derbyshire caver - Derbyshire Caving Association.

The
DERBYSHIRE CAVER
No 137
Summer 2015
The Badgers’ hauling rig at Rowter Hole
IN THIS ISSUE –
· Mark Richardson on the Buttered Badgers’ Rowter Hole Project
· Julian Drake on the first Hungerhill Swallet dig
· Pete Knight on the Waterfall Hole Car Park
and there’s more . . . .
The newsletter of the
DERBYSHIRE CAVING ASSOCIATION
£2.00
THE DERBYSHIRE CAVER
No 137
Summer 2015
Editor:
Material for inclusion can be sent hand-written or via email.
Mike Higgins
56 Robin Hood Crescent
Edenthorpe
Doncaster
DN3 2JJ
Please send contributions for the next issue as soon as they are ready.
The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the
editor nor of the Derbyshire Caving Association.
Email:
[email protected]
The website of the Derbyshire Caving Association is at: www.theDCA.org.uk
CONTENTS:
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vale – Brian Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Waterfall Hole Car Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Buttered Badgers’ Rowter Hole Project. . . . . . . . . .
Hungerhill Swallet – the 1986/87 dig . . . . . . . . . . .
Ecton Mines Engine House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Air Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Starvehouse Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peak Cavern photographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
3
4
5
8
10
12
13
16
Cover diagram courtesy of Mark Richardson
THE DCA - WHAT WE DO AND HOW TO JOIN US DOING IT
The aim of Derbyshire Caving Association (DCA) is to protect the caves and promote good caving practice
within the Peak District and surrounding areas. Membership is open to all clubs, individuals and outdoor
activity providers with an interest in caves and caving or mine exploration. Check out the DCA website for
further information (www.theDCA.org.uk). Membership enquiries should be made to the Secretary at
[email protected].
The newsletter of the DCA has been in publication for over fifty years and is of paramount value as a forum
for cavers in the Peak District. The Editor welcomes contributions from all cavers, whether DCA members or
not. News, articles, letters for publication, etc. should be posted or emailed to him at the above address, or
give him a ring on 01302 882874.
The Derbyshire Caver is posted free to DCA members; non-members may subscribe by sending a cheque for
£9 (payable to DCA) for four issues, to the Secretary or Treasurer. Some back issues are also available for
sale. Quarter-page adverts are £5 per insertion.
Current issues of The Derbyshire Caver are available from the following outlets:
Hitch'n'Hike, Bamford; The Old Smithy Teashop, Monyash;
Peak District Mining Museum, Matlock Bath
Editorial
VALE BRIAN EDGAR WEBB
I had hoped that this would be the first issue of
The Derbyshire Caver since I became editor that
did not include any obituaries, but alas it was not
to be. My old friend and caving partner Brian
Webb passed away at the end of May after a
short illness and a brief appreciation of our
friendship appears opposite.
27th December 1936 - 28th May 2015
Brian and I met through our membership of
PDMHS more years ago than I can remember, but
our friendship really started one day when,
changing in Matlock Bath Station car park after a
club trip, we got into a conversation about Slinter
Wood. I hadn’t realised that Brian had been a
leading light in the Eastwood Mining Group that
carried out much work there in the early 90s
before the Arkwright Society kicked them off
after they bought the property. He mentioned
that he intended to check on the condition of
Number 5 Adit and I just had to ask if I could
come along. No problem he said, and so it began.
My request for some underground photographs
submitted by readers, for which I appealed in the
last two issue’s editorials and also posted
requests on ukCaving.com and AditNow.co.uk,
has at last born fruit and Clive Westlake has
kindly stepped up and sent in some excellent
photos of Peak Cavern which you can enjoy on
the back cover. Hopefully some more readers will
be moved to follow his example before the
Autumn issue is published in order to avert the
threat of some of my own photographs being
printed rather than leave an empty space.
One regular item missing from this edition is the
list of DCRO call-outs – the explanation is strange
but true; at the time of writing there have been
none since last September!
My aim in 2015 to return The Derbyshire Caver to
the publication of 4 issues annually as it used to
be up until a few years ago is so far on target –
I’m halfway there! As I said previously, however, I
can only do this with the active help of all you
readers out there. Peak District-centred articles,
long or short, on anything cave or mine related
are always welcome – you can submit them in
any format, by email or snailmail. I look forward
to hearing from you! Deadline for the Autumn
issue is the end of September.
