1. The History
Just west of Stoney Middleton, Derbyshire, Hanging Flat mine is a small mine, initially worked for lead and then later on for fluorspar. It sits 100 feet above Watergrove sough, and for many years the mine appears to have been un-named before being given its current moniker.
In late 1800s, Samuel Needham and his brother lived close by in Hanging Flat House and worked the mine for lead. The ore was mined on incline and then raised by winch and kimble into the adit which could take half-tonne tubs. However, in the 1950s and early 60s the mine was worked for fluorspar before closing. In 1967 J.Garlick proposed re-opening the mine and it subsequently worked throughout the 70s, apparently with little success in economic terms. In the 1980s, ex-Laporte man Roger Ridgeway then look over the mine and worked it with slightly more success, until it finally closed later in the decade, circa 1987.
Old map of Hanging Flat mine dating from 1950. Note the left-hand fork isn't shown on the survey, as the map pre-dates these later 70s/80s fluorspar workings:
More recently, around 1992, the entrance section was used for filming a "cave rescue" scene for TV Soap Peak Practice (starring Kevin Whately and Amanda Burton) in an episode aptly titled “'Light at the End of the Tunnel”. More info HERE.
They left behind a number of big polystyrene 'boulders' throughout the mine.
In terms of the mine itself, it runs northwards for 300 feet until it meets the east-west Needham Rake vein and splits into two branches. The right passage or eastern branch leads to the New Gates shaft, which most likely predates Hanging Flat mine. The internal shaft has timbers around it and is set on an area of false floor of steel sheet on girders. If you look down the shaft, you can see the lower level workings of the mine, 10m below.
The newer left passage has 6 cross-cut slits heading off to the right. These were driven into the vein from the parallel drive and all come to a dead end at a back-fill. Here the vein was drilled and blasted nearly to surface then the fluorspar was loaded out of the slits.
The mine retains the iron pipework that was used to take compressed air to the rock drills. Brown plastic pipes also run through the mine, possibly as part of the ventilation system, while the smaller-diameter flexible pipes were most likely for water for dust suppression.
2. The Explore
Been a couple of years since I popped down here last so thought I’d check it out. Nothing has changed and it remains a really nice and easily accessible explore. Didn’t bother getting my tripod out so these are all phone shots, but you get the idea.
3. The Photographs
Still a tight squeeze:
Point at which the short main adit splits:
Great compressed air pipework:
And some of the many fossils:
This old mine cart is slowly rotting away:
Compressed air cylinder:
Looking back:
Looking forwards:
The pipework ends here:
One of the several side cuts:
And another:
This one’s been used to stack deads:
Time to turn round:
Looking up the older lead mining branch:
Loving the old hopper:
And what looks like a milk churn and an old spade head:
More mining detritus:
Onwards down the right branch:
It gets a bit sketchy here:
And it’s an SRT job to get down to other levels of the old lead mine workings:
Time to turn around and head back out. The mine itself is just round the corner from the lovely Horseshoe quarry:
And finally, a bonus lime kiln, chute and hopper:
That's all folks!
Just west of Stoney Middleton, Derbyshire, Hanging Flat mine is a small mine, initially worked for lead and then later on for fluorspar. It sits 100 feet above Watergrove sough, and for many years the mine appears to have been un-named before being given its current moniker.
In late 1800s, Samuel Needham and his brother lived close by in Hanging Flat House and worked the mine for lead. The ore was mined on incline and then raised by winch and kimble into the adit which could take half-tonne tubs. However, in the 1950s and early 60s the mine was worked for fluorspar before closing. In 1967 J.Garlick proposed re-opening the mine and it subsequently worked throughout the 70s, apparently with little success in economic terms. In the 1980s, ex-Laporte man Roger Ridgeway then look over the mine and worked it with slightly more success, until it finally closed later in the decade, circa 1987.
Old map of Hanging Flat mine dating from 1950. Note the left-hand fork isn't shown on the survey, as the map pre-dates these later 70s/80s fluorspar workings:
More recently, around 1992, the entrance section was used for filming a "cave rescue" scene for TV Soap Peak Practice (starring Kevin Whately and Amanda Burton) in an episode aptly titled “'Light at the End of the Tunnel”. More info HERE.
They left behind a number of big polystyrene 'boulders' throughout the mine.
In terms of the mine itself, it runs northwards for 300 feet until it meets the east-west Needham Rake vein and splits into two branches. The right passage or eastern branch leads to the New Gates shaft, which most likely predates Hanging Flat mine. The internal shaft has timbers around it and is set on an area of false floor of steel sheet on girders. If you look down the shaft, you can see the lower level workings of the mine, 10m below.
The newer left passage has 6 cross-cut slits heading off to the right. These were driven into the vein from the parallel drive and all come to a dead end at a back-fill. Here the vein was drilled and blasted nearly to surface then the fluorspar was loaded out of the slits.
The mine retains the iron pipework that was used to take compressed air to the rock drills. Brown plastic pipes also run through the mine, possibly as part of the ventilation system, while the smaller-diameter flexible pipes were most likely for water for dust suppression.
2. The Explore
Been a couple of years since I popped down here last so thought I’d check it out. Nothing has changed and it remains a really nice and easily accessible explore. Didn’t bother getting my tripod out so these are all phone shots, but you get the idea.
3. The Photographs
Still a tight squeeze:
Point at which the short main adit splits:
Great compressed air pipework:
And some of the many fossils:
This old mine cart is slowly rotting away:
Compressed air cylinder:
Looking back:
Looking forwards:
The pipework ends here:
One of the several side cuts:
And another:
This one’s been used to stack deads:
Time to turn round:
Looking up the older lead mining branch:
Loving the old hopper:
And what looks like a milk churn and an old spade head:
More mining detritus:
Onwards down the right branch:
It gets a bit sketchy here:
And it’s an SRT job to get down to other levels of the old lead mine workings:
Time to turn around and head back out. The mine itself is just round the corner from the lovely Horseshoe quarry:
And finally, a bonus lime kiln, chute and hopper:
That's all folks!
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