real time web analytics
Report - - Nettleton top mine - Lincolnshire - December 2015 | Mines and Quarries | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Nettleton top mine - Lincolnshire - December 2015

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Mr_T

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Christmas day, get me out of here! So off i went to take the dog for a walk, that was my excuse! Meaning to check this area for a while, i grabbed the dog, wellies, waterproofs, a bit of kit and off i went into the rainy, windy Lincolnshire wolds.

The landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds has been shaped a great deal from industry. The obvious is farming but the not so obvious is ironstone mining.

It is hard to believe when looking out over the tranquil landscape of Nettleton and Claxby that it was once a very different scene, a noisy and bleak setting where up to 150 people worked to mine the ironstone of the land.

Underground ironstone mining was part of the life of Claxby Parish from 1868 to 1885. This was followed by the first cut of the Nettleton mines in 1928 which remained open up until 1968. Mining provided employment for the people who lived in the area, along with financial support and social opportunities for miners and their families. Many houses you see in the area are linked to the mining industry.

All entrances were well filled/sealed, accept one. I was lucky to find entry into one tunnel and walked for about five minutes heading deep down into the hillside, till i came to a solid wall of ready ready-mix concrete. Looks like tons of the stuff had been poured down from above, luckily one man and his big chisel had smashed a tiny hole through. Got through that, the tunnel was looking endless again! Unprepared, torch batteries dimming, no-one knowing where i was and with the rain lashing down outside that may cause flooding and collapse, i made my way back out.

Ive never seen photos from within the mine, would i have made it in if i kept going? I dont scare easily, but i wanted out!

24982567833_497eda4421_z.jpg


25610190335_ebc506d453_z.jpg


25609280905_7b8eeddfc0_z.jpg


24982565833_02c34eb0cc_z.jpg


25516597011_6d6394a21d_z.jpg


25490656132_76f3490203_z.jpg


25516602091_70a792b25c_z.jpg


25583159526_db9d626505_z.jpg


Not a great vid, but explains a few things in the report,

There is a lot more external stuff to see round this area, if this type of stuff interest you its worth popping by, nice for a long walk in the wolds if nothing else :)
 

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
Haha, that shot of the dog watching you (presuming it's you) is great.
 

Bobo Frett

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Belter! I live in Caistor. Came on here specifically to see if there was access yet! Great report. Cheers
 

Bobo Frett

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I got in at the weekend. Was well prepared torch wise but frustratingly the gap was too wee for my buddy. I went quite a ways in, there's a small roof collapse but nothing to stop travel, then the tunnel narrows slightly but it just kept going straight. Without my buddy I was loathe to travel too far. If anyone fancies some company please give me a shout, I'm keen to get back in further. I've never taken photos in the pitch black so they are rotten! The It's a lot higher wall to get out than it is to get in.
Thanks for the report. I've been down here a few times and never even realised they were there!
 

Dave W

Industrial Pornographer
28DL Full Member
I got in at the weekend. Was well prepared torch wise but frustratingly the gap was too wee for my buddy. I went quite a ways in, there's a small roof collapse but nothing to stop travel, then the tunnel narrows slightly but it just kept going straight. Without my buddy I was loathe to travel too far. If anyone fancies some company please give me a shout, I'm keen to get back in further. I've never taken photos in the pitch black so they are rotten! The It's a lot higher wall to get out than it is to get in.
Thanks for the report. I've been down here a few times and never even realised they were there!

Please tell me you have a 4Gas Monitor and are aware of oxygen depleted environments?

Unlike some mine gases You cant smell or taste the presence of low oxygen and by the time your heart rate and breathing have increased to a noticeable level your mental faculties will have decreased so you don't notice.

Not a bad way to die by all accounts as your pretty happy and untroubled but not so nice for your family or the people who have to drag you out....

Ironstone mines along with coalmines really should be respected - even with the equipment and knowledge its a case of risk management rather than prevention.

Dave
 

Bobo Frett

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thanks Dave, my buddy is a regular into mines on expeditions and he'd given me a full briefing. Next time we go another pal is coming who has all the monitoring kit, which will allows to travel deeper.
 

bordois

28DL Member
28DL Member
Had an explore in here last April with a few friends, got to the roof collapse and headed back. One of my friends wasn't too keen on heading further in after that. A revisit is on the cards though
 

lincsscrapers

28DL Member
28DL Member
Hi there first post on here seems I am the only person to have ventured past the roof fall :p sorry to disappoint but there is nothing exciting much the same as the bit before the roof fall but if you keep walking you just get to another brick wall exactly the same as the one you have to climb through to get in.
I walked a good mile underground so I can only assume the wall I got to was one of the 3 bricked up audits at nettleton top ? so that would just make it a straight tunnel possibly to get the ironstone out of the main mine at nettleton bottom to the cable system at nettleton top ? I am no expert but it seems logical to me if any one wants any more info feel free to pm me I live near by and I am a keen explorer .
maybe someone needs to get in to the main mine next ;).
 

BobSmith42

28DL Member
28DL Member
We recently visited the mines. Someone has now made access to the main mine which is shown in your 5th photo. We went in to have a look but within a few meters of the entrance, our analyser went off and showed an o2 level of just over 18% which continued to fall fairly rapidly, thus we made our way out. Therefore, please be aware of potential low oxygen levels in the main mine which there is now access to!

We ended up going into the tunnel shown in the original post and ventured past the roof collapse until we reached the brick wall at the other entrance - it's a good walk! Oxygen levels were fine in there. Overall, a very interesting visit. Does anyone why the long tunnel was built? Was it originally to look for ironstone and/or for actual mining or was just for the transport of materials through the hill? There are lots of small door sized pockets on the sides of the tunnel wall which have been bricked up It's hard to tell if they were originally bricked up and were used simply to allow personal to get out of the way of trains/wagons or if they once used to access and mine the ironstone. One of them had collapsed and opened up into a cavern which looks like it could have been where mining had taken place. Any information would be much appreciated :thumb
 

FaZy_UK

28DL Regular User
Regular User
It worries me seeing that a few have started venturing in without a 4gas...

The last thing we want to hear is that someone died due to lack of awareness.
 

rastapasta69

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Bobsmith42- I'd say those small bricked up holes at the sides of the tunnel were getting out the way, Draycott tunnel has them also before they started mining for coal there, good shout on the oxygen levels bud, just might of save a few folk there..
 
Top