Forgotten Histories

The Thin Red Line

The British Community in Porfirian Pachuca and Real del Monte

by Craig White, Secretary of the Mexico Cricket Association

“Pachuca is situated in a narrow valley, enclosed by steep, rugged hills destitute of vegetation. Its present population, with surrounding hamlets, may safely be estimated at 25,000, and this number is daily increasing as mines are coming into “bonanza”, and additional labour is required”, described the British tourist Thomas Brocklehurst on his visit in July 1881. He continued: “From the muddy river, which runs through the town, the houses and mining works on each side rise terrace upon terrace. The church is shabby, the market-place a mound of dirt, the streets narrow and abominable; in a word, it is a mining town in which the high weekly wages of the workmen are gambled away or spent on drink on pay-day, and the women and children are left to struggle and starve through the following six-days as best they may."

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