Posted by Jock on October 21, 2007 at 21:02:04 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Prospecting posted by Peter H on October 21, 2007 at 15:56:36:
Peter, Thank you very much for your post and for your link. The later has actually solved a long-standing mystery and so I hope that you will accept this rather long post as my way of saying thank you.
ARÕs books left me with two outdoor interests: sailing and old mines. I loved PP and resolved to do my own mine exploring. The Lake District was just too far away for my parents to take their car but south Snowdonia was comfortably within range. So began my association with one of WalesÕs narrow gauge railways and the slate quarry that brought it into being.
Many years later, I was fascinated to learn that the Welsh slate quarries and their railways were linked with perhaps the best sailing ships ever to be built in Britain, the Welsh topsail schooners Ð almost as fast as the old tea clippers Ð that carried Welsh slate to wherever the worldÕs best roofing material was required.
Eventually, as an adult I did visit the Coniston area, obtained a copy of both of Eric HollandÕs books and armed with the field guide did a walking survey of some of the more accessible mines. About this time, I returned to the Welsh mines of my childhood. Here I had no field guide, just my memory of what they had been like 25 years earlier. The comparison of ÔthenÕ an ÔnowÕ was a good guide to whether anything serious was ÔmovingÕ.
I also explored the mines of a neighbouring railway a few miles further away. At the end of one very remote track was a mine that had ceased production at the start of WW II. Its upper levels had been worked out several years ago. The entrances to the adits were overgrown and well-hidden. At the end of one particularly inaccessible adit was a sheer drop into a chamber. I had good reason to believe that no one had been there for at least 50 years. Then I looked up, the wall had been recently drilled and a shiny new stainless steel bolt fitted. Someone had been there before me!
Now your link to CATMHS has solved the mystery.
A warning to anyone whose is not a ÔprofessionalÕ mine explorer contemplating doing the same. Some of the Coniston tunnels have broken floors, some lead to vertical shafts. These mines require special care. Please read and study HollandÕs field guide. Choose a safe route. Locate the entrance on a large scale map. Do not enter tunnels at random. None this should be understood as encouraging you to explore old mines. If in doubt, stay out. If you decide to do so, you are doing so at your own risk.
Here are some of the rules adopted by my crew when exploring disused slate or copper mines. Appoint a safety officer whose job it will be to stay outside, just in case with two freshly charged mobile phones. Wear helmets. (Builders helmets to which halogen headlights have been attached with gaffer tape are fine.) Do not rely on hand torches, though a powerful ÔMaglightÕ carried in a knapsack will help you study distant details. Take spare batteries and emergency rations. Wear good boots and warm clothing. If the way ahead looks unsafe to any member of the party turn back. Stay safe!
If you want to explore old mines the best way is to join a recognized society such as CATMHS.