During the last mining weekend, we ended up looking at old
photographs and one set was of the Guddhamgill Stopes. Since then I have found
out that these are called the Spelter Workings, so fired up with nostalgia it
was time to re-visit them. I had just purchased on a whim a Sofirn SP36 (5650
lumen) torch and the stopes were going to be a great place to give it a test.
We made our way in via Brownley Hill Mine and headed straight for the
Guddhamgill Burn Cross Vein towards Scaleburn. Eventually we turned onto the
Guddhamgill Horse Level and shortly after that we came to the rise that allows
you to enter the stopes. A few meters of climbing, followed by a ladder climb
and we were in. It was nice to be back here.
First thing I did was get
the torch out and wow it was bright and very penetrating into the distance.
Photography wise it took a bit of getting used to using it as it was really
easy to over cook the photos, plus it was a different colour temperature to the
Fenix and home made flood I've been using for the last 10 years or so. I had
also bought a diffuser with it, but this did not work well from a photography
light point of view. The light with it on was just too flat and it didn't
really cast shadows like my old flood.
On the way out we climbed up into
the small flat workings above the Guddhamgill Burn Cross Vein that are in the
Great Limestone and also had a look at the Level in the Tuft that goes into the
Little Limestone Drift. |
