HISTORY
It is not generally known that drifts are now made underground for the purpose of stone getting, but such is the fact, and this kind of work renders the life of the quarrymen doubly dangerous. This mode of mining, however, obviates the removing of considerable amount of “bearing,” which would otherwise be very necessary. In times past, they thought little of bearing or cutting away earth to the depth of 20 or 30 feet, if thereby plenty of good stone could be afterwards procured; but the undermining system now adopted has rendered much excavation unnecessary.’
The layers of Haslingden Flags outcropping on the valley tops and sides were in great demand to pave the streets of Victorian towns and cities. In many places the flags outcrop on the moor top and moor edge close to surface, and large open excavations are obvious. Where the best layers of flag (often named ‘lonkey’) are deeper below surface or lower down the valley side then tunnels are driven and large scale ‘pillar and stall’ mining was carried out. Attempting to move thick overburden without mining would have been expensive and time consuming as modern earth moving machinery did not come into use until the early 1900s.
What remains in the hillsides are tunnel entrances to a grid –pattern complex of vast chambers separated by pillars of rock at frequent intervals to support the roof. To create the chambers, the rock getters would pick out a weaker layer above the best stone. Often working on their sides with only shoulder height to move in, they would excavate a narrow ledge to create a working space, then work downwards on the strong rock with wedges and crowbars. Both the Lower and Upper Haslingden Flags were mined and distribution is widespread.
Our earliest records of stone mines are from the 1820s at Tong End Pasture, Whitworth; but they probably reached their peak from the 1870s onwards. Many of the larger mines closed before the First World War, although other proprietors continued until the 1930s.
Room and pillar (variant of breast stoping), also called pillar and stall, is a system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane, creating horizontal arrays of rooms and pillars. The ore is extracted in two phases. In the first, "pillars" of untouched material are left to support the roof , and open areas or "rooms" are extracted underground; the pillars are then partially extracted in the same manner as in the "Bord & Pillar method". The technique is usually used for relatively flat-lying deposits, such as those that follow a particular stratum
The room and pillar system is used in mining coal, iron and base metals ores, particularly when found as manto or blanket deposits, stone and aggregates.
The key to successful room and pillar mining is in the selection of the optimum pillar size. In general practice, the size of both room and pillars are kept almost equal, while in Bord & Pillar, pillar size is much larger than bord (gallery). If the pillars are too small the mine will collapse, but if they are too large then significant quantities of valuable material will be left behind, reducing the profitability of the mine. The percentage of material mined varies depending on many factors, including the material mined, height of the pillar, and roof conditions; typical values are: stone and aggregates 75 percent, coal 60 percent, and potash 50 percent.[
EXPLORE
So after having a butchers round the mill in the bottom of the valley (report to come) we headed up the cobbled road past the stack and onto the ridge where we saw the mill pond all overgrown but its definatly what it is, we carried on and saw a waterfall coming down off the top cragg and into the mine opening bingo the entrance was found.
the ground here was a little soft and wet but nowt to major so anyway in we went its a little dark further in but the openings are pretty big filling the majority with enough light to get about inside without to much fuss with lights.
spent a good hour in here and took a few decent enough piks but didn't get right to the back as wellies were definalty needed after the waterfalls had filled the back of the mine about a foot deep so a re visit is on the cards
PIKS
It is not generally known that drifts are now made underground for the purpose of stone getting, but such is the fact, and this kind of work renders the life of the quarrymen doubly dangerous. This mode of mining, however, obviates the removing of considerable amount of “bearing,” which would otherwise be very necessary. In times past, they thought little of bearing or cutting away earth to the depth of 20 or 30 feet, if thereby plenty of good stone could be afterwards procured; but the undermining system now adopted has rendered much excavation unnecessary.’
The layers of Haslingden Flags outcropping on the valley tops and sides were in great demand to pave the streets of Victorian towns and cities. In many places the flags outcrop on the moor top and moor edge close to surface, and large open excavations are obvious. Where the best layers of flag (often named ‘lonkey’) are deeper below surface or lower down the valley side then tunnels are driven and large scale ‘pillar and stall’ mining was carried out. Attempting to move thick overburden without mining would have been expensive and time consuming as modern earth moving machinery did not come into use until the early 1900s.
What remains in the hillsides are tunnel entrances to a grid –pattern complex of vast chambers separated by pillars of rock at frequent intervals to support the roof. To create the chambers, the rock getters would pick out a weaker layer above the best stone. Often working on their sides with only shoulder height to move in, they would excavate a narrow ledge to create a working space, then work downwards on the strong rock with wedges and crowbars. Both the Lower and Upper Haslingden Flags were mined and distribution is widespread.
Our earliest records of stone mines are from the 1820s at Tong End Pasture, Whitworth; but they probably reached their peak from the 1870s onwards. Many of the larger mines closed before the First World War, although other proprietors continued until the 1930s.
Room and pillar (variant of breast stoping), also called pillar and stall, is a system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane, creating horizontal arrays of rooms and pillars. The ore is extracted in two phases. In the first, "pillars" of untouched material are left to support the roof , and open areas or "rooms" are extracted underground; the pillars are then partially extracted in the same manner as in the "Bord & Pillar method". The technique is usually used for relatively flat-lying deposits, such as those that follow a particular stratum
The room and pillar system is used in mining coal, iron and base metals ores, particularly when found as manto or blanket deposits, stone and aggregates.
The key to successful room and pillar mining is in the selection of the optimum pillar size. In general practice, the size of both room and pillars are kept almost equal, while in Bord & Pillar, pillar size is much larger than bord (gallery). If the pillars are too small the mine will collapse, but if they are too large then significant quantities of valuable material will be left behind, reducing the profitability of the mine. The percentage of material mined varies depending on many factors, including the material mined, height of the pillar, and roof conditions; typical values are: stone and aggregates 75 percent, coal 60 percent, and potash 50 percent.[
EXPLORE
So after having a butchers round the mill in the bottom of the valley (report to come) we headed up the cobbled road past the stack and onto the ridge where we saw the mill pond all overgrown but its definatly what it is, we carried on and saw a waterfall coming down off the top cragg and into the mine opening bingo the entrance was found.
the ground here was a little soft and wet but nowt to major so anyway in we went its a little dark further in but the openings are pretty big filling the majority with enough light to get about inside without to much fuss with lights.
spent a good hour in here and took a few decent enough piks but didn't get right to the back as wellies were definalty needed after the waterfalls had filled the back of the mine about a foot deep so a re visit is on the cards
PIKS
: deffo a wheelies job & best Waterfall we saw that day 
