Created in 1734 the Tin mine of Spiffing CL had been an inspiration to many parishioners over the years and has garnered a local reputation for its fair working conditions and comfy beds.
Providing a modest income to the Village has come as some surprise to many as no actual Tin has ever been discovered in the region.*
Not to be dissuaded the local Geologist has been hard at work, chipping away in the depths for at least 20 years now. Permanently.
Rumours of the mine closing and being turned into a 'tourist' attraction are unfounded.
An early account of the tin mines original history can be over heard in the local pubs by esteemed and slightly eccentric local historian Mr N Lancaster Esq.
He can be heard rambling " Does anyone know how the first Spiffing tin mine came about? Or does everyone know but me? This is what I heard:
A painfully shy but single-minded and possessive boy, Aloysius Nid was six years old when he started digging in his mother’s back garden in Spiffing. In the years that followed he lived mainly on dirt, roots and snails.
By the time Aloysius died of consumption at the age of 23 he had dug a very deep hole. Up to this point whenever passers-by asked about the hole it he would simply say “it’s mine”. It seems then to have been the result of a misunderstanding that the hole in the ground started by Aloysius became known locally as “the mine” and after that it was only natural that ne’er-do-wells were sent to work in “the mine”.
Some years later, in the Great Uprising, the forced labourers in the mine began to ask what they were digging for. The overseer, a strong but slow man known as “big Angela”, was eating his lunch from a tin at the time. The rest is history."
For obvious reasons, should you overhear the mad ramblings of this gentleman please report him to the D.W.P. so he can spend some time learning far more about the Inner workings of the Tin Mine.
*It should be noted that although tin is a rare (non-existent) commodity within the mines , our proud 'Miners' are working hard to discover new seams and bring back the mines previous glory. Some success has been made chipping through the Asbestos, of which the waste mounds provide a lovely picturesque sight as parishioners go about their village lives.
