Report - Drift Mine, South Wales. October 2016

[Mobutu]

AS WITH ANY MINE COMING DOWN HERE WITHOUT A GAS MONITOR IS A PRETTY BAD IDEA

It's quite hard to find info on this place but from what I've heard mining ceased some time around 2005, I didn't take any exteriors as there's not much too see above ground.

All pics taken on a Minolta X-700 with a Nikon SB-60 Flash and Ilford HP5 Film

More of my stuff: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142614461@N04/

Thanks For Reading!


​

 

[dweeb]

Looks very good indeed... what state is the roof in these days?

 

[Mobutu]

Looks very good indeed... what state is the roof in these days?

The roof's pretty good in general at least for the first few hundred metres, We couldn't go in very far as the gas monitor got angry quite fast

 

[dweeb]

Ha yeah I've not been in many that were happy after a hundred meters or so!

 

[Dave W]

Ha yeah I've not been in many that were happy after a hundred meters or so!

Yeah the gas levels in here depend a lot on the weather outside - on the right day you can get to the bottom of both drifts, other days the theres bad air near the second cross cut.

Maybe best not to have the exact name/location in the title? CA do like to seal up anything anyone can get in.This has been open for years now so it would be a shame for it to be properly stopped up.

Dave

 

[Mobutu]

Yeah the gas levels in here depend a lot on the weather outside - on the right day you can get to the bottom of both drifts, other days the theres bad air near the second cross cut.

Maybe best not to have the exact name/location in the title? CA do like to seal up anything anyone can get in.This has been open for years now so it would be a shame for it to be properly stopped up.

Dave

That's probably a good idea I'd hate to see it sealed. I've removed the link to the other report that gives the name and changed the title

 

[D4RK]

I think it was operating from around about the late 80's early 90's and production ceased in late 2010 to early 2011, then it went into abandonment.

 

[The Franconian]

how far do these drifts go in the hill and what is coming then ? Where did they quarry the coal ?

 

[The Kwan]

Cheers for posting it, colour pictures would be nice to see

 

[D4RK]

how far do these drifts go in the hill and what is coming then ? Where did they quarry the coal ?

Well their both only about 500 or 600 yards to the very bottom, but then you have many crosscuts, junctions, splits etc which add up in total to about a mile and a half to two mines of tunnels. The coal was won off the Brithdir seam, to be brutally honest, it's probably one of the worst seams of coal you can work, it's sulphur content is through the roof and there are often clay deposits everywhere in the coal, it's a real hassle to seperate everything from it, that's why mines who worked it never really lasted long, nobody wanted it. This mine sold their coal to the nearby powerstation I believe.

 

[The Franconian]

thank you