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Today I went on a nice little walk in the woods, just me and dog – like I do most weekends. Our favourite haunt is the Middlesex Fells, situated in the northern suburbs area of Boston. We’ve been going for about a year, so I have seen all seasons in the park/forest and know most of the trails quite well.

Oddly enough there is one area where I always seem to get a little lost. Not lost – lost. Just disorientated. In my own head I call this region the ‘Fells Triangle’ because I seem to lose all sense of orientation. Coincidently, this area also contains the site of an old silver mine. I’ve been looking for this mine and it turns out I’ve been looking in the complete wrong area for some time. The map of the area contains references to the old mine with a hill named for it and a path. In the picture below you can see in red the area I’ve been looking.

But it turns out it is located much closer to the reservoir, in the area circled in green. (I originally screwed this up and circled the area in blue – this is the wrong area and more proof this part of the Fells is weird and deserves its name as ‘The Fells Triangle’.) This green area is also where I always seen to get confused about where I am.

The mine is clearly labeled by the park with a sign up on a nearby tree. See below:

The flat depression in the center of this picture is actually a concrete slab that covers what used to be a huge hole dug out of the ground. Historic reports describe how workers used explosives to carve the mine but very little silver if any was ever found. I also recall reading how the miners used lots of water and since the location of the mine is closer to the reservoir waters, this all makes a lot more sense. There are also a number of concrete poles that are erected around it and look like they once carried planks of wood designed to keep people and/or animals out. The concrete slab is square and now well covered by nature’s debris and time:

I can only imagine how they managed to place this here. The concrete is reinforced with steel bars, which can be seen in a small hole that is in the center of the slab. The hole looks like it has been dug out by curious hikers who wanted to see into the remains of the mine:

There seems to be water at the bottom. I dropped some sticks into the hole and after a considerable time I heard it splash. I would estimate the depth to be more than 10 meters or the height of a three story building.

What possessed people to think there was silver here? Or anything of use? When I hit the ‘net’ looking for information on the Silver Mine I could find very little information. Now I’ve found it its tempting to hit google again and see what more I can find out. The whole thing just seems like an odd enterprise.

On the way there and back there was a number of wild flowers out. This time of year is great for hiking. The weather is starting to cool off, and like today the humidity can drop down quite a bit here in New England. But the summer flowers persist and look so much better in the less harsh light this time of year. I’ll post some pictures below. I have no idea what these flowers are or what the plant name is. I’ll try and figure it out and edit this post.

If you know more about the mine in the Middlesex Fells or the names of these flowers, feel free to drop me a line.

Cheers,

Scott.