Brian in Boldpit Upper Adit (the camera would never work
underground – it became a standing joke!)
(Photo: Mike Higgins)
We subsequently poked around in many mines in
the Matlock/Cromford area, particularly in and
around the Via Gellia, with the occasional trip to
caves elsewhere in the Peak District by way of
variety. We had a feeling that there must be
mines in the Via between Slinter Wood and the
western end of Middleton Wood and this led to
our Middleton Flats project that occupied much
of our time for around 4 years and was eventually
published by PDMHS, happily in time for Brian to
see the finished article earlier this year.
Finally, DCA is STILL seeking a vice-chairman, so
do please consider stepping forward to fill this
important position.
Brian’s funeral took place at Bramcote
Crematorium. The packed chapel was testament
to the respect in which he was held by all who
knew him. Rest in peace youth.
Mike Higgins
Mike Higgins
3
WATERFALL HOLE
CAR PARK
The need for improvements to the small car
parking area at Waterfall Hole was identified
some time ago and it was agreed at the DCA
Council Meeting on 28th February last that the
work should go ahead.
In April a membrane was spread out over the
area and the following month twenty tons of
gravel was delivered and subsequently raked out
to form a suitable level surface.
The membrane in position
There is now room for as many as 6 vehicles if
they are parked carefully.
Work commences
The gravel delivered
All work was carried out by DCA volunteers those involved were: Simon Brooks, Pete Knight,
Andy McHugh, Pete Mellors, Mark Noble, Adam
Russell and Nick Williams.
DCA’s Projects Officer demonstrates his skills
with a mini-digger
Work started on site in early March with
clearance of the scrub and soon afterwards the
area was sprayed with weedkiller.
The finished parking area
Life is now much easier for cavers visiting
Waterfall Hole and Crock Pot. As the landowner is
the National Trust no prior permission is needed
but as the area is an SSSI permission must be
obtained prior to any digging taking place.
Pete Knight
The cleared site
4
The Buttered Badger
Rowter Hole Project
In April 2013 the Buttered Badger Potholing Club
moved their burrowing efforts away from the
eastern dig in Rowter Hole and turned them to
the task of working on the floor of the Abyss at
the location of an old abandoned DCC dig. It was
third hand that we heard the stories of diggers
crouched at the bottom of the higgledy piggledy
shaft being able to hear the sound of distant
running water in the winter but it was enough to
whet our appetite. That, coupled with the
presence of large stemple sockets in the wall, was
all it took for us to decide to give the Abyss dig a
go.
the clips, many of which were swivels. We had
been advised not to succumb to the temptation
of using swivel joints but to force ourselves to
build a square shaft and use only 90’s (doubles)
for the horizontal ribs and singles for joining
vertical tubes to the ribs.
The dimensions of the top were driven primarily
by a desire to have lots have room to work in but
also because we wanted to make sure we
captured the stemple sockets within our shaft.
We followed two vertical lines of sockets down
the walls for part of the way but eventually the
right hand line drifted off to just outside the walls
of our shaft. As we approached the 10 metre
point there was the unmistakeable feeling that
the Abyss side of the shaft and not the entrance
side was the loosest packed and the place we
wanted to be. There were discussions of redigging a small shaft alongside our existing one to
shuffle us across slightly into the loose packed
boulders but we persevered. The digging was
variable, at times we pulled loose packed rock
out of the floor, capping huge boulders as we
went. Other times we spent trip after trip
chopping through compacted sand and sticky
mud. Needless to say there was no draught
emanating from the claggy floor but the right
hand wall of the dig always remained loose
packed and fairly clean and open.
Carrying 6”x1” planks to the entrance shaft
(photo: Rob Eavis)
We had spent some time up in the Dales looking
at other vertical digs down through boulders
(Death’s Head was one of them) and had an idea
of what we needed to do. To make good
progress, the first thing we would need was some
capping experience. The key was to force the
shaft down through the boulders and not be
tempted to deviate for the big rocks that would
otherwise be a lot of effort to remove.
The dig in the abyss was a massive learning curve
for the team, we began by spending a long time
looking at the old DCC dig and trying to work out
what we could save and what needed to come
out. In the end we made the decision to just get
rid of the lot. I believe there is a single vertical
scaffold pole left at the top up against the wall
that stayed in place but that’s it. Much of the old
scaffolding was in pretty poor shape, especially
Luke Nugent and Mark Kerstin operating the hauling system
(photo: Chris Haigh)
5
In order to remove spoil we rigged up a great
hauling system, buckets were loaded at the
bottom of the dig and attached to a 2:1 pulley
system. They were hauled up the dig clipped into
a pulley running on a tensioned line against the
undercut wall to keep the bucket hanging in free
space all the way up. At the top there was a large
gin wheel bought from a scaffold yard. When the
bucket reached the top it was transferred by
counter weighting it to a half loaded Stop hanging
from a double pulley on a second tensioned line
which ran diagonally uphill into the Abyss. Once
on this line, it was hauled from the top via a
pulley and jammer non-return system up into the
Abyss.
a very unfriendly feeling undercut that was just
off to the side of the shaft. If we had dug only a
foot to the left the shaft would have missed this
roof all together, if we had dug a foot to the right
we would have hit it nice and square on and life
would have been easier - but we didn’t mind!
Mark Kerstin receiving an empty bucket at the dig face
(Photo: Chris Haigh)
Interestingly, on the back wall of the undercut
there is still a stemple socket visible. Behind the
pile of loose rock we had dug there is also a
second socket at the same level as the first. The
two sockets, about a metre apart are a good size
and indicate that there are more of the old man’s
activities somewhere directly below. The next
few weeks were tricky, we left the stemple
sockets behind in the undercut which we called
Foster’s Faith and headed east into a narrow rift
which we saw to be the easiest way to the now
clear sound of fast flowing water.
The hauling system with the spoil heap in the background
(photo: Chris Haigh)
This system could be moved to any point along
the hauling line with the use of a Petzl Shunt.
When the bucket arrived at the top, the stacker
would release the handle of the stop and the
bucket would lower to the ground on a short
length of rope to be disposed of in the ever
growing spoil heap. Poetry in motion!
There was a great draught heading out of the
cave and we found ourselves stood in a narrow,
natural stream passage, Badger Rift. The most
bizarre thing about the rift was the direction of
the water. We were expecting it to be flowing
from Hypothermia (east to west) but it ran in the
opposite direction. We had discovered a new
stream inlet emerging from boulders upstream of
the breakthrough point.
It was about 10 months from starting the dig
when one night we found a tiny hole right at the
edge of the shaft where there should have been
solid wall. That evening we wormed our way into
We followed the water to the east until it
disappeared into the floor underneath a
depressingly dangerous looking pile of boulders
and loose slabs of rock. Bad Badger Choke as it
6
Chris Haigh in Foster’s Faith from the bottom of the shaft
(photo: Mark Richardson)
later became known stumped us for 9 trips. We
initially found a way up and over it to the left and
came face to face with another stream flowing
towards us - very probably now proven to be
Hypothermia (but not conclusively). Both streams
fell into the choke and gave us our direction of
travel. There were some very nervy digging
sessions but eventually, with the aid of dozens of
lengths of scaffold poles and lots of capping we
found ourselves crawling extremely slowly and
carefully through a dark gap in the choke and
towards the sound of a waterfall in the blackness
beyond.
Mark Richardson carries capping gear out from the Orechasm
pitch head
(photo: Chris Haigh)
The following few weeks saw numerous bolt
climbing trips until we arrived at a point 96m
higher than the Ice Cream Trail breakthrough
point. The highest and furthest reaches of Rowter
Hole are now a 2 hour plus hard trip from the
surface by a team who know the route when it is
all pre-rigged. The effort required to get there is
rewarded with some beautiful flowstone
formations and big, clean cave passage.
There are several good prospects remaining in
the new Rowter Hole extensions, all of them
requiring a lot of effort but with potentially great
rewards. Perhaps the easiest of them and the one
with the potential to unlock some answers about
the old man’s activities in Rowter is the upstream
inlet below Foster’s Faith. The large stemple
sockets in Foster’s Faith tell us the old man got
that far but we don’t see any evidence in the
500+ metres of cave passage we found from Bad
Badger Choke onwards. Why are those sockets
there, where were they going and is there still
some unexplored mine upstream of the Foster’s
Faith Inlet waiting to be found? One day, the
Badgers will be back to find out.
