Results 11 to 20 of 58
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08-05-2009, 02:10 PM #11
it says greenish stone ? interesting. i will post picture next
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08-05-2009, 02:48 PM #12
i am not saying this is the stone. Just i don't know what is this?
come from europe most likely Scotland. acts similar to 8k cuts similar too 4k norton.
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08-10-2009, 08:42 PM #13
Progress Update, August 10th.
Well I've been doing a lot of behind the scenes work on tracking down the Devonshire Oilstone, but given my success I might just as well not have bothered. The stone is proving as elusive as it ever was.
The Tavistock History Society has failed to answer my emails, so I've abandoned them as a possible avenue of inquiry. Likewise, I've not had any success asking on UK History and Genealogy forums. I decided to change tack here, seeing as I'd had no success trying to track down people who had first hand knowledge of the mine or who's ancestors had been involved in the actual quarrying, I decided to make some Geological inquiries.
I joined a couple of UK Geology Forums, but again came up short. One forum member promised to look out some Geological Itinerations obtained near Tavistock to see if they might help, so I'm waiting on those, but that's it. I emailed The Geology Society to see if they had any records in their archives pertaining to the Devonshire Oilstone, or quarries in the Tavistock region, but they too were unable to help. However, the Head- Librarian at TGS suggested that I might try contacting the Devon and Cornwall Branch of the British Geological Survey. They maintain an extensive collection of archival materials relating to the quarrying industry in the UK, so there's some hope there, but if that fails I'm going to have to throw in the towel.
Regards,
Alex
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The Following User Says Thank You to A_S For This Useful Post:
hi_bud_gl (08-12-2009)
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08-11-2009, 02:27 AM #14
Alex, you're making an indefatigable effort. There was a forum member from Wales who was really into investigating stones native to the UK named Jason01 .I haven't seen him posting lately but if you shoot him a PM he may have come across some information on the Devonshire hone in his travels. Here the last thread I remember him posting regarding hones and it too may be of interest.
Be careful how you treat people on your way up, you may meet them again on your way back down.
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The Following User Says Thank You to JimmyHAD For This Useful Post:
A_S (08-11-2009)
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08-11-2009, 12:15 PM #15
Hi Jimmy,
Jason_01 is still a regular poster on the British Blades forum, he even started a couple of threads on British Natural Stones over there. His initial source material seems to be the transcript of the talk given by Mr. Richard Knight the same as me, but I'll drop him a line to see if he's turned up anything more since he was a member here.
Regards,
Alex
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08-11-2009, 12:51 PM #16
Seems that I may have been a little hasty in writing off the Tavistock History Society, I've just this minute received a response to my original e-mail, and on an even more positive note, the History Society representative said that he may actually know someone who can answer my questions. He told me that he should be able to let me know something more concrete towards the end of the month. After all this time, there may finally be some light at the end of what has been an interminably long tunnel. I'll post any more information I get, as soon as I get it.
Regards,
Alex
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08-12-2009, 06:01 PM #17
Woohoo! I may have actually found the mine where these stones were extracted. It's early days still, but someone sent me a more detailed extract from the talk where this stone was mentioned, it reads "This stone occurs near Huel Friendship Mino, about three miles from Tavistock, in the Devonian slates of that district. It has considerable local repute for sharpening all kinds of thin-edged broad instruments; it has not, however, become an article of commerce. Knight, Trans. Society of Arts."
The Huel Friendship Mino is gibberish (most likely a corruption of the transcription,) however there is a Wheal Jewell & Friendship mine in the Tavistock area. I'm going to get one of these bloody stones if it kills me.
Regards,
Alex
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08-12-2009, 07:46 PM #18Be careful how you treat people on your way up, you may meet them again on your way back down.
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08-12-2009, 08:53 PM #19
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08-13-2009, 02:03 PM #20
I've heard back from the Devon & Cornwall branch of the Institute of Quarrying and they do not have any records of the Devonshire Oilstone. Also, the Mindat.org entries for the Wheal Jewell and Friendship mines does not list an oilstone as one of the products removed from the mines. However, seeing as the one thing we know for certain about this particular stone is that it wasn't ever widely distributed or an important item for local commerce, this isn't as big a setback as it would seem.
I've been given some other contacts to ask about the stone, so I'll see if any of these pan out.
Regards,
Alex