Our trip to the copper mines

        On 18^th September 2002, Mrs Gunn's class went to the copper mines on the Great Orme in Llandudno.

    First we watched a couple of films. We learnt about how the malachite was smelted to make the copper. Then our guide, Sian, showed us some stones that had come from Llandudno beach. She told us that Bronze was made with 90% copper and 10% tin. The tin came from Cornwall.

    Then, we went down into the mine. Everyone had to put on helmets. It was cold and dark but luckily there were a few little lights down there so we could see just a little bit. 

    We learnt that children as young as 5 or 6 years old had to dig in the mine to find copper. We also learnt that Bronze Age men thought that copper grew and needed feeding.

    When we came out of the mine, we went to the oldest part of the mine, which is the open cast, which was not underground.

    When we came out of the mine we went to a field nearby where we could hunt for stones with malachite and fragments of bone tools used in the bronze age. 

    I thought that the most interesting thing we learnt was that Bronze Age men thought that copper grew and needed feeding.

                    Lysette, Leanne and Llinos

                                    year 5/6