Following the Bad Badger Choke breakthrough
the subsequent exploration was a dream. The
Two Left Wellies pitches are spacious and clean
and follow the water down to a wide piece of
passage. From here the water disappears into a
sump, dived by Jim Lister to a muddy constriction
about 6m in. An extremely interesting prospect.
The dry way on was a tortuous narrow rift
passage beautifully decorated with thick deposits
of galena, translucent calcite flows and thick dog
tooth calcite crystals. We named this The Ice
cream Trail. The end of the trail required several
capping trips to force a way through the final
calcite constriction into the side of a 40 metre
deep pitch, The Crystal Orechasm. The base of
the Orechasm is the closest point to Peak, it is
around 35 metres from the end of the final airbell
of Whirlpool Rising.
Mark Richardson
7
HUNGERHILL SWALLET –
THE 1986/87 DIG
In 1985, Doug Nash, on a visit to Hungerhill
House near Eyam, was allowed to look at the
shakehole lurking in the nearby clump of trees
and he saw that it was ripe for exploration. John
Beck and Bill Whitehouse rejoiced to find a
stream flowing towards the rubbish-filled
shakehole.
Kevin Drakeley. Stuff flew out, timbers flew in,
there was a breakthrough! This was what can be
achieved when you assemble a Magnificent
Seven. Please note that I am not the only person
with a runaway imagination and delusions of
grandeur. Muddy cavers need all the grandeur
they can get and this was exemplified in the case
of the coe.
Incomprehensibly, I set myself to attacking the
landfill with a spade and over the winter of 198687 I moved many tons of stuff to clear space for a
shaft. The finding of the cave and its exploration
was documented by John Beck in the Technical
Speleological Group Journal no 13, 1988, and is
retold in Iain Barker’s Classic Caves of the Peak
District, 1997.
Just as the mole digs its hole and as the bird
builds its nest, so the caver builds his or her coe.
It is a primal urge. I don’t remember how far we
got in building a coe – one heap of stones
resembles another – but we did sort of design
one. What architectural style should we adopt? It
had to be a rococo coe. Should there be a
construction company? Of course – The Rococo
Coe Co. What would we drink as we sat in the
coe? Do I need to tell you? And which company
would supply this beverage?
The monotony of flinging dirt was alleviated by
my finding in the mire several gigantic shoes,
half-empty bottles of something resembling
mayonnaise, and several spectacle cases with
their contents intact. Not quite the discovery of
Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings
but, like Sherlock Holmes or an archaeologist, I
deduced that the precious artefacts must most
certainly have belonged to a gigantic agricultural
personage with occasional short-lived bursts of
enthusiasm for whatever it was in those bottles
and deteriorating eyesight. Other finds included, I
seem to remember, an old car. There may have
been rumours of a tractor in there.
Memory is unreliable but I can convince myself
that Bill Whitehouse played a starring role in such
monotony-relieving wordplay, and even the
(literally) down-to-earth Dr J S Beck could in his
imagination transport himself from the grey
realities of the Hungerhill Swallethole into the
world of fantasy and myth created by Tolkien in
The Lord of the Rings. As demonstrated by the
fact that the dig’s flamethrower was named
Smaug.
In a cave that’s got scary things like the Stemple
of Doom (best to make your will before going
underneath it), the Tight Rift and Deep Space, a
sense of humour, even absurdity, goes a long way
to making caving look like a sensible activity. And
there was a lot of humour in those far-off days in
Hungerhill Swallet.
So a space was made and a shaft was sunk. At
some point timbers and old wooden doors
appeared, and Tom Proctor, now interested in
climbing downwards, converted them with
impressive speed into shaft lining.
Nine metres down, horizontal tunnelling came
across a draught, prompting another shaft in a
small chamber. The draught disappeared, the
floor fell away, and a third shaft was begun. Spoil
was becoming a problem. On the 8th November
seven people arrived – John Beck, Al Eaves, Mark
Noble, Tom Proctor, Tony Deveto, myself and
Julian Drake
8
The world’s first and only rococo coe
(courtesy of Julian Drake and Co)
9
ECTON MINE ENGINE
HOUSE
Standing high on Ecton Hill in the Manifold Valley
is a small stone barn-like building. This modest
structure is, however, of extreme significance in
mining history as the world’s oldest surviving
winding engine house.
