Report - Crich Quarry, Derbyshire December 2018

[mookster]

I have very fond childhood memories of being on holiday in the Peak District and visiting the Crich Tramway Museum located next to here, thinking it was bloody marvellous. Of course back then in the late 1990s this quarry was very much still in use!

Fast forward a couple of decades and in the dying light of a chilly December day I found myself back at the Tramway Museum once again, but this time with a completely different objective in mind - the rock crusher in the quarry. I had been meaning to see it for ages, however never found the right time and someone then told me it was demolished so I scrubbed it from my map, until Mikeymutt went a while back and it went straight back on!

There isn't much detail about this place readily available however it was last used by Bardon Aggregates who closed it in 2010 after finding the limestone was contaminated with a substance that turned it a funny colour, and it never reopened.

Myself and @Landie_Man were rushing around here trying to get to as much as we could before it got too dark, which was quite fun. We couldn't get up one part of it because of the amount of water standing around the base of the crusher but other than that it was fine.

Thanks for looking ​

 

[little_ boy_explores]

Some nice industry there, good report that @mookster

 

[Brewtal]

Very nice mate!

 

[raisinwing]

Nicely done, had a bit of a nosey here when visiting the tramway museum a couple of years ago.

I do always like a quarry, and you got some nice shots!

 

[Idle Hands]

I have very fond childhood memories of being on holiday in the Peak District and visiting the Crich Tramway Museum located next to here, thinking it was bloody marvellous. Of course back then in the late 1990s this quarry was very much still in use!
​

Haha, that's exactly how I ended up here a couple of years back! I remember thinking how much smaller the quarry was than my childhood memories suggested it would be...

 

[Scoobysrt]

Someone once commented on here that Rolls Royce used to bury their nasty stuff here but that's the only place I've heard it.
Was that mine (?) entrance doable that was mentioned a month or so ago?

 

[mookster]

Someone once commented on here that Rolls Royce used to bury their nasty stuff here but that's the only place I've heard it.
Was that mine (?) entrance doable that was mentioned a month or so ago?

There was an entrance to some underground workings that you walk past near the crusher however it's got a solid sheet of steel across the whole opening.

 

[Wheaters]

I used to be a member of the Peak District Mines Historical Society (gave up because all of the interesting meetings and visits were in the week at times when I couldn't ever attend).

I did get to see part of Crich quarry (not this bit). I was pleased to see it because I was born and raised on Crich Lane, a few miles south of Crich itself. The chap from the PDMHS who took us in there told us to look out for interesting stones. I found a chunk of purple coloured quartz. He said it was Blue John but not to try and tell them up at Castleton because they claim the Blue John Cavern is the only place you can find it.

 

[Scoobysrt]

Yea, I'm 5 minutes away from castleton, they guard it like it's the exlicior of life lol.
We used to go pick it up off the floor of the caves when we were kids lol.