This is the first issue of Welsh Mines and Mining, an occasional publication which will cover all aspects of Welsh mining. This volume constitutes the proceedings of The Lode of History, a conference celebrating David Bick’s distinguished, highly individual, and influential contribution to British mining history.

The publication contains an appreciation of David Bick’s work as a mining historian (by Rob Vernon) together with papers on the origins of metal mining in Britain (Simon Timberlake), lead bale smelting in the north of England (Richard Smith and Sam Murphy), Waller’s Cwmystwyth (Roger Bird), a bibliography of publications relating to The Company of Mine Adventurers (Robert Protheroe Jones), aspects of mining life in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Wales (Simon Hughes), the Bryntail and Glyn mines (Roger Bird), the Penclyn Mine (Steve Oliver and Christine Smith), the early history of geophysical prospecting in England and Wales (Rob Vernon), the use of historical records in the evaluation of goldfields (Simon Dominy), lode remapping at Dylife (David James), the presentation of mining history in England and Wales (Peter Claughton) and mining history publication in the digital age (Dave Linton).