Working in a coal mine...

The Zollverein complex operated from 1847 to 1993, one of the biggest coal mines in Europe in addition to a huge coking plant. It is now an industrial museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main picture shows a 3-D model of the seams (worked and abandoned) being explained by our guide Klaus, a former craftsman (a blacksmith) above and below ground and now a gifted and entertaining raconteur.

Extras show various scenes from our tour of the multi-storey processing plant - sadly the tour did not include a descent of the 6km main shaft.

Yes, I'm in Germany again (see previous two blips)! I was in Essen to speak at a university 'winter school' on participation in qualitative research with children, and this was our evening entertainment. The complex includes a restaurant, whose glühwein was just the thing after the cold of the plant. 

Next week I am playing a miner (and a euphonium) in our local theatre's production of Brassed Off - so it was all very fitting. I even brought back a small lump of coal, to commemorate the heroism of those miners, in Yorkshire and Wales as well as the Ruhr, and the resilience of their communities.