Lenston had organised a camping weekend that was all about exploring, camping, beer and a BBQ so it would have been rude not to attend even despite the 4hr drive, Thanks to Lenston for the invite and also to The Raw, Extreme ironing and Emily for the good company and laughs.
These mines were just one of the weekends hit list so here is a little history shamelessly snaffled from wiki.
HISTORY
UPPER AND LOWER SILICA MINES. The most extensive mines in the area, and the most recent, is found on the North bank of the Sychrhyd 200m upstream of Bwa Maen, and has three entrances which face the river, and a further ten on the northern side. The triple entrance is to the left of the bridge, and is the mine most frequented by cavers. This is probably the most extensive mine in the area. The upper series is practically a veritable huge chamber where the `Pillar and Stall' method of mining is well illustrated. This large chamber leads towards several alternative entrances in the side of the hill. The large entrance chamber can be followed to the right down dip for a short distance to the flooded section. However, to the left the huge Pillar and Stall chamber leads up dip for some distance only to drop down dip again onto a passage which runs across the whole length of the mine. Above this passage various `entrances' lead to the huge chamber while below is flooded.The silica from these mines was used in firebricks and the coating of smelting couldrons amongst other uses.
Access these mines was across a lovely stream that ran pretty quickly and despite the Raw crossing in sandals with his pants rolled up to his knees there was thankfully no drama.
Here you can see lenston getting a bit frightened half way across and turning back and Emily trying to convince him to cross
and over on the other side The Raw and Extreme ironing
In the lower mine it was flooded but made for some lovely sightseeing
It was small but pretty photogenic
because the lower mine is small, we were soon on our way up to the larger UPPER mine but stopped by the waterfall for el gruppo shot
Et moi, The Raw, Emily, Extreme ironing and lenston.
At the upper mine we were looking forward to seeing some nice inclines and artifacts
we did see some people with diving gear in the carpark but it looks like someone broked thier gogs
I am going to get straight to the money shot with some nice supporting timber
I was well impressed with this mine and couldnt believe my luck to see such lovely sights, here you can still see some sleepers in situ
Another el Gruppo shot in the dark
A winch of some description that was halfway up the incline
It was just too photogenic
So it was then off to a lightship but I will make a separate report for that but in the meantime it was back to the campsite to partake in beer and BBQ, we also hit the campsite clubhouse where I absolutely aced the Raffle and won more alcohol, notice the dual BBQ.s we were cooking on gas mark 8
some people put up tents and some people drank beer and watched people put up tents, I drank beer and watched ofcourse
This was a brilliant weekend with some good laughs and as always it is nice to meet new people and put faces to names, thankyou to everyone who made this weekend so enjoyable
These mines were just one of the weekends hit list so here is a little history shamelessly snaffled from wiki.
HISTORY
UPPER AND LOWER SILICA MINES. The most extensive mines in the area, and the most recent, is found on the North bank of the Sychrhyd 200m upstream of Bwa Maen, and has three entrances which face the river, and a further ten on the northern side. The triple entrance is to the left of the bridge, and is the mine most frequented by cavers. This is probably the most extensive mine in the area. The upper series is practically a veritable huge chamber where the `Pillar and Stall' method of mining is well illustrated. This large chamber leads towards several alternative entrances in the side of the hill. The large entrance chamber can be followed to the right down dip for a short distance to the flooded section. However, to the left the huge Pillar and Stall chamber leads up dip for some distance only to drop down dip again onto a passage which runs across the whole length of the mine. Above this passage various `entrances' lead to the huge chamber while below is flooded.The silica from these mines was used in firebricks and the coating of smelting couldrons amongst other uses.
Access these mines was across a lovely stream that ran pretty quickly and despite the Raw crossing in sandals with his pants rolled up to his knees there was thankfully no drama.
Here you can see lenston getting a bit frightened half way across and turning back and Emily trying to convince him to cross
and over on the other side The Raw and Extreme ironing
In the lower mine it was flooded but made for some lovely sightseeing
It was small but pretty photogenic
because the lower mine is small, we were soon on our way up to the larger UPPER mine but stopped by the waterfall for el gruppo shot
Et moi, The Raw, Emily, Extreme ironing and lenston.
At the upper mine we were looking forward to seeing some nice inclines and artifacts
we did see some people with diving gear in the carpark but it looks like someone broked thier gogs
I am going to get straight to the money shot with some nice supporting timber
I was well impressed with this mine and couldnt believe my luck to see such lovely sights, here you can still see some sleepers in situ
Another el Gruppo shot in the dark
A winch of some description that was halfway up the incline
It was just too photogenic
So it was then off to a lightship but I will make a separate report for that but in the meantime it was back to the campsite to partake in beer and BBQ, we also hit the campsite clubhouse where I absolutely aced the Raffle and won more alcohol, notice the dual BBQ.s we were cooking on gas mark 8
some people put up tents and some people drank beer and watched people put up tents, I drank beer and watched ofcourse
This was a brilliant weekend with some good laughs and as always it is nice to meet new people and put faces to names, thankyou to everyone who made this weekend so enjoyable
Last edited:
:
