This grand opening took place on Sunday 20th August 2006.
Antony Hamilton, the Chief Executive of the Department of Local Government and the Environment officially opened The Snaefell Mine Water which had been restored to working-order by volunteers from the Laxey Mines Research Group.
The restoration had commenced in September 2003 and the working wheel is a splendid tribute to the efforts of the volunteers who undertook this project.
The text of the plaque is shown below:
THE SNAEFELL MINE WATERWHEEL
Presented by the Trevithick Society as a gift from the people of Cornwall to the people of the Isle of Man
This waterwheel was officially opened by the Chief Executive of the Department of Local Government and the Environment Antony Hamilton on Sunday 20th August 2006
The Wheel was originally built in 1865 and was re-constructed by the following volunteers from the Laxey Mines Research Group over a period of three years from September 2003 to August 2006
List of names
Snaefell Wheel Restoration Committee
Nick Black Joan Charnock Pete Geddes Richard Henthorn Andrew Scarffe
There is a second plaque below the first which list the names of those who made the restoration possible by their generous financial and practical support.
This Grand opening came towards the end of the career of Anthony Hamilton who retired in November 2006 after completing 40 years of service in Isle of Man Civil Service.
Anthony joined the Civil Service in November 1966 when he started work at the then Local Government Board where he spent 9 years. In this role he gained experience in Housing, Planning and in the administration of various Financial Aid Schemes including assisting first time buyers to buy their first homes.
In 1975 Antony was appointed to the post of Clerk to the High Bailiff and spent almost 5 years in this post where he was responsible for streamlining the administration of the Island's Licensing Courts' Annual Sessions.
In May 1979 Antony took up the role as the Head of Administration and Secretary to the then Tourist Board. During his time at the Tourist Board he was also the Secretary of the Gaiety Theatre Management Committee, during the theatres extensive renovations and acted as secretary to the TT Race Organising Committee.
"One of the first tasks given to him was to liaise with the BBC in planning and organising the Isle of Man arrangements for the popular Seaside Special programme, two of which were to be filmed on the Island. This presented a number of novel challenges, not the least of which was the logistics of bringing over 30 large vehicles to the Island and a Big Top circus tent and finding a suitably large, secure and accessible site. After extensive discussions with landowners and public authorities, a site to the rear of Castle Rushen High School was chosen but even this required the creation of a special access route for the long, wide vehicles. One of the great successes of this venture was that, in addition to two prime time TV programmes featuring different parts of the Island and top stars of the day, “Top of the Pops” was broadcast ‘live’ on the Thursday evening in the open air with a beautiful sunset behind - good publicity that would normally be too expensive to buy!"
In October 1981 Anthony's career took another step forward when he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Civil Service Commission and to the two Public Service Whitley Councils.
It was in this role "that he was successful in persuading the Civil Service Commission that training should be introduced for all Civil Servants and, subsequently, for all Public Servants on the Island. Prior to that, any training that had been undertaken within Government had been very sporadic and uncoordinated. Creating the training function within the Personnel Office has been one of his proudest achievements. It has had a major impact on the work of Government Departments, Boards and Offices. Not only has it has meant that there has been a more planned approach to meeting individual development needs but it has also meant that staff working in different parts of Government are brought together on a fairly regular basis, which has encouraged inter-Departmental co-operation to a much greater extent than would otherwise have been the case."
In 1989, Antony was again promoted to Chief Officer of the Personnel Office, Secretary to the Civil Service Commission and Secretary to the two Public Service Whitley Councils.
He became Chief Executive of the Department of Local Government and the Environment in June 1996 and held this post for ten and a half years until his retirement when he was the longest serving Chief officer in the Civil Service.
The Snaefell Mines was situated at the head of the Laxey Valley and was the most successful of a number of small mines in the Laxey area.
In May 1897 The Snaefell Mine was the site of the Isle of Man's worst mining disaster when 20 miners died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
"A fifty feet diameter waterwheel was built in 1865 by Leigh and Gilbert Howell of the Hawarden Iron Works in Bagillt, to pump water from the mine. When Snaefell mine closed in 1908, the waterwheel was dismantled and rebuilt at Blisland in Cornwall to pump slurry from a china clay pit. The waterwheel fell into disuse in the 1950s and in 1971 was acquired by the Cornish Wheel Preservation Society who dismantled and put the components into storage. The Preservation Society later merged with the Trevithick Society and the water wheel was loaned to the Llywernog Mining Museum in Wales. On 15th March 2003, the Trevithick Society agreed that the components could be moved to the Isle of Man for re-assembly and restoration. On Sunday 21st September 2003 the Snaefell Waterwheel arrived on the Isle of Man for the second time!"
The restoration work on the Wheel was carried out as noted above by the Laxey Mines Research Group with the Laxey and Lonan Heritage Trust acting as a management and fund raising body.
The Link below shows the working restored Waterwheel:
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source: The Commemorative Plaque mounted on the stone wall near the Waterwheel.
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