A bit of history taken from KURG’s website-
The mine was commenced in August 1857 and abandoned in September 1858; the ore was sent into Staffordshire. The ironstone was worked on both sides of the railway, just west of the 53rd milestone, by levels and cross cuts. On the north side of the railway only one bed was worked, this was 1ft 9ins thick, underlain by hard sandstone. The roof is sometimes bad and required timbering. On the south side of the railway two beds were worked, only one of which could be examined … as the level contained much water; this bed was 2ft thick. In this level the ground was softer and required more timber. The beds of ironstone were very irregular but were found to be better on the south than on the north side; in both cases, however, the beds died out suddenly and reappeared at intervals. Several shafts have been sunk from the higher ground. The ore, a clay-ironstone, was sometimes calcined on the spot. A great deal of raw ore still lies by the side of the railway.'
The main gallery of the mine was about 450ft long, 4ft 6ins wide and 6-8ft high. Wrought iron rails were laid in the gallery which is not far below the surface.
the explore- I’ve been interested in this one for a while now but was always under the impression that the entrance was not accessible but after seeing a report put up over Crimbo on it I knew I have to go and have a ganders. I did a bit of research on it and headed down the woods to look for the entrance only to find the shaft! Myself and a non member walked around In the freezing cold for over an hour only to give up and go home. The next day I had a little push in the right direction from @monk and a couple of weeks later we was back on track and found the entrance straight away! I was gutted at how close a was to finding it the first time round. After a short climb down a tight ladder and a little crawl we was finally in. I particularly enjoyed how free it is from modern graffiti and how clean it is of litter also. A rarity nowadays! We wasn’t in there long as it’s not that big but a lovely little explore none the less. For a added bonus we got to see some old carvings on the wall from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s which I loved. On with the pic’s, enjoy.
The mine was commenced in August 1857 and abandoned in September 1858; the ore was sent into Staffordshire. The ironstone was worked on both sides of the railway, just west of the 53rd milestone, by levels and cross cuts. On the north side of the railway only one bed was worked, this was 1ft 9ins thick, underlain by hard sandstone. The roof is sometimes bad and required timbering. On the south side of the railway two beds were worked, only one of which could be examined … as the level contained much water; this bed was 2ft thick. In this level the ground was softer and required more timber. The beds of ironstone were very irregular but were found to be better on the south than on the north side; in both cases, however, the beds died out suddenly and reappeared at intervals. Several shafts have been sunk from the higher ground. The ore, a clay-ironstone, was sometimes calcined on the spot. A great deal of raw ore still lies by the side of the railway.'
The main gallery of the mine was about 450ft long, 4ft 6ins wide and 6-8ft high. Wrought iron rails were laid in the gallery which is not far below the surface.
the explore- I’ve been interested in this one for a while now but was always under the impression that the entrance was not accessible but after seeing a report put up over Crimbo on it I knew I have to go and have a ganders. I did a bit of research on it and headed down the woods to look for the entrance only to find the shaft! Myself and a non member walked around In the freezing cold for over an hour only to give up and go home. The next day I had a little push in the right direction from @monk and a couple of weeks later we was back on track and found the entrance straight away! I was gutted at how close a was to finding it the first time round. After a short climb down a tight ladder and a little crawl we was finally in. I particularly enjoyed how free it is from modern graffiti and how clean it is of litter also. A rarity nowadays! We wasn’t in there long as it’s not that big but a lovely little explore none the less. For a added bonus we got to see some old carvings on the wall from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s which I loved. On with the pic’s, enjoy.
