Visited my dad @Bertie Bollockbrains at the retirement home for aged explorers the other day and managed to drag that old fart along to this place.
HISTORY
In 1830, a Mr. Webster dug the adit in an attempt to locate a worthwhile ore body. A find of galena (lead sulphide) was reported and small veins of blende (zinc) can still be found. It was abandoned soon after as it failed to be a commercial success. A tight entrance descends into an adit about 1.9m high and 1.5m wide. This is horizontal and goes for 450m south into the hill. There are numerous speleothems, flowstone, cave pearls etc. Small deposits of coloured flowstone on walls and floor. A stretch of paving slabs is a relic of WW2 when the Auxiliary Unit occupied the mine. Their paving slab floor and remains of wooden bunks can still be seen. Although this site is not a protected hibernaculum it does play host to a group of lesser horseshoe bats which are protected. The mine itself has a very unique micro-habitat/environment… the first 10m is inhabited by dozens of large cave spiders… the next 10m by hundreds of stone moths… next 10m by bats and from start to end tens of thousands of flies which die as the temperature falls in early winter, then over time the calcite covers them and leaves a spotted pattern on the walls! Auxiliary Units were a secret resistance network of volunteers prepared to be Britain’s last line of defence during WW2. They were trained in unconventional guerilla warfare and operated in a network of cells, each cell consisting of 4 to 8 men. They operated from hidden underground bases throughout the UK. It is thought that 400 to 500 operational bases were constructed, with about 3500 trained volunteers. Information and photos of the WW2 Sandford Auxiliary Unit Patrol can be seen here (not shown directly as the photos are copyrighted).
REPORT
1. The entrance is a bit of a crawl
2. First view in
3. At the furthest point in is a calcite flow
4 Near to the entrance is the remains of the World War Two Auxilliary Unit hideout
5. The hidepout consists of paving slabs on the ground
6. The wooden remains of bunk beds can be seen
7. At one of the crosswords is the natural rift extending high above us
8. Old equipment can be seen
9. And drill marks on the wall
10. That idiot called my dad had a new toy, guess simple things please simple minds
11. Message to Dad... shining lasers at people not very clever really
HISTORY
In 1830, a Mr. Webster dug the adit in an attempt to locate a worthwhile ore body. A find of galena (lead sulphide) was reported and small veins of blende (zinc) can still be found. It was abandoned soon after as it failed to be a commercial success. A tight entrance descends into an adit about 1.9m high and 1.5m wide. This is horizontal and goes for 450m south into the hill. There are numerous speleothems, flowstone, cave pearls etc. Small deposits of coloured flowstone on walls and floor. A stretch of paving slabs is a relic of WW2 when the Auxiliary Unit occupied the mine. Their paving slab floor and remains of wooden bunks can still be seen. Although this site is not a protected hibernaculum it does play host to a group of lesser horseshoe bats which are protected. The mine itself has a very unique micro-habitat/environment… the first 10m is inhabited by dozens of large cave spiders… the next 10m by hundreds of stone moths… next 10m by bats and from start to end tens of thousands of flies which die as the temperature falls in early winter, then over time the calcite covers them and leaves a spotted pattern on the walls! Auxiliary Units were a secret resistance network of volunteers prepared to be Britain’s last line of defence during WW2. They were trained in unconventional guerilla warfare and operated in a network of cells, each cell consisting of 4 to 8 men. They operated from hidden underground bases throughout the UK. It is thought that 400 to 500 operational bases were constructed, with about 3500 trained volunteers. Information and photos of the WW2 Sandford Auxiliary Unit Patrol can be seen here (not shown directly as the photos are copyrighted).
REPORT
1. The entrance is a bit of a crawl
2. First view in
3. At the furthest point in is a calcite flow
4 Near to the entrance is the remains of the World War Two Auxilliary Unit hideout
5. The hidepout consists of paving slabs on the ground
6. The wooden remains of bunk beds can be seen
7. At one of the crosswords is the natural rift extending high above us
8. Old equipment can be seen
9. And drill marks on the wall
10. That idiot called my dad had a new toy, guess simple things please simple minds
11. Message to Dad... shining lasers at people not very clever really
