Balmaidens

Balmaidens were women working on the surface of mines in Cornwall and Devon. One of the things that makes them interesting was that they were responsible for separating and purifying the ore, and as such needed to understand the mineralisation of the rock in a very detailed way - which minerals were valuable and which weren't.

They used a wide variety of tools for breaking the rocks, all with different names (spalling hammers, buckers and cobbers). This process entirely done by hand would have provided a deep knowledge of the structure of the rock. I often think of what they would have thought of my haphazard manner of splitting rocks with a rock hammer.

You can read more about them, including some interviews, images and a database of 30,488 individuals this amazing website.