AT LAST! After years of looking down it, reading about it, seeing
other sites on it, we have made it down. During the summer I sold some plans to
a mine explorer that belongs to the Wirksworth Mines Research Group and he
informed me that they will be doing this winch trip at the end of the year and
that our group could come along, so this is how it came about, our thanks to
you Peter. The day before the trip I came up to the shaft top to photograph the
shaft and winch gear saving time on the next day. It was an excellent
opportunity with the top hatch open for an unobstructed view down it.
On Sunday morning at about 11:15 we descended the shaft, this was relatively
straight forward, with a little bit of spin, but if you kept your feet out and
spread apart then you could control that easily. When you landed, it was not
actually at the shaft bottom, but rather on a pile of debris some 3m deep, this
was the accumulation of rocks and rubbish that has been thrown down over the
years along with shaft fittings and the wooden stagings which have fallen down
from the shaft itself. Climbing down to the actual bottom the first thing we
saw was the massive air receiver tank which was over 4m high. The tank was
situated just to the side of the shaft bottom in a chamber whose roof was
arched with concrete. Marks of the shuttering to cast the concrete where
clearly visible. The tank also had a glass level gauge which was surprisingly
intact.
Past the air receiver we headed out into a widening passage. On
the right there was a back filled passage with some empty concrete machine beds
- what was on these we have no idea, further on a left turn took you into the
compressor room and workshop. Here is where everyone started to cooh at the
amazing relics - it was like children in a sweet shop - everyone really needs
to get out more. We took numerous photographs and examined many artifacts
pondering how it all was brought down here and assembled. It's easy to dismiss
all the machinery as simple technology when compared to todays advances, but
you must remember that this was state of art 100 years ago - foundations to
modern principles. From the compressor room and workshop we headed out the way
we came in and turned left back into the passage, towards the end were it meets
the Rampgill Deep Level is the twin pelton electricity generator. One of the
peltons is exposed and still turns. The generators control wheels still turn
and operate as if new - probably due to the bronze bearings in
them.
From the generator we took a right heading southwest towards the
water wheel and the Nent Force Level. The passage was lined with a concrete
channel and was approximately 60m long. In the channel there were a number of
slots for sluice boards to control the water flow. Past the channel we entered
the chamber which contained the large 4.3m diameter water wheel. There was a
lot of debris on the floor including iron cog wheels, general timber, a balance
bob beam, pulleys and chains. The water wheel was used to pump water from the
workings below, access was gained to these by the choked shaft on the far side
of the wheel. Past the wheel heading north, northwest is the beginning of the
Nent Force Level marked by two ore truck tubs - one interesting thing to note
is that the current water level is a lot higher than in a picture taken by
NORPEX in 1982, around the 0.6m mark higher. With Karli, I continued down the
level for around 10m discovering that the level had raised rail tracks and that
the water was not getting deeper as you went on, it was the roof getting lower.
We presume the raised tracks where to allow water drainage underneath. We
returned to the wheel to meet up with Karl, and headed back to the compressor
room to have lunch. At this point we also took the opportunity to take some
photographs of the shaft bottom and air receiver.
Now it was time to see
how far the Rampgill Deep Level was open for, it was also going to be
interesting as there had been rumors that someone had been digging down here (a
very keen endeavor if true). Before we set of, members of the WMRG informed us
that they had encountered bad air, and that they had been as far as a rise at
which point their Davy lamp had gone out. At the generator we turned left
bearing northeast, for some 200m along the Scaleburn North Vein, on this
stretch of passage we saw ore truck wheels, and the body of a ore truck. We
also came across Jim and Michael on their way back to the surface. After the
200m we came to a partial collapse, which was the junction with Carr's Vein,
with only one way to go we turned right bearing south east. From here we
continued on for 120m until reaching a crossroads, this was where the Davy lamp
had gone out, however the air did not seem bad. To the right was the rise and
to the left the passage ended after a few metres. Heading past the junction the
passage beared left in an northeast, east direction following the Rampgill
Vein. There should have been a level going straight on here, but we could find
no sign of it - maybe it was blocked or walled up or it may have been a
continuation via the rise we passed.
Whilst on the Rampgill Vein Karli
and Karl where starting to question the air, but to me it was fine with no
effects of tiredness or tight chest. So we carried on until our progress was
brought to a halt by a black calcified collapse. The collapse itself looked
like it may have been a rise. At this point Karli decided to get his lighter
out, it would not light, then his MOD matches came out and just smouldered, yes
the oxygen content of the air was rather low. We took some quick photographs
and returned. Maybe 50m or so into the journey back we met some of the WMRG
team and informed them of what we had found, they decided to have a quick look
and we met them again at the rise junction. In the Rampgill Vein section of the
level it was difficult to judge how far we went but I think it was in the
region of 150m bringing us into the Fairhill Cross Vein area (however speaking
to Jim he thought it was more like 300m, just 60m short of the Patterdale Cross
Vein). Apart from the odd collapse the level was in very good condition and
there were a few small artifacts, but not as many as we had expected. The
compressed air piping was in good condition and was present with us for most of
the accessible passage.
After returning back to the compressor room Karl
returned to the surface, myself and Karli stayed down to try the Nent Force
Level again with the remaining members of WMRG. We reached a point in the Nent
Force Level where the air space was around 15cm, and after this we probably
went on a further 30m or so - there was no sign of the air space changing for
better or worse, but for me it was too much - I got rather cold as my neck was
exposed and water up the nose was the final straw. One interesting point to
note was that the day before the air here was gassy, but today it had been
fresh - there must be a flow meaning that potentially there still is a link
with the bottom of Wellgill shaft (next shaft in the level after Brewery)
however small - could this be dug? We returned to the compressor room yet again
and took a final group photograph before all returning to the
surface.
To put it simply, the trip was excellent and the atmosphere
with everyone present was really good. We also had the chance to meet a number
of people that we have had contact with via email but never face to face and
that was good too. There was no sign of the rumored dig, was the rumor false or
could it have been somewhere else like the rise on Carr's Vein or even along
the Nent Force Level? A big thank you to the Wirksworth Mines Research Group
team for allowing us to make use of their winch. |
