Short history.
Bethel quarry was named after George Bethel who built his house in Church Street from local stone, in the mid 1770s.
It was extensively quarried in the late 19th century by the Rogers family, and later by the Jones family (possibly as The Bath and Portland Stone Company) until about 1910 when it was bought by the Agaric company for mushroom farming.
In 1939 the War Ministry requisitioned the quarry and reinforced the interior in order to store naval equipment during the 2nd World War. After the war the Heinz company, and later, Oakfield Farm Products, continued to use the quarry for mushroom farming until 2010 when it was put up for sale. Outcome unknown.
In 2015 some explorers in the quarry were assaulted by a maniac with a baseball bat. There’s an excellent first hand account of it on this forum in “REPORT - BETHEL QUARRY - BRADFORD-ON-AVON - MARCH 15”, post 34.
Police raided the quarry in 2018 and destroyed an illegal cannabis farm with a crop that had an estimated street value of over £1 million. Possibly the largest in the UK at that time. Two people were arrested for illegal cannabis growing.
The explore.
Frst visited with a non member and then a solo visit,
I’d wanted to visit Bethel since seeing great reports on here, but then the police found the cannabis farm and the entrance was blocked. After that and the baseball bat incident I decided to wait for a bit. I’m not in any condition to make a quick escape.
Finding entry was now possible, and concerned it might be made extra secure soon, we decided to have a look. I had mistakenly thought the fire escape ladder entrance was sealed off so we entered the easy way at ground level.
Once inside we found the place in a real mess with scrap and rubbish everywhere. It looked like the cannabis growers had re-rigged the electrics and plumbing and the police had totally trashed the growing facilities. Some of the tunnels further from the tents were relatively nice and it was obviously a decent explore at one time. I feel quite sorry for the place. Looking at other reports I know I’ve missed some good bits. We found we were wandering around in circles half the time.
On my solo visit I encountered two other explorers who had come down the ladder and were kind enough to tell me where to find the top entrance. Only about 50 m from where I looked before.
The photos.
Starting with the odd one out because the rest are mainly doom and gloom. Sorry.
Not a welcoming atmosphere.
On to the gym and grow tents.
Thoroughly trashed ,
And not a bud in sight.
Eventually found the ladder, surrounded by stuff dropped from above.
Some reinforcements and nice brick columns. Courtesy of the War Ministry?
Other stuff,
Staff facilities mindlessly vandalised. They looked so good in earlier reports.
Obligatory trolly shot.
And daylight and fresh air in sight.
Once outside I looked for the top of the ladder and found it just as the other explorers were coming out,
Nice meeting you lads.
Chatting with some locals later, it seems that the mastermind of the illegal cannabis farm evaded the law and is happily sunning himself somewhere in France. But he comes back to visit occasionally and, “is not a man to be reckoned with”. If true, I’m thinking he might own a baseball bat.
Thanks for looking.
