History
Middleton Mine is a former limestone mine which runs between Middleton-by-Wirksworth and Hopton Wood. For years it worked the large block of carboniferous limestone which stretches for 50 kilometres north to south and 20 kilometres west to east; the same block of limestone that gives part of the Peak District the name ‘The White Peak’. Owing to the large deposit of valuable and high-quality rock, the area has been mined heavily for limestone since the early 1900s. Although the original mining technique involved creating an open surface quarry, deep excavation work later began in 1959. The decision to burrow can be attributed to the increasingly uneconomic method of stripping the overburden which not only increased the quarry depth and overall width of the area being mined, making it ever more difficult to transport material in and out of the site, but also destroyed much of the surrounding moorland. Work on the drift access began on the 4th February 1959 and, up to 2005 – the year the mine finally ceased operations, an estimated 16 million tonnes of high grade limestone had been extracted via the underground workings. Middleton Mine now consists of 35 kilometres (21 miles) of workings, which covers an area of over 800 metres north to south and 1,400 metres east to west.
The method of working in Middleton Mine involved a technique known as ‘room and pillar’. Hence, the mine consists of rooms which are approximately 13 metres wide and pillars which are 17 metres square. The overall extraction height is just over 8 metres; although this varies in certain places as the height can reach between 11-15 metres in the main roadways and a few other odd chambers. The method of extraction itself was simple enough. First of all, it entailed ‘scaling’, which is where loose rock is torn down away from the walls, ceiling and floor. This can, apparently, be done either by hand or mechanically. Second, the faces were drilled using a twin boom jumbo rig, to a depth of 4.8 metres. Sixty six holes are drilled per face with this method of working. After this process, charges were planted, using ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as the bulk explosive, and the face was blasted. Each blast was estimated to produce 950 tonnes of debris and advanced the tunnel depth only by 4 to 5 metres. Finally, the blasted debris was loaded by a Komatsu face shovel into 30 tonne dump trucks. The trucks hauled the material to an underground processing plant where it was crushed, screened and dried.
Our Version of Events
We arrived at the pub, the Rising Sun, bang on time and, after a little deliberation over it looking too expensive for the likes of us, in comparison to a trusty Wetherspoon’s (thankfully though, looks can be deceiving), quickly proceeded to meet Maniac’s motley crew. A few pints later, following a military-styled debrief in the car park (without the stick pointing to the map drawn in the dirt – much to my disappointment), we left the pub. The plan was set. The long trail of cars rolled away from the pub quite swiftly as we made our way towards the tunnel entrance, or as near to it as we could get at least. Together, we all unpacked the essentials, such as beer and the McFlurry roll mat, ready for the long walk up to the access point, and then attempted to move the cars away as best as possible. Access was easy, to say the least and, magically, we suddenly found ourselves stood on the main roadway of Middleton Mine. The sight was awe-inspiring and much larger than photographs manage to depict.
Thirty minutes later, after a tiny detour, we reached the ‘secret spot’ and set up camp. From thereon we were free to get lost inside the depths of the mine, which is certainly quite easy to do. A few of us wandered without direction for a while, grabbing snaps here and there. As it turned out however, just as we’d been warned before entering the tunnels, it’s incredibly difficult to light Middleton Mine. The place is huge and empty! Despite its size and subsequent bareness though, there are bits and pieces to see if you go hunting for them. All in all, Middleton Mine is a remarkable feat of engineering, so props to Maniac and the others who arranged the meet. Cheers folks; it was also great to meet you all and hear about your past adventures.
Explored with ACID-REFLUX, Raz, Hydro3xploric, Maniac, The_Raw and a few others whose names I have unfortunately forgotten.
Middleton Mine is a former limestone mine which runs between Middleton-by-Wirksworth and Hopton Wood. For years it worked the large block of carboniferous limestone which stretches for 50 kilometres north to south and 20 kilometres west to east; the same block of limestone that gives part of the Peak District the name ‘The White Peak’. Owing to the large deposit of valuable and high-quality rock, the area has been mined heavily for limestone since the early 1900s. Although the original mining technique involved creating an open surface quarry, deep excavation work later began in 1959. The decision to burrow can be attributed to the increasingly uneconomic method of stripping the overburden which not only increased the quarry depth and overall width of the area being mined, making it ever more difficult to transport material in and out of the site, but also destroyed much of the surrounding moorland. Work on the drift access began on the 4th February 1959 and, up to 2005 – the year the mine finally ceased operations, an estimated 16 million tonnes of high grade limestone had been extracted via the underground workings. Middleton Mine now consists of 35 kilometres (21 miles) of workings, which covers an area of over 800 metres north to south and 1,400 metres east to west.
The method of working in Middleton Mine involved a technique known as ‘room and pillar’. Hence, the mine consists of rooms which are approximately 13 metres wide and pillars which are 17 metres square. The overall extraction height is just over 8 metres; although this varies in certain places as the height can reach between 11-15 metres in the main roadways and a few other odd chambers. The method of extraction itself was simple enough. First of all, it entailed ‘scaling’, which is where loose rock is torn down away from the walls, ceiling and floor. This can, apparently, be done either by hand or mechanically. Second, the faces were drilled using a twin boom jumbo rig, to a depth of 4.8 metres. Sixty six holes are drilled per face with this method of working. After this process, charges were planted, using ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as the bulk explosive, and the face was blasted. Each blast was estimated to produce 950 tonnes of debris and advanced the tunnel depth only by 4 to 5 metres. Finally, the blasted debris was loaded by a Komatsu face shovel into 30 tonne dump trucks. The trucks hauled the material to an underground processing plant where it was crushed, screened and dried.
Our Version of Events
We arrived at the pub, the Rising Sun, bang on time and, after a little deliberation over it looking too expensive for the likes of us, in comparison to a trusty Wetherspoon’s (thankfully though, looks can be deceiving), quickly proceeded to meet Maniac’s motley crew. A few pints later, following a military-styled debrief in the car park (without the stick pointing to the map drawn in the dirt – much to my disappointment), we left the pub. The plan was set. The long trail of cars rolled away from the pub quite swiftly as we made our way towards the tunnel entrance, or as near to it as we could get at least. Together, we all unpacked the essentials, such as beer and the McFlurry roll mat, ready for the long walk up to the access point, and then attempted to move the cars away as best as possible. Access was easy, to say the least and, magically, we suddenly found ourselves stood on the main roadway of Middleton Mine. The sight was awe-inspiring and much larger than photographs manage to depict.
Thirty minutes later, after a tiny detour, we reached the ‘secret spot’ and set up camp. From thereon we were free to get lost inside the depths of the mine, which is certainly quite easy to do. A few of us wandered without direction for a while, grabbing snaps here and there. As it turned out however, just as we’d been warned before entering the tunnels, it’s incredibly difficult to light Middleton Mine. The place is huge and empty! Despite its size and subsequent bareness though, there are bits and pieces to see if you go hunting for them. All in all, Middleton Mine is a remarkable feat of engineering, so props to Maniac and the others who arranged the meet. Cheers folks; it was also great to meet you all and hear about your past adventures.
Explored with ACID-REFLUX, Raz, Hydro3xploric, Maniac, The_Raw and a few others whose names I have unfortunately forgotten.
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