The Grand Dukes of the Most Esteemed Order of the Divine Cob present to you an exclusive review of the inaugural conference of DAG; a new and exciting organisation formed in collaboration with our glorious affiliates in Yorkshire and Germany.
In July 2012, members of GDMEODC and the LLS attended a conference to celebrate the formation of DAG, and to inspect the work done by several esteemed european colleagues. We were not disappointed. As part of a cost-cutting measure, the delegates of DAG were to travel by nissan and boat, whereupon we declared the conference open with an inspection of P&O's weld quality.
Findings not positive.
Part 1: Cookin' With Gas
Upon arrival on the continent, the team were to make their way to the headquarters in Essen in preparation for work to begin the following day. Upon the way, we sampled some Belgian gourmet to sate our appetite briefly. First stop...
St. Hilarius:
We had to abort surveying the site due to officious nonsense in a van, but we pressed onwards nonetheless, stopping by the laboratory to test our findings thus far:
Labs Horreur:
And then onwards to repentance at Sint Anna
With the last of the religious-themed corporate jargon spoken, we dined on a feast of wursts and turbomustard in Essen, ready for the fun to begin the next day.
Part 2: Rudi der Prinz
With a comprehensive list of coal-themed assignments, we set off early towards our first target; cageporn and winding smut awaits! Our first stop had a modern winding tower rather than a conventional headframe, and we conclusively inspected the fuck out of it.
Zeche H
No. 11
After a thorough job, we met up with our affiliates in the area to continue work:
Zeche P
And one which the founder members of DAG had visited last year: Zeche SE
This time, the huge white headstock would not evade us, and nor would the pristine steam winder.
Winding Porn
Pithead Porn. No. 12
Part 3: Ze Hanky Panky
No conference hosted in Germany would be complete without a visit to a giant rust-monster. Consequently, we visited such a thing, with considerable levels of peril. Our next two inspections would take place in the company of our esteemed guide JohnSalomon. Quality control, duck.
Thyssen Sinterei
Zeche E
The buildings of this mine had largely been reappropriated, sealed, or were crap. That aside, we saw the second of our two steam winders here.
You can guess what's coming, right?
Steamtastic.
We whiled away the time photographing this fine engine during a thunderstorm, which would have made climbing the headframe foolish/stupid/hilarious/tasty/any of the above/brave/spectacular. However; the gods smiled, the clouds parted and the divine cob itself seemed to shine upon this rusting tower of steel.
We took it as a sign.
Here's a wheel.
After a brief nostalgia-trip around the area, we retired to the abode of our German colleagues for intoxicants of the drinkable and smokable varieties, as well as a BBQ. Things had gone well so far.
TBC...