History
Holme Bank was the last of two operational chert mines in Derbyshire the other being the Pretoria Mine, both at Bakewell. The chert bed lies on a 1 in 3.7 gradient and the mine was subject to flooding in severe winters. Illumination was by mains electricity in addition to carbide lamps carried by the miners.
The Explore
Being a mine virgin previously I tagged along with @mineorluke and a few other guys who may or may not be members here... I don't have a clue
Overall it was an interesting day out, and after stopping by Middleton, we headed to Bakewell, via Matlock for some chips. After a bit trouble losing each other on the way in, and a nosey local telling us "you can't park here, its residential..", we found a place to park our small convoy.
So after locating an entrance we headed inside. It definitely is quite a photogenic mine, but also somewhat unnerving when you're walking under old wooden beams that are bending, and sections propped up with wood and stone piles. We didn't spend too long in the mine due to this, some of the sections we passed through looked far from safe, and I'm sure I heard a cracking noise after passing under one beam. Another section had a recent (so the other guys said) partial roof collapse, so we headed back out and found another entrance to avoid it.
The Photos
Holme Bank was the last of two operational chert mines in Derbyshire the other being the Pretoria Mine, both at Bakewell. The chert bed lies on a 1 in 3.7 gradient and the mine was subject to flooding in severe winters. Illumination was by mains electricity in addition to carbide lamps carried by the miners.
The Explore
Being a mine virgin previously I tagged along with @mineorluke and a few other guys who may or may not be members here... I don't have a clue
Overall it was an interesting day out, and after stopping by Middleton, we headed to Bakewell, via Matlock for some chips. After a bit trouble losing each other on the way in, and a nosey local telling us "you can't park here, its residential..", we found a place to park our small convoy.So after locating an entrance we headed inside. It definitely is quite a photogenic mine, but also somewhat unnerving when you're walking under old wooden beams that are bending, and sections propped up with wood and stone piles. We didn't spend too long in the mine due to this, some of the sections we passed through looked far from safe, and I'm sure I heard a cracking noise after passing under one beam. Another section had a recent (so the other guys said) partial roof collapse, so we headed back out and found another entrance to avoid it.
The Photos