Recognising its
importance, the National Trust acquired the
engine house and the surrounding 21 acres of
land in 2008 and between 2012 and 2014 they
have carried out an extensive conservation
project. In addition, archaeological excavation
has taken place both internally and externally and
the results have been written up by John Barnatt
for publication by PDMHS in Mining History in
due course.
balance beam operated by the flow of water
from the Manifold along Apes Tor Sough and
discharging into the Deep Ecton Level where the
outflow ran in a launder beneath the floor.
The other problem faced by Flint was the need
for an improved system of winding. By the late
1780s ore production was over 4,000 tons per
year and this, together with all the waste rock
generated, needed to be raised to the surface
from what was then the deepest mine in Britain.
This was done via the Deep Shaft by means of a
large horse whim but the depth was now such
that future removal could only be dealt with by
steam power.
The well-known mines at Ecton in the Manifold
Valley have been worked for copper since the
Bronze Age. In more modern times they were
worked in a small way by the 3rd Duke of
Devonshire in the 17th century (at the same time
contravening the then monopoly on copper
mining enjoyed by the Mineral and Battery
Works) who subsequently leased the mines to
various adventurers. In 1760, however, the 4th
Duke decided to work the mines on his own
account and this marked the commencement of a
period of expansion with improvements in
drainage and winding leading to considerable
prosperity.
In July 1787 Cornelius Flint, accompanied by
James Newbold the mine millwright, visited
Cornwall to view recently-installed Boulton and
Watt steam whims. Presumably impressed, they
went to Birmingham for discussions with Boulton
and Watt and in January 1788 the company sent
John Southern to Ecton to collect information on
the mine’s requirements. By March of that year
manufacture of the engine had started and in
April the building of the engine house was
commenced. At the end of November the engine
had been delivered and erected and tested.
Boulton and Watt’s design drawings for the
engine survive and show a vertical piston, 48” x
16”, acting on a 15’ beam pivoted at its centre
and connected to the flywheel and drive shaft,
the latter passing through an opening in the wall
and working the winding drum via a bevel gear.
The engine was designed to work at 25 strokes
per minute. The copper boiler was of the circular
haystack type, 5’ 3” in diameter and 6’ 0½” high.
The Duke appointed Robert Shore of Snitterton
as his agent to supervise the running of the Ecton
Mine. However, following the death of the 4th
Duke an audit discovered discrepancies in the
Ecton accounts and Shore was required to pay
the sum of £1,090 to make up the shortfall. When
fraud totalling £5,000 was found in 1779 Shore
was dismissed and his place taken by Cornelius
Flint of Great Longstone. The latter had been
agent for the Hubberdale Mine at Flagg.
By the middle of the 18th century the engine had
fallen out of use and was dismantled and sold for
scrap in 1855/56. The engine house stood empty
until 1900 when it was converted for agricultural
use.
Flint’s first innovation at Ecton was to install a
new pumping engine in 1783 to replace the
system of barrel haulage by horses working a six
hour shift. The engine was a bucket operated
Mike Higgins
10
The east side of the engine house showing excavations
(Photo: Mike Higgins)
The engine house from the west with the capped Deep Shaft on the right
(Photo: Mike Higgins)
11
MONITORING THE AIR
in Peak District Caves and Mines
link between temperature and CO2 levels in caves, and the
readings in the database tend to back this up. However, the
theory doesn't hold for all caves, because not every cave is
affected in the same way - and some are not affected at all.
So there are other factors, which may be more to do with
the generation, rather than the propagation, of CO2.
A short history: Although there had been sporadic
instances of cavers suffering from breathlessness in caves,
and a growing suspicion that some caves and mines were
more prone to "bad air" than others, the late summer of
2009 gave rise to such a large number of incidents that
people started to sit up and take note. CCPC bought a cheap
disposable oxygen meter, and Ralph Johnson and various
cavers started to use this to get readings of oxygen levels in
caves where problems had been reported. DCA purchased
two meters and some Draeger tubes, and Christine Wilson
started a marathon ten month sampling session to try to
understand the problem.
Please note that, in the table below, figures are only given
where they have been actually metered. When both CO2 and
O2 meters have been used together, the sum of the
percentages of both gases has always been very close to the
surface reading for O2 and it would seem reasonable to
assume that, when a CO2 meter is not available, any
reduction in O2 will be accompanied by a similar increase in
CO2. Figures from previous years can be made available if
required.
