I have been meaning to have another look at the east end of the
Rampgill Vein, with the aim to survey it, to try and pin point the final fall
and to see how the level compares with the abandonment plan. Armed with a laser
range finder we headed for Rampgill Shaft and started our survey from that
point.
After a few readings we got into a rhythm, Karli took the
distance on the range finder and I took the bearing and recorded details via a
dictaphone. Compared to using a tape measure it was really fast progress. When
we reached the junction with Hardshins Vein, we took the opportunity to also
survey this branch to the final fall. Returning back to the Rampgill Vein we
motored on to the final fall and the survey of the level from Rampgill Shaft
was done in no time. Moving through the level at a slower that usual rate we
were also able to look at things in more detail and ended up exploring some
rises that we had not been up before.
A lot of the hoppers and rises
along this part of the mine are either blocked of, or blocked via deads, but a
few are open. Not far back from the final fall on the Rampgill Vein we climbed
up a short rise some 3m high. Once up we saw a crushed barrow. Moving past
this, we entered a stope. Heading eastwards we carried on for a while until the
workings started to close in. Nothing of major interest was seen apart from a
few wooden platforms. Westwards was more promising, after a false start in a
cavity that yielded a stash of newspapers and litter dated 2002 (leftovers from
some mineral collecting trip) we climbed higher up the stope and ended up
reaching the top of the Great Limestone and a network of workings. There were
two sets of parallel workings along the vein, one which is offset south from
the horse level and one that is north of it. The south one had lots of falls of
large slabby shale - the tumbler beds and the north one has lots of falls of
large sandstoney type rocks. On top of that, sections of the roof were peeling
away ready to fall at some point. These were around 4m long... There was a lot
of quartz mineralisation in pockets, and we found detonator and explosive
boxes, as well as another barrow - collapsed. We came across more litter dated
from 2002 and arabic newspapers again like in Nentsberry Haggs
Mine.
Moving westwards in the workings we came to more connections
between the north and south sections and eventually a sump back down to the
horse level, which happened to be the only other one that was open. Retracing
our route we climbed back down into the horse level and when we reached the
last junction before the falls we had lunch. The level past the junction had a
number of artifacts in it, namely a intact and collapsed barrel as well as some
drills and badly deteriorated newspaper. Past these there was a nicely dressed
sump that looked to go down to a working. I rigged this up, even though it was
not that deep and abseiled down to a shelf some 3m down. From here, I saw a
level going under the horse level above and I could see that the working was in
fact a rubble slope angling downwards, which ended in a large shale chamber.
This had the feeling of a chocked up shaft. Climbing back out from the chamber
and onto the shelf I entered the level and this was a crosscut some 20m long,
that intersected a collapsed hopper and manway from workings above. It was
possible to go past the hopper, but the roof looked a mess and it seemed to be
closed in. We left it. Back up, we carried on along the horse level looking at
features in detail, discovering a few things we had missed over the years and
taking photographs.
After drawing up the survey some interesting things
were noted when it was super imposed on the VM abandonment plan. At the last
junction near the final falls, the right hand branch level fall must be the end
of the road (there are arch formers in place at this fall, which backs that up)
and the same goes for the left hand one, with just a few tens of metres to the
forehead. The dressed sump, looks like it might be a connection to the
Barneycraig Horse Level, as that passes right under that area. And finally,
what everyone always knew anyway - you need a lot of artistic license to read
the VM plan.
One last note on using the laser distance range finder. I
have had it for around two years now, and this was its first outing
underground. It really speeds things up when compared to using a tape measure.
Using it has motivated me to finally get round to modifying it with the digital
compass and inclinometer kit I purchased from
http://paperless.bheeb.ch/index.html
a while back. This will turn it into a point and click instrument that gives
you all the readings with hardly any work. Coupled with software running on a
PDA along side it, I will be able to plot the survey as data comes in. Judging
by how long the survey section took to do on this trip, I estimate that the
whole of Rampgill Horse Level could be done in a day!
Most of the
photos by Karli. |
