I’ve been a serious mineral collector for over twenty years, but my interest goes right back to my childhood, where I developed an enduring fascination for the natural world.

I was lucky to have spent my childhood in the tiny coastal hamlet of Blue Anchor Bay, on the Severn Estuary coast of West Somerset, England. Those who know of this wonderful place will know the blue lias headland which bounds the Eastern end of the bay. It was whilst exploring the alabaster veins and numerous fossils within this rock that the seed of interest in minerals was sown.

Inspiring as the Somerset coast is to a budding mineral collector, credit must also go to the copy of ‘The Ladybird Book of Rocks & Minerals’, in Minehead Middle School’s library. It was the wonderful illustrations of Fluorite Crystals and the blue john caverns that had me gripped in wonder at how something natural could be so colourful, transparent, but above all regular in shape.

My collection now comprises many hundreds of specimens. Mostly display specimens between miniature and small cabinet size, with the odd thumbnail and museum sized piece for good measure. I am glad to say that I have a good mix of bought and self-collected specimens.

Over the years, the focus of my collection has evolved to encompass minerals from Cornwall, Devon, Northern England, The USA and worldwide gem species, although not exclusively. However, I am an avid field collector, and I have been lucky enough to have collected in the USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and France.

To date, my greatest mineral expedition was to the Tucson show in the early nineties. Amongst many memorable meetings, I met Al Ordman, who was a real gent. I bought some stuff from him, and he wrote to me on a number of occasions, helping me to track-down certain specimens. May he rest in peace.

Most recently I have been trying to put a collection of minerals from Somerset together for one of the local museums. The ancient lead, zinc and manganese deposits of Northern Somerset will be familiar to collectors, but West Somerset also offers some great collecting opportunities. Within a fifteen mile radius of where I sit now, I have discovered very worthy specimens of Pyrite, Hematite, Siderite, Malachite, Azurite, Barite, Calcite and Quartz, but there are many more.

Currently, I am trying to find new sources of Mendip agates, Potato Stones or Dulcote agate, call them what you will. I was lucky to have visited Dulcote Quarry early in the 90’s as a guest with a group from the Russell Society. I recovered many good specimens from the overburden, which the quarry owners had bulldozed into piles for our convenience.

Dulcote Quarry has been closed for some time, but I am glad to report that agates can still be found in several locations around the Mendips. My research into these beautiful agates has enabled me to obtain many nice specimens, some of which you can see in my photos. I have recently acquired a diamond saw and lap polisher, so I shall soon be cutting and polishing the many kilograms of rough specimens that I have collected in the field.

Although mineral collecting is a passion for me, I am merely a committed amateur when it comes to scientific knowledge. It goes without saying that you can’t have a passion for minerals, without developing peripheral interests in geology and industrial archaeology, but I still wouldn’t call myself an expert.

My work, home life and other hobbies prevent me from spending as much time as I would like using mindat and talking to other like-minded enthusiasts. However, I am determined to put that right, and I look forward to participating in many interesting discussions, contributing to the database and learning more about minerals in the future.

Rupert Harrison / February 2011