Smallcleugh Mine - Smallcleugh Cross Vein and Sub Level (01/08/04)

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On the way back from a previous trip Karli spotted a shaft and told us that it led to a sub level below the Smallcleugh Cross Vein, this sounded interesting so we decided to have a look. The sump that we dropped down is just before the rail bridge. The sump drops around 15m, and there is passage left and right, both blocked, however there is another crawl directly underneath with leads to a 3-4m wooded walled shaft - dropping down this led us into the sub level workings.

The passages where in very good condition, and we even found a large chamber like a mini Ballroom, but one of the biggest finds here (nothing to do with the mines) was a new way of taking pictures. As you look through them you will notice that suddenly that the quality of the pictures improves. Instead of trying to light the area with lamps and using the camera's flash, we turned the flash off. This forced the camera to take a longer exposure, and whilst this is happening we just shine our lamps every where. The camera has to be still or you will get blurred pictures.