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Contributions welcomed by Derek Rayner, email: derekinvicta1915@gmail.com
By post: Old Glory, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL
KIMBERLEY’S BIG HOLE MUSEUM
Most people will have heard of the Big Hole at Kimberley, South Africa - the large excavation from which over fourteen million carats of diamonds were extracted by De Beers over a very long period-something which made them very rich! The hole is some 215m (700ft) deep and ceased to be worked in 1914.
Part of the adjacent Big Hole Museum is a ‘replica’ small town and there is quite a wonderful array of fascinating industrial equipment dotted around there which is now available to view by visitors. Some of the steam-related items to be seen include a fire engine, three railway locomotives, a Boer War-period Thresh’s Patent Disinfestor made by Newton Chambers at Sheffield in 1904 and also a somewhat rare John Fowler AA2-type ploughing engine - plus the world’s only remaining steam tram manufactured by
