Jug Holes Cave/Mine - Derbyshire - Sept 2021
Background/History
The Jug Holes system comprises an upper series of predominantly natural caverns, and a lower series that has been more extensively modified by mining activity. The lower Series consists of a number of large phreatic chambers connected by smaller mined passages. ln addition to natural features, generations of miners have left their marks sometimes literally, and pick marks and candle soot can be found in many places. This set of passages contains a great variety of interesting features. Each of the large natural chambers, named `Water Caverns' to distinguish them from mined passages and mineralised pipe caverns has been modified to a greater or lesser extent by miners. Jug Holes is entered via a natural collapse or by a lower adit entrance. The caves are developed on Jug Holes Pipe, which has a north-south trend and is developed within 28m of Brigantian limestone (Monsal Dale Lower Limestone) between the Upper and Lower Matlock Lavas. The mineralisation consists of replacement fluorite flats and void fillings consisting of fluorite, calcite, baryte and galena - Mining took place here mainly in the early to mid 20th century and was to extract fluorspar and then eventually lead.
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The Explore
I'm not going to pretend that I had any idea how to navigate this place. It is no surprise that multiple people have ended up lost down here.. I lost count of how many times I had entered a chamber and then couldn't find the way back out. Markers are highly recommended but you'll still get lost. Even with the available map, it won't make sense. If you are going here for the first time, you won't be reaching the end without colossal exertion spent on the countless dead ends and red herrings.
The "Jughole Interpretation Pack" on the DCA website is essential reading - trust me.
I explored the cave/mine system with @Jl.urbex - and I'm glad I did. It was not his first attempt at the site - and it made the lower sections a much easier job to navigate. It's always a luxury when someone else has already sniffed out the pointless crawls in the clay the hard way.
We will be back. After nearly 5h of squeezing through some really tight cracks/holes we had to call it a day when we got to a T-junction, with both directions eventually forking. Knowing what we know, those forks will inevitably fork. Forking hell.
We kicked things off at the upper workings. We debated tackling the usual abseil shaft without a rope - it would be doable but the ground and rocks were very wet and slippery, and in hindsight I'm glad we didn't try it. Instead of the obvious way in, we climbed in through another hole and came across some beautiful minerals and evidence of some terrifying wooden false floors (which to be honest, neither of us actually acknowledged after that point). Be aware that there are areas with absolutely no structural support. See the Jughole Interpretation Pack for the location (pg. 16/17). There are some beautiful little features in this part of the system, including one of the very few surviving examples of hooped roof supports. We spent more time in here than anticipated and ended up travelling up a crazy slip n' slide only to find it led to a dead end and a grated shaft 10m above us.
Apologies in advance to the OCD members - for some reason it refuses to align some photos in the middle
Background/History
The Jug Holes system comprises an upper series of predominantly natural caverns, and a lower series that has been more extensively modified by mining activity. The lower Series consists of a number of large phreatic chambers connected by smaller mined passages. ln addition to natural features, generations of miners have left their marks sometimes literally, and pick marks and candle soot can be found in many places. This set of passages contains a great variety of interesting features. Each of the large natural chambers, named `Water Caverns' to distinguish them from mined passages and mineralised pipe caverns has been modified to a greater or lesser extent by miners. Jug Holes is entered via a natural collapse or by a lower adit entrance. The caves are developed on Jug Holes Pipe, which has a north-south trend and is developed within 28m of Brigantian limestone (Monsal Dale Lower Limestone) between the Upper and Lower Matlock Lavas. The mineralisation consists of replacement fluorite flats and void fillings consisting of fluorite, calcite, baryte and galena - Mining took place here mainly in the early to mid 20th century and was to extract fluorspar and then eventually lead.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Explore
I'm not going to pretend that I had any idea how to navigate this place. It is no surprise that multiple people have ended up lost down here.. I lost count of how many times I had entered a chamber and then couldn't find the way back out. Markers are highly recommended but you'll still get lost. Even with the available map, it won't make sense. If you are going here for the first time, you won't be reaching the end without colossal exertion spent on the countless dead ends and red herrings.
The "Jughole Interpretation Pack" on the DCA website is essential reading - trust me.
I explored the cave/mine system with @Jl.urbex - and I'm glad I did. It was not his first attempt at the site - and it made the lower sections a much easier job to navigate. It's always a luxury when someone else has already sniffed out the pointless crawls in the clay the hard way.
We will be back. After nearly 5h of squeezing through some really tight cracks/holes we had to call it a day when we got to a T-junction, with both directions eventually forking. Knowing what we know, those forks will inevitably fork. Forking hell.
We kicked things off at the upper workings. We debated tackling the usual abseil shaft without a rope - it would be doable but the ground and rocks were very wet and slippery, and in hindsight I'm glad we didn't try it. Instead of the obvious way in, we climbed in through another hole and came across some beautiful minerals and evidence of some terrifying wooden false floors (which to be honest, neither of us actually acknowledged after that point). Be aware that there are areas with absolutely no structural support. See the Jughole Interpretation Pack for the location (pg. 16/17). There are some beautiful little features in this part of the system, including one of the very few surviving examples of hooped roof supports. We spent more time in here than anticipated and ended up travelling up a crazy slip n' slide only to find it led to a dead end and a grated shaft 10m above us.
Apologies in advance to the OCD members - for some reason it refuses to align some photos in the middle
(False floors on the upper levels)
After feeling we had exhausted this area, we moved down the hill towards the tunnel entrance. It's easy to miss without the map of the surface markings but quite a fun way into this section of the caves/mine.
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The first few rooms are spectacular - with some really amazing features (as you'll see). There are so many holes that lead to nowhere, including one squeeze that I could barely get through - accessed via a short crawl under a mountain of stacked deads supported by a single rusty bar. If you attempt this part, be very very careful. A careless bump of the rucksack could be all it takes to bring that pile down..
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The first few rooms are spectacular - with some really amazing features (as you'll see). There are so many holes that lead to nowhere, including one squeeze that I could barely get through - accessed via a short crawl under a mountain of stacked deads supported by a single rusty bar. If you attempt this part, be very very careful. A careless bump of the rucksack could be all it takes to bring that pile down..
The deads supported by the bar.... And the view from below -knocking that wood would be game over.
I won't discuss too much about this part of the explore because it's still a work in progress and it's not particularly interesting to describe. I will let the photos speak for me.
(I got to try out my new headtorch and was really impressed with the warm colours it puts out)
I won't discuss too much about this part of the explore because it's still a work in progress and it's not particularly interesting to describe. I will let the photos speak for me.
(I got to try out my new headtorch and was really impressed with the warm colours it puts out)
(This is unedited!)
(My trousers and shoes may look khaki, but they began the day as black)
It was a really great day out, and we plan to return and hopefully finish what we started.
Jug Holes is a real labyrinth and it could take a few more trips to figure out the correct routes and sniff out the dead-ends...
But we won't be defeated!
(My trousers and shoes may look khaki, but they began the day as black)
It was a really great day out, and we plan to return and hopefully finish what we started.
Jug Holes is a real labyrinth and it could take a few more trips to figure out the correct routes and sniff out the dead-ends...
But we won't be defeated!
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: Presumably a type of lichen? As for the colours, I'm totally sold on the Armytek torch - it makes such a huge difference compared to the cool white LED in my backup torch
It’s all about having fun !
