Recent correspondence brought to my mind that there is such a wide variation in the quality of minerals that are appreciated by contributors to Mindat. Your own history sets the standard for what you regard collectable and memorable. I was particularly taken aback when a contributor indicated that having picked up the following specimen I should have returned it to where I had found it and left it there.
My origins were that I lived in an area of London clay so crystals simply did not occur. In fact no crystals were evident for hundreds of miles around. I had got interested in collecting crystals because I had previously made jewellery from pebbles off the beach.
I did some research and decided to make a collecting trip to Devon and Cornwall. As it was to be a 1000 mile round trip it had to be well planned. My first two calls were in Devon. At the first I was refused permission, despite having it in writing previously. Then I could not find the next destination. Into Cornwall and the first destination was Cligga head.
Cligga was approached through an old airfield from the war which was now used by gliders. Loads of spoil lay in many heaps lining the pathways. I met up with a number of people and the buzz was the recent discovery of natural copper at the site.I was rather surprised by the large number collecting there and spent as much time talking as collecting.
In the end I went off by myself and on a hillside discovered this specimen. In the centre was a complete Quartz crystal (now missing) and it had a number of broken crystals and other characteristics that were worth investigating. This was my very first sight of a crystal in real life, and with so many other interesting aspects it kept me interested in minerals whereas a failure may have left me with another interest. I collected and was given other specimens on the journey but it was this one that was first and had the most interest.
I carried on collecting and got my children interested. With their better eyes they came to collect better specimens than I had at the time. As a direct result two of them got scientific doctorates. One son is a senior university lecturer in earth sciences and other big words. One daughter travels the world representing the government at protectorates looking after ecology and wildlife.
This specimen therefore set in train a number of events of great importance even though some person thinks I should have thrown it away. Other Mindat contributors must have similar items of variable quality that set them on their way with the interest. The stories will be interesting to hear.
Malcolm Chapman
England
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2009 07:33PM by Rock Currier.
