RICHARD TAYLER`S AT HOME

RICHARD TAYLER’S AT HOME
14 members drove over to Richard Tayler’s home in Cobham in Surrey on Saturday 22nd
September, perhaps, the last sunny afternoon of the year. It must have been 25-30 years ago
since SMLS arranged one-day tours to visit the two Surrey mineral dealers, the late Hilary Corke
and Richard Tayler. Both had considerable numbers of minerals scattered around their garages,
sheds, out-houses and gardens. Some of the minerals were appropriately labelled in cardboard
boxes, while other large specimens were exposed to the elements, patiently waiting their turn to be
cracked, trimmed and boxed.
We knew we had arrived when we spotted a large quartz cluster on the wall outside Richard’s
home and a range of salon and sports cars parked up the drive and along the front of the house.
Also Austin Woodbridge was sitting on the wall ready to welcome us.
There was something for everyone including a grass snake and some beautiful and unusual
poppies, but these were a distraction from the rocks and minerals which could be found all around.
Richard gave us a tour of the main mineral locations: his front room, the sheds at the top of the
garden and his large garage, in which no car has passed for a considerable time. He also showed
us his large stone jar of “SCRUFFITE” (Fig. 2) which he had acquired in the past and would be
pleased to receive further information from anyone who recognises it.
Richard’s collection in the front room (Fig 3) contained some fascinating pieces including a much
coveted blue-green Cornish liroconite, a suite of minerals from the Benallt mine about which
Richard and Tom Cotterell wrote a recent article (Cotterell, T. and Tayler, R. Gorceixite from the
Benallt mine, Pen Llyn, Gwynedd, Wales. UKJMM No 33, pp 59-60, 2012), some cut and
polished potato stones and some very interesting material from Merehead Quarry in Somerset
including large and spectacular pink mangano-calcite crystals and several pieces of the striated
oxychloride, mendipite for which the Mendips are famous.
A walk across the lawn to the sheds at the end of the garden led to two sheds, one of which
contained two impressive and powerful rock crackers, which were obviously well used. We were
pleased to see a substantial shield by the side of the 10 ton conventional hydraulic cracker. One
could just imagine the speed of lethal rock fragments at the moment the rock shattered. Not
surprisingly there was no glass in the shed’s window! The other large cracker was based on a
mechanical screw action with a steering wheel at the front. Not only was it powerful but the
operator had considerable control allowing rocks to be trimmed neatly and accurately to size.
I remember the garage from previous visits (Fig 5) There were large stacks of tomato boxes, each
containing a set of minerals, the identity of which was known by Richard and Austin, but we
struggled a bit. I think some of the tomato boxes were the same ones we saw on our last visit! I
put my hand in one particular box only to discover the sticky elaterite, natural tar from Derbyshire.
Ugh! Mica was present in many specimens and this probably relates to Richard’s forays into
Scandanavia and elsewhere in the past. There were posters on the walls from the Ste Marie-aux
Mines Shows and shelves containing a variety of minerals, including the white botryoidal aluminite
(top right shelf in figure 6) from Newhaven Cliffs in East Sussex. One of SMLS’s few local
minerals.
There were some excellent flats of minerals all ready for sale. Figure 4 shows one such flat
including several very attractive rhodochrosite specimens and some lustrous garnets. Several
members of the group took the opportunity to purchase some minerals and it was very interesting
to compare the very varied interests within the group. Richard specialises in providing somewhat
rare minerals, so species collectors were in their element. Another member of the group had a
special interest in vanadium minerals, while a visitor, Brendan, from the Southampton Mineral and
Fossil Society was collecting different rock types. Other members of the group were attracted by
some of the aesthetic minerals including small,
Fig. 1 Richard’s sunny back garden
Fig. 3 A section of Richard’s mineral collection
Fig. 5 Stack of tomato boxes in the garage
Fig. 2 Richard with a jar of “SCRUFFITE”
Fig. 4 A flat of minerals with some nice rhodochrosites
Fig. 6 Minerals on shelves including aluminite (top right)
Photos 1,3,4,5 and 6 by Paul Plows photo 2 by Pam Pearce
delicate, spherical, free-standing sprays of blue pentagonite and the closely related cavansite on
white stilbite, both from the Wagholi quarry in Maharastra, India.
Another mineral of particular interest was the red mercury sulphide, cinnabar, with the
characteristically associated liquid mercury droplets, which you could see with a naked eye,
shining on the surface of the mineral. Rumours suggest that some specimens have the toxic
mercury rubbed into the cinnabar, but these specimens had been recently cracked open by
Richard and the mercury droplets penetrated through each specimen.
As the afternoon proceeded, members dropped into the kitchen where Judith served us tea and
coffee and a choice of very tasty cakes (cooked specially by Richard and Judith). These we took
outside in the garden, sat in the sun and discussed all things mineralogical and put the world to
rights.
Our thanks to Richard, also to Austin and Judith who helped organise this very successful and
enjoyable afternoon.
Thanks to Paul Plows and Pam Pearce who took the photos.
John Pearce