It was realised around this time that his wasn't just a Peak
District issue as Cave Rescue teams from other areas were
beginning to worry about the effects of "bad air" on their
operations, and how best to deal with them, and, in 2011,
BCRC, the national body for Cave Rescue, supplied all teams
with gas monitors capable of monitoring several different
gases.
2015 Monitoring: Gas monitoring in caves in the Peak
District has continued since it started in 2009, and all
recordings are kept in a database for use in research.
Nowadays, DCA has the use of an oxygen meter and a
carbon dioxide meter, and these are available for use by
cavers who are interested in the topic, or who just need to
be sure of the quality of the air they are breathing.
However it is more usual that there will be a report that a
venue has high levels of CO2, and I will then go and check to
see what the readings are. So far this year I have sampled
Robin's Shaft, Knotlow Cavern, Holme Bank Chert Mine and
Slayley Sough. On these trips, only low levels of CO2 have
been found, despite reports to the contrary from
"unmetered" visits.
Rick Lewthwaite using a cunning means of
safely deploying the meter in Thunder Shaft!
(Photo: Bill Whitehouse)
This isn't such a surprise, as we are only now entering the
warm summer period. The above-mentioned research by
Christine Wilson led to a conclusion that there was a direct
Cave
Date
Robins Shaft
Robins Shaft
Robins Shaft
Robins Shaft
Robins Shaft
Robins Shaft
Robins Shaft
Knotlow
Knotlow
Knotlow
Knotlow
Knotlow
Holme Bank
Slaley Sough
Slaley Sough
Slaley Sough
Slaley Sough
Slaley Sough
Slaley Sough
10/02/2015
11/02/2015
12/02/2015
13/02/2015
14/02/2015
15/02/2015
16/02/2015
17/02/2015
18/02/2015
19/02/2015
20/02/2015
21/02/2015
17/03/2015
21/03/2015
21/03/2015
21/03/2015
21/03/2015
21/03/2015
21/03/2015
Surface
O2
20.90
20.90
20.90
Cave
O2
20.90
20.30
20.10
20.20
20.10
20.00
20.30
20.90
20.90
20.90
20.90
20.90
20.90
20.90
CO2
0.04
0.43
0.44
0.43
0.40
0.42
0.40
0.03
0.19
0.20
0.19
0.28
0.04
0.07
0.07
0.09
0.07
0.10
Finally: I'd like to encourage the use of our meters by cavers
generally, partly to help with the ongoing monitoring of our
caves in the Peak District (we need the
Location & Comments
figures) and partly so that groups who go
Surface
into bad atmospheres can have some
Rebelay 2
reassurance as to what they are dealing
Rebelay 4
with. When you're struggling past the
Rebelay 6
deviations on Beza, and panting for breath,
Rebelay 7
it is very easy to think the worst, and
Foot of Shaft
believing the worst can have a very
Lord's Chamber
detrimental effect on your progress, and
Surface
certainly won't contribute to a good
Foot of Entrance Shaft
experience!
Pearl Chamber
Foot of Waterfall Chamber
Top of Waterfall Chamber
All Areas
Surface
Daylight Zone
Just beyond daylight
Junction of crosscut/main level
Thunder Shaft Top
Thunder Shaft Foot
12
Further information on the effects of CO2
on cavers can be found in an earlier article
by Dan Murray and myself entitled "Bad Air
in Peak District Caves" which was published
in the winter of 2012 in issue 133 of The
Derbyshire Caver.
Alan Brentnall
STARVEHOUSE MINE
Starvehouse Mine lies at the far western end of
Cop Rake, which runs east-west from Bradwell
Moor to Oxlow Rake. The area is a Scheduled
Ancient Monument, List Entry Number 1019043,
and was scheduled on 20th June 2000. The
reason for the scheduling is that Cop Rake (and
the nearby Moss Rake included in the scheduling)
presents a rare example of well-preserved rake
workings exhibiting a variety of mining features.
The position of the rake at the junction of three
mineral liberties (Peak Forest, Castleton and
Bradwell) is also of interest as a slightly different
working pattern occurs in each.
