Our destination was the Talisker Trail, a bush walk in rugged countryside around the site of an abandoned silver and lead mine. The ore was discovered by the McLeod brothers in 1862 who named the site after their property on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Leases were soon taken out by others, including many Cornish miners, and mining began in earnest. The surface ore soon ran out, so deep shafts, smelters and buildings to house machinery were built. A nearby town called Silverton developed for the 300 inhabitants and soon they had a bank, hotel, doctor, chapel, stores and a school; despite the inhospitable countryside it was even on the Cobb and Co run.
Today nothing remains of the town. On the walk, we discovered the ruins of smelters and storage facilities, fenced-off shafts that penetrated deep underground and rusted machinery. Excellent interpretive signs told us all about the mining process and the various ruins.
I couldn't help but think what courage, tenacity, perseverance and optimism these people must have had, though I guess the lure of money sustained them for a time.
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