as minas_2 - história de valongo

8/7/2019 As minas_2 - histria de valongo

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Valongo in the 19th century: the arrival of the

railway.

All passengers and goods coming from Alto Douro and Trs-os-Montes would pass through

Valongo on their way to Oporto along the royal road number 33. The passengers would stop at

Valongo to rest, to eat and to sell or purchase goods.Valongo was a real trade centre.

The railway put an end to this. But Valongo flourished thanks to the extraction and trading of

the wealth of its soil. And the railway eventually became crucial in the development of Valongo. It

even became one of the most important railway stations along the Douro line.

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The slate quarries and mines and the impact of the English Company in

the slate industry and the growth of Valongo

The commercial slate mining and quarrying in Valongo, whose quality was the best in the

world, has been a source of wealth for the town. The vein of very important and rich deposits ran

across Valongo to the northeast part of the town, from Suso to southeast through S. Martinho.


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Slate has always been used as roofing and flooring material, but its extraction was hard,

rough and very dangerous.

In 1865 an English company, the Vallongo Slate & Marbles Quarries Company,

headquartered in London, started the industrial slate mining and quarrying in Valongo. It invested a

large amount of capital and used powerful machinery which had wonderful results on the extraction

and processing of slate.

The English company owned the mines in Galinheiro, Cardsias, Valle de Amores and Suso.

The Galinheiro mine started in 1865 according to the deed signed by Edward Ennor, member of the

Ennor family. The administrator was Charles Ennor. Jonh Welsh was the companys director. The

workers would call him mestre Joo and he was known as the mine workers father. Francis Ennor

was nominated the general attorney of the company and in 1872 Charles Coverly became the legal

and real companys attorney.

In 1874 D.Luis appointed the English company, the Vallongo Slate & marble Quarries

Company, as the main supplier of the Royal House.

At the end of the 19th

century the English company would export over 40 tons of slate to

different countries such as Brazil, Russia, and Denmark and mostly to Great Britain and it employed

over 500 workers.

As new applications for the slate were created the industry increased.

In 1882 Alfred Nectingel, a worker at the English company tried the polish and varnishing of

slate for chimneys, which benefited the development of the slate industry. Large storage sheds to

lodge the machinery and the workshops were built, new tunnels were driven, ingenious cranes,

powered by great steam machines, were installed and more land was purchased to lodge the

machines and to deposit the waste. Apart from extracting the slate the cranes were also used to drainthe water.

The electric power arrived to English company in the 20s, an extension paid by the company.

Wagons carrying the slate slabs from the bottom of the mines were driven through the rail tracks. The

railway was essential for the transportation of coal to the docks of Douro Oporto and to the docks in

Leixes.

Many ships coming from England loaded with coal would carry slate slabs on their way back

home.


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And the English also brought their technology

The Vallongo Slates and Marbles

Quarries Company had the most

powerful and amazing machinery

and equipment.

The high pressure steam machine

built according to Charles Ennor s

design, powered the cranes as well

as a dynamo for the electric power

that supplied the electric light to the

whole building and its dependencies

The chimney in Galinheiro was the

chimney from the steam boiler

which powered several cranes.


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The Vallongo Slate & Marble Quarries Company products are awarded

worldwide

The products of the Vallongo Slate and Marble Quarries were awarded in many exhibitions: the Paris

exhibition in 1867, the Vienna exhibition in 1873, the Philadelphia exhibition in 1876, the Adelaide

exhibition in 1887, Lisbon, gold medal in 1888, London, gold medal in 1891, Oporto, gold medal in

1897, Paris gold medal in 1900.


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The mines seen as temples

The Galinheiro mine had over thirty tunnels each 15 to 20 metres wide and over 50

metres deep. Those looking at this enterprise were marveled at the imponence and the

terror it inspired as well as the entrepreneur genius of those who made it come true. Those

giant catacombs communicated among them through doors excavated in the walls raising

from the depth of the abyss and going up vertically like the columns in a temple.

Fear and dread in the mines

In the mines you could breathe the smell of death. Many workers paid with their life for such

dangerous risky work. Although the pits were dug after geological studies and under the supervision

of experienced engineers, many families were victims of fatality. Many parents would repeat to their

children with pain and sorrow: Your grandfather died behind that slab or Your elder brother was

crushed to death deep down that pit.

Untold storiesIt was in Casa dos motores (house of the motors) that the slate was

cut. The company guards used to say that evil spirits were around. They

would tell that during the night a ghost would come and kick the kettle

making coffee on the stove. It would be thrown into the air, but it suddenly

returned to its position on the stove as if nothing had happened.


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Accidents in the mines

Fortunately some great accidents in the slate mines and quarries did not cause any victims.

Such was the case of arrasamento in Galinheiro. That was on a Christmas Eve in 1890. So nobody

was injured or killed. It is said that the slate extraction in Galinheiro mine met soft ground. The

pressure of the land over the mines led to the collapse of several pits.

Later it became a lake for the delight of many of the residents in Valongo, particularly young

people, who would enjoy their free time at the place.


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By the 60s in Campo five mines collapsed in a single day. The miners from two different

companies went down the pits in the morning and when excavating the walls (pillars) that separated

the mines, the miners met face to face. There was a great demand for slate at the time. The miners

had left the mine for lunch, when they heard a terrible noise: several mines had collapsed.

However in Companhia Nova (as people would call it)in Carvoeira ( one of the partners was

English, the owners son of Milharia) once the miners were hammering the rock they broke the pillar

separating it from another slate mine full of water. The result was a sudden flood. Most miners died.

Some managed to survive swimming until they could grab the ladder to the top of the mine.

as minas_2 - história de valongo

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