To my left (ie East) were two holes in the floor,
one 8 ft or so beyond the other. These covered the
full width of the stope so I could only look down
the first of them. This descended 20 or 30 feet
into a 6ft wide stope, and the second hole
appeared to connect with this also. It looked
spacious and interesting down there. I found a
good site for a stemple belay and decided to
return later with wood and tools.
On the other side of the window (ie West) there
was a 5 ft wall in the passage with clay and silt
packed behind it. Over this wall led to a small hole
about 4” or 5” in diameter. Beyond this hole a
larger space could be seen. It would be easy to dig
as it was fairly soft.
Geologically the workings lie within the Bee Low
limestones above the Lower Millers Dale lava.
An interesting record of the solo exploration of
the only open shaft at the mine by Geoff
Workman has come to light, being an extract
from his caving diary for 1960. Geoff was of
course Chairman of the DCA in its early days and
was also Newsletter Editor for a while, and is
well-known for holding the record for spending
time alone underground, 105 days in 1963 at
Stump Cross Caverns. His diary extract is
reproduced below.
On this clay bed there was an old miner’s bucket. I
did not have the means of recovering it on this
trip as I had no rope with me, but I resolved to
rescue it on the next occasion.
No further exploration was possible without more
tools and tackle, so I squeezed through the
window again, and with some difficulty got back
on the ladder to return to the surface.
30th June 1960
28th June 1960
Returning to Starvehouse Mine today, I first
lowered down the shaft a handy length of timber
for belays, a 45 ft ladder, rope and various tools.
I decided to have a look at the Starvehouse Mine,
but did not really expect to find very much. The
small shaft was only about 45 ft deep so I lowered
a 50 ft ladder down. 38 ft down I passed a
window facing South into what appeared to be a
small pocket. Continuing down past this I
bottomed the shaft at 46 ft. There was a short
heading to the East, but nothing of any
significance.
At the window I first worked with the pick to
remove more stones and mud and so make the
hole much easier. Having got a more reasonable
access I now carried all the stuff through into the
stope. The timber was next sawn to length and
soon fitted in position with the ladder belayed to
it.
On the way up I looked into the window which
was nearly blocked with stones and clay, and
tried to clear it enough to crawl in. This was soon
accomplished and I wriggled through. I landed in
an interesting looking stope about a yard wide at
floor level, and rising up about 9 ft where it was
only a foot wide. In one or two places it rose
higher to stone-blocked inlets.
It was a 30 ft climb to the bottom with a heading
to the West halfway down. At the bottom the
stope was roughly 6 ft wide but ended to the East
after a mere 10 yards. A 2 ft wide heading ran to
the West also. The floor was clay and silt with odd
bits of rocks and veinstuff and pieces of green
toadstone.
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The second hole in the floor of the upper passage
could be seen and also a third hole at the far end.
As no progress was possible from the bottom I
climbed back up to the halfway level. This went
for 7 or 8 yards and then came out halfway down
another and rather horrible looking shaft. It
looked much too dangerous to attack from this
point, but there was a possibility of reaching it
through the other small hole in the upper
passage.
dangerous-looking shaft, but before descending
this I entered a large level which ran westwards.
The level was about 2 ft wide and 12 ft high with
a false floor of stemples halfway up where the
“old man” had been stoping. 35 ft along it
entered a roomy area 9 ft wide and 15 ft high at
the highest point. A further shaft descended down
from here and the passage also continued beyond
the drop, returning to its width of 2 ft. In the
roomy section were many large rocks, old
stemples, bits of iron etc and a nice iron bar which
was fitted up as a good belay for the pitch. I could
not descend today as yet a further ladder would
be required, but at least I knew that I did not need
to fetch more timber. Beyond this shaft the
passage continued for a further 25 ft before
coming to a dead end.
Back in the upper passage I removed the ladder to
a safe place and then had a good look at the vein.
It hades to the North and the hading wall is
composed largely of slickensides, broken here and
there as it is only thin and is underlain by a soft
powdery rock. This appears to be a replacement
effect on the limestone beyond the boundaries of
the original fault walls. A sample of this material
was taken and on assay proved to be about 75%
calcite (not visibly crystalline) and about 25%
crystalline barytes which is a prominent
constituent of the vein at this point. The vein
between the walls consisted of several bands of
barytes, fluorspar, and calcite with traces of
galena. An old bucket bottom was found wedged
in the stope roof above the second hole in the
floor.
