First trip out for a while and a thoroughly muddy through trip at that, I visited this place with some members of my local caving club and had a brilliant day out that ended with Beer refreshments and thats always good.
This place was just so muddy that in the end I couldnt open the zip on my camera bag so the images are not many in number AND I shamelessly used the flash which I hate but there was no way to set a tripod up in alot of places in this mine.
Not a big mine, Nickergrove Mine is an old lead mine that can be found on the daleside of Stoney Middleton. An interesting, if muddy, trip, it intersects some natural cave passage and formerly connected with parts of Streaks Pot and Merlin's Mine. The connection to these (via a sump in either direction!) is currently blocked by a collapse.
Because of its easy access and its connections with natural passage, it has been the subject of various digs over the years. The main level crosses several open shafts and after a descent takes you into a lower level emerging in a lower passage that leads to a couple of scrambles before emerging at the bottom of a shaft. A climb upwards and you emerge at what can only be described as a trapdoor and you are free.
some chutes along the road outside
And on the other side of the road was the way in, easy to miss
Inside shows some promise as it opens up and you think that you wont be needing those kneepads
Wrong
and before long all hopes are dashed and this crawl turned out to be just to tight for my chubby waist
At various points there was opportunity to see some lovely features that had been blended in with mans handywork, this is at the end of what is called coffin level, so called because it was just wide enough for a coffin.
We descended the main shaft to what was called the Claypit and for good reason as it was mud about 2ft deep in parts
After reaching a dead end we had to get halfway back up the shaft to move off a side passageway that would see us doing the throughtrip, I struggled like Buggery here
this place was super clarty...spot the Nikon D300
El Gruppo shot and 10 second Tw@t dash
This place was just so muddy that in the end I couldnt open the zip on my camera bag so the images are not many in number AND I shamelessly used the flash which I hate but there was no way to set a tripod up in alot of places in this mine.
Not a big mine, Nickergrove Mine is an old lead mine that can be found on the daleside of Stoney Middleton. An interesting, if muddy, trip, it intersects some natural cave passage and formerly connected with parts of Streaks Pot and Merlin's Mine. The connection to these (via a sump in either direction!) is currently blocked by a collapse.
Because of its easy access and its connections with natural passage, it has been the subject of various digs over the years. The main level crosses several open shafts and after a descent takes you into a lower level emerging in a lower passage that leads to a couple of scrambles before emerging at the bottom of a shaft. A climb upwards and you emerge at what can only be described as a trapdoor and you are free.
some chutes along the road outside
And on the other side of the road was the way in, easy to miss
Inside shows some promise as it opens up and you think that you wont be needing those kneepads
Wrong
and before long all hopes are dashed and this crawl turned out to be just to tight for my chubby waist
At various points there was opportunity to see some lovely features that had been blended in with mans handywork, this is at the end of what is called coffin level, so called because it was just wide enough for a coffin.
We descended the main shaft to what was called the Claypit and for good reason as it was mud about 2ft deep in parts
After reaching a dead end we had to get halfway back up the shaft to move off a side passageway that would see us doing the throughtrip, I struggled like Buggery here
this place was super clarty...spot the Nikon D300
El Gruppo shot and 10 second Tw@t dash
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