October is a great month for walking about outdoors with a camera – clear skies, cool air, not so many people, and an amazing pallet of fall colours. A perfect day to take a visit to the remains of the No 8 Mine.
I’ve been to most of the old mine sites in the Comox Valley, thanks to some old maps and a fair amount of determination. These are interesting places to visit, but they are old mine sites so it’s a really good idea to be careful and think about what is, or in the case of old coal mines, not underneath you.
The No 8 site is popular with the paint ball and air soft crowd – I have no problem with that as this is an amazing area in terms of places to hide and seek and shoot your friends in a fun sort of way.
I don’t mind the graffiti as it will in time wear off, and it means that people spent some time outdoors. Perhaps a contentious view of how to treat a piece of history, but honestly, not many people seem to care about the history of coal in the valley, and it’s just a bit of paint.
While the paint is ever changing and will fade and at some point be nothing but a memory, the concrete and steel will be around for a long time to come – it’s lasted for almost 100 years already…
October 2015
January 2014
October 2015
January 2014