at] 7 1/2

[to bed at] 12 55/..

not at all with her last night fine morning Fahrenheit 70° at 8.35 a.m. – Out at 9 5/.. Adney and I – crossed the bridge over the Gier and walked down to the 1st iron foundry and then to the coal pit steam engine just above – the forgeur, man who has the care of the engine, Victor de Seine, very civil – has 130 francs per month – the coal varies in thickness here from 30 to 3 feet – from 120 to 80 toises deep – 20 horses in some of the pits – should see the pit called Grande Croix about 1/2 way between here and Chamont /Saint-Chamond/, close to the roadside – 120 toises deep – coal comes out at the day at St. Etienne but not at Rive de Gier – the piqueurs (colliers) earn 3/. to 5/. a day and the lads (hurriers) 1/50 – some of the galleries of the mines here not more than 3 feet high – home at 10 and breakfast immediately – our hostess very sorry I had not told her about seeing the mines – Monsieur Foy (who eats at her house) nephew to the late general of that name, is ingénieur here, and would have accompanied us – but should ask for Monsieur Delseriés / Delsériès/ ingénieur en chef à St. Etienne à l’Ecole des mines. – breakfast at 10 5/.. to 11 1/2 made all right with A- [Adney] she told me she thought I had said all we had (meaning all we were now spending) was hers and I ought to think it as much mine as hers I said I could not bear her to refuse me anything or keep anything secret fro[m] me and we were both attendries and better friends than ever – Rive de Gier large black smoky town of coal pits, and foundries, and long chimneys – 12,000 inhabitants – well satisfied with our auberge – honest people – off from the hotel St. Jacques à Rive de Gier at 11 33/.. – hilly road broad and good, tho’ a great deal of rough pavé as yesterday – no coal pits at St. Chamond, a long, large blackish town – built of dark coloured lime stone – riband manufacturers and stone quarries and lime and brick kilns – very hot and dusty – a gin pit just out of St. Chamond – (right) – fine hilly country, like that about Shibden – hilly winding road several times could not see for the dust – the old road left in several places and the new one a great improvement – very well done – St. Etienne a large, good town – alight at the hotel de l’Europe at 2 20/.. – longish while bargaining – nour[r]iture breakfast and dinner selves 11/. vin ordinaire compris – servants 8/. Logement our 2 single bedded rooms 6/. and servants 1/. would not give more – took off my dress and had it shaken – washed – Char and 1 horse and Adney and I out at 4 1/4, and at the école des mines at 4 20/.. 4 3/4 – Monsieur Delsèriés very civil, but less usefully communicative than I expected – mentioned only the coal pit here of Monsieur Néron /Neyron/, and said it was dirty and he did not advise our seeing it – but mentioned the coal pit of Firminy, 1 lieue off – might see it and return today – hesitated a moment – Monsieur Lecoq and Monsieur Prevost live at Clermont, the former has written several good notices on Clermont and its environs – see the professeurs there Burdin? and Boudin? – Paris the place for all works on St. Etienne and the coal districts – Carrier? et Compagnie near Bachelier on the quai at Paris – Monsieur Delsèriés goes to the hotel du midi at Montbrison but many go to the hotel du midi – only one room for minerals at the Ecole – and nothing but quite common things the collection brought from Moutiers /Monastero di Lanzo/ on the French giving up possession of the place to le gouvernement Sarde – Néron’s pit not visited now by strangers – wet and dirty – at the Côte Thiollière pit at 5 12/.. bureau and entered my name and country – very large steam engine to lift the water – went into a large gallery (entered from the day) 6 feet high by 4 feet broad? rapid descent – Adney with me 8 or 10 minutes till we got to a door below then afraid for her and sent her back – very well for, on passing thro’ the door, the shaft rather wet – the pente = 1/2 i.e. one metre out of 2 – bed 30 feet thick – get the 10 feet in the middle – went down to the puits – 43 metres from where we stood to the top, and 18 metres below us to the bottom – 5 principal galleries – only descended into the 3rd – left the 2 lower ones afraid of leaving Adney so long – the thro’s, or montées and descentes driven into the principal galleries, called Chantiers, are not only quite regular but generally only 15? or 20? metres – get 15 metres and leave 15 metres for roof – 15 metres between each chantier – 4 horses there – on returning saw the ingénieur Monsieur Vachier, very civil, gave me almost all the above renseign[e]men[t]s – have 15 men, working alternately day and night – one man can get 2 metres carrés per jour – 6 (bens, how spelt?,) = 1 metre carré – 1 ben (according to the pronunciation) weighs 150 kilos and sells for 10 sols here, and 5 francs at Paris – the workman has 2 sols per ben /benne/ for getting small coal and more for getting the large (3 sols?) which sells for more – but he said the men earned about 3/50 per day – They get 10 feet thick – then if a collier gets 2 metres square of surface being 10 feet thick he gets from 40 to 42 bens? at 2 sols, or more of the large coal of which he cannot get so much in quantity per day – great analogy between this mine and that of the 10 feet coal at Bradwell mine near Bilston in Staffordshire of which a plan was hung up in the bureau – the mine here clears about 15,000 francs a year – I could not make him own to getting 1/2 for the other profit – i.e. 5 sols clear per ben – but said nothing against getting 3 sols per ben clear profit – he owned however he did not speak very exactly under circumstances such as at present before people etc. – said I had coals – 27 or 24 inches thick and could get £100 per 3100 yards (or Daywork) – said I should perhaps come again if he would teach me to measure etc. etc. Yes! with pleasure – gave him my address at Shibden and said I should be glad to see him in England – Adney began to be frightened – I had left her 1 5/.. hour – not out of the mine till 6 1/2 – and near an hour talking to the ingenieur – home at 7 40/.. – dinner at 7 50/.. – to go to Firminy at 6 1/2 a.m. tomorrow in our char of this afternoon 1 1/2 poste there and same back (hard bargaining) for 11/. – wrote all the above of today till 12 5/.. tonight at which hour Fahrenheit 70° – very fine day – very hot – ten minut[e]s quietly with Miss W- [Walker] her cousin came this morning –

In the margin:

this has only been worked 3 years

dips from West to East

Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale SH:7/ML/E/17/0073