Proposed in 1997, it was not until after various setbacks and several designs that the lead mine was started in 2001.

Networks International built the box to house it, and Chris Owen of Museum Casts would make us three lead miners as part of our "Museum of the Year Shoestring Award" prize in 1998/9.

A garden shed was to be the workshop. Experiments with papier maché resulted in the invention of a suitable material for the limestone rock, and work started.

It was expected to take a few weeks, but five months of hard work followed before it was ready for Chris Owen to take the truck and wheelbarrow away and make the three miners.

It was now in the form of a series of boxes for ease of transport and handling.

At last, in January 2002, the fibre optic and LED lighting all worked, the model was in its box, and it was all switched on. The effect is dramatic. The first impression is of huge depth and distance, extending far below the museum floor and into the wall. On the highest level a miner manoeuvres a wheelbarrow. Below, his mate is heading out to daylight with a truck full of ore. A third man stands on a platform hauling ore from the lower levels. Far away and below, a walkway is scattered with spanners near a pump pipe, which continues into the flickering, candlelit depths.

Don't miss it - it's a tiny window in a dark recess between the two lead-mining panels.

You may be surprised to learn that there is no hole in the floor!

EYAM MUSEUM, HAWKHILL ROAD, EYAM, DERBYSHIRE, S32 5QP
Registered charity No 702067

Telephone & Fax: 01433 631371

For school or group bookings when closed: 0114 230 5723