Returning now to the entrance of this passage, I
got back on the ladder and continued descending.
The way went past loose blocks and under
overhanging piles of clay and silt, and so past the
end of the passage explored from the first descent
down the other stope. The end of the ladder was
reached 35 ft below the little hole and I could see
the bottom about 10 or 12 ft below me. Once
again a further ladder would be required. The
bottom appeared to be a gentle slope descending
out of sight. On the return journey I recovered the
old miner’s bucket with the help of the rope I had
brought.
Returning now to the small hole in the westerly
direction I attacked this with the pick and soon
had it large enough to squeeze through. On
poking my head through the hole I perceived a
steeply descending stope, four or five feet wide
and with a large slope of caly and silt going
downwards. Quite obviously the ladder was
required so I retired again.
1st July 1960
The mine was re-descended this morning with a
further 25 ft of ladder. This was soon attached to
the end of the existing one in the “pipe” shaft,
and a few moments later I was stood at the
bottom. The bottom consisted essentially of a
large mound of clay and silt and stones. To the
East it descended to a small hole which appeared
to lead into a further passage, but will require
digging out.
The piece of timber sawn off the end of the last
belay was found to be just the right length to
wedge in a handy position for this hole, for the
ladder belay. Getting into the hole, feet first, was
a bit tricky, but it was soon accomplished and in a
moment I was standing on the mud slope beyond.
Before descending I enlarged the hole somewhat
to make the return easier and safer.
To the West the mound descended into a 9 ft
wide area with a natural curved roof suggesting a
small caly-filled cavern. A fair quantity of bedded
silt was observed here confirming the natural
origin. In the extreme West end a three-quarterfilled tube was noticed descending at about 45°.
This again needs digging, but is natural and could
easily be dug with two persons. Down here the
vein seemed very vague and indistinct, and
This part of the mine somewhat resembled a
steeply inclined pipe working and could be seen to
continue upwards, although much narrower. 15 ft
below the hole the width was 6 ft, and a fair
number of old stemples were present. The ladder
descended down an irregular and somewhat
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seemed to have almost lost itself. A very rough
calculation shows that this point is not more than
20 ft or so above the toadstone (lower lava), and
the tube probably connects with the water
course that forms the strong and interesting
spring at the bottom of the scarp feature.
The ladders were now hauled up and taken along
the heading to the other shaft, which was
bottomed at about 15 ft. A heading ran off the
bottom for about 30 ft, after which it was blocked
by a fall.
Postscript: A large block of the vein wall has now
collapsed, and completely blocked the small hole
leading to the western section of the mine
(including the natural bit). This will have to be
removed before further work can be carried out.
Starvehouse Mine from the east
(Photo: Mike Higgins)
Detailed examination reveals only one spot that
is likely to be the shaft descended by Geoff, a
shaft mound with a large boulder deposited in
the centre. At the lower end of the boulder is a
small hole just large enough to insert a hand and
arm, and there can be felt what seems to be the
rim of (possible) ginging with a void beyond.
There is no trace of any other shafts having been
open in modern times.
Geoff Workman
This extract from Geoff’s diary, as well as being of
interest as a record of a solo exploration from 55
years ago, is also of significance as it identifies a
possible dig in a natural passage intersected by
the mine workings. There is very little accessible
underground in this area and so I thought it
worth paying Starvehouse Mine a visit to see if
the shaft was still open (but I wasn’t too
optimistic!).
The probable shaft
(Photo: Mike Higgins)
I can only assume therefore that this is the shaft
and that it is still open (otherwise why block it
with a boulder?). Whether it would be worth
going to the trouble of removing the boulder (for
which permission from the landowner AND
English Heritage must be sought) and checking
out the possible dig is a matter for the reader to
judge.
Starvehouse Mine from the west
(Photo: Mike Higgins)
The site lies enclosed within an irregularly shaped
belland yard some 175m x 50m. The western end
slopes steeply downwards and there are a couple
of springs there, presumably rising from the top
of the lower lava bed. The vein is marked by a
line of open cuts and there are a number of shaft
hillocks running along each side.
Mike Higgins
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PHOTOGRAPHS OF PEAK CAVERN KINDLY CONTRIBUTED BY CLIVE WESTLAKE
Master Cave
Moss Chamber
White River Series
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