Plagues

Eyam's story is remarkable for its moral clarity. When plague arrived in 1665, villagers quarantined themselves rather than flee, knowing it likely meant death. About 260 of 350 residents died. Standing in that village, reading records of who died when, you're confronted with what leadership actually looks like—people making hard decisions based on evidence, accepting personal cost for the greater good. No germ theory, no vaccines, no modern medicine. Just observation that disease spread person to person and moral conviction not to inflict it on others.

Moral Leadership in Crisis

September 5, 2025

A lot of driving today and we had to pack up to move to a different location.

Magpie Mine

First we stopped by the Magpie lead mine. Pretty interesting in that it contained a lot of equipment from various stages of its life. It was last used in 1958.

Next we wandered around a bit and ended up checking out the area around the Monsal Trail. Pretty country. Lots of landscape shots.

We went to the Treak Cliff Cavern—one of two Blue John mines, possibly on the planet. Really interesting place to see pretty rocks in place. Also lots of stalactites and stalagmites.

Following this we went over Snake Pass and attempted to track down a Roman road. We think we found it.

We worked our way to Eyam. Eyam has an interesting story related to the plague. A lot of deaths in a very short period of time, but they chose to isolate themselves so they wouldn't spread it further. A lot to think about, particularly in the context of very poor national leadership we have in healthcare. Keep in mind that one-third of Europe died during the plague. They're nothing to fool with.

We made our way to our new home for the night. Dinner was a pizza cart and beer at a nearby, very informal pub. Real ales are interesting—they're not refrigerated. When I asked for a pint, she poured it from a pitcher. The place was great. It even had a fire this evening.

The story of Eyam is remarkable for its moral clarity. When the plague arrived in 1665, the villagers made a collective decision to quarantine themselves rather than flee and potentially spread the disease. They knew it likely meant death for many of them, and it did—about 260 of the 350 residents died.

Standing in that village, reading the records of who died when, you're confronted with what leadership actually looks like in a crisis. Not the political theater we're used to, but people making hard decisions based on evidence and accepting personal cost for the greater good.

The contrast with recent pandemic responses is stark. Eyam's villagers had no understanding of germ theory, no vaccines, no modern medicine. Just the observation that the disease spread from person to person and the moral conviction that they shouldn't inflict it on others.

Sometimes the most important history lessons are about character.

Images can be found here: https://beloretrato0.picflow.com/d43bka91mw/lwb8gsc2bo