Took many months to organise a trip to see the chalk mine at Emmer Green, but it was well worth it. Visited with @obscurity @elhomer12 and quite a few more!
History
Lying under Hanover, the site dates back to the early 18th Century and graffiti dated as early as 1722 on the walls backs this up. These tunnels are fairly large in size with ceiling heights of over 9ft in places, although they aren't very extensive compared to many other networks.
During the second world war the mine was used for storing the town achieves and a metal corrigated iron shelter still standing in great condition. A pile of rotting wood marks the remains of the tea chests that were used to store the achieves. The site was used up to around the 1950s before it fell into disuse.
Eventually the Reading 89th Scout group managed to get funding to open up the mine with proper secure access allowing the scouts full access to the network of tunnels below via a 70ft shaft. Although we managed to arrange for access, it wasn't easy and took us several months of organisation before we could finally get permission to get in.
Here's a map of the layout.
The Explore
This was very long in the planning, and when the day finally came round for it I was pretty excited. Access is via a 70ft abseil, which was my first abseil into a mine, something I'd been practising lots over the approaching weeks. No drama though as it was a pretty easy drop in after all. Coming back up the ladder was a more tiring task though!
We spent best part of 2 hours down here, photographing and exploring it. It actually isn't that big and probably takes no longer than 15 minutes to walk round it all. There is one part, section 6 which was out of bounds due to nesting bats, but I don't think there was anything down here that we really missed out on anyway.
I was surprised to see two Anderson shelters down here, as I wasn't aware it saw wartime use prior to the visit. It also has lots of little mining relics and tools which were displayed in the 'Museum' section.
The white chalk walls with flicks of brown and black flint made it a really nice space to light up and helped it feel like a very airy and open cavernous space, something that can't be said about a lot of mines.
A very enjoyable underground and a great chance to practice some SRT.
Cheers for organising this guys!
Photos
The 70ft ladder down to the mine.
The Anderson shelters remain in fantastic condition
The second shaft in, which is capped off at the top.
Graffiti dating back to the 1940s.
The 'Museum'
History
Lying under Hanover, the site dates back to the early 18th Century and graffiti dated as early as 1722 on the walls backs this up. These tunnels are fairly large in size with ceiling heights of over 9ft in places, although they aren't very extensive compared to many other networks.
During the second world war the mine was used for storing the town achieves and a metal corrigated iron shelter still standing in great condition. A pile of rotting wood marks the remains of the tea chests that were used to store the achieves. The site was used up to around the 1950s before it fell into disuse.
Eventually the Reading 89th Scout group managed to get funding to open up the mine with proper secure access allowing the scouts full access to the network of tunnels below via a 70ft shaft. Although we managed to arrange for access, it wasn't easy and took us several months of organisation before we could finally get permission to get in.
Here's a map of the layout.
The Explore
This was very long in the planning, and when the day finally came round for it I was pretty excited. Access is via a 70ft abseil, which was my first abseil into a mine, something I'd been practising lots over the approaching weeks. No drama though as it was a pretty easy drop in after all. Coming back up the ladder was a more tiring task though!
We spent best part of 2 hours down here, photographing and exploring it. It actually isn't that big and probably takes no longer than 15 minutes to walk round it all. There is one part, section 6 which was out of bounds due to nesting bats, but I don't think there was anything down here that we really missed out on anyway.
I was surprised to see two Anderson shelters down here, as I wasn't aware it saw wartime use prior to the visit. It also has lots of little mining relics and tools which were displayed in the 'Museum' section.
The white chalk walls with flicks of brown and black flint made it a really nice space to light up and helped it feel like a very airy and open cavernous space, something that can't be said about a lot of mines.
A very enjoyable underground and a great chance to practice some SRT.
Cheers for organising this guys!
Photos
The 70ft ladder down to the mine.
The Anderson shelters remain in fantastic condition
The second shaft in, which is capped off at the top.
Graffiti dating back to the 1940s.
The 'Museum'
