| THE LEAD MINES OF WEARDALE (WHIT CAMP 1963) |
| This is a reprint of an Article written by Mick Melvin in 1963 and included in the White Rose Pothole Club Journal for that year; I have decided not to change the content in any way. On Whit Sunday a party of Club Members descended Fairy Holes with the Red Rose Cave and Pothole Club, whilst another party descended a few lead mines in the area. members descending the mines were:- M.Melvin (leader), M. Braithwaite, J. Hanslip, S.Dobson S.Day, M. Omerod and J. Rothwell. HOLE 1. The first shaft which we laddered was a 35ft. pitch into a chamber with a high rift passage going right, and a hole on the left leading into a large chamber. This hole was left alone as it was considered too dangerous. After 50ft. the roof in the right hand passage lowered to about 6ft. high, with a deep covering of silt on the floor.We came upon some tools, a long crow-bar with its point 8 inches into the silt, and a shovel which crumbled to the touch. We straddled a hole in the floor and came across some small gauge railway lines, and also found a few candles sticking in the wall. The passage came to a blank wall after 300ft. but we found that there was another passage underneath us, and so returning to the hole in the floor we decided to descend. Mick Omerod climbed down (it was something like eight feet down) and followed the passage for approximately 100ft. but then found that the way was blocked by a roof fall. Therefore we returned to the surface, deladdered the shaft, and made tracks to another mine. HOLE 2. We belayed the ladder to a post and descended a 35ft. shaft, which had all but crumbled away. At the bottom of this shaft was a short passage which led us to a boulder choke, so after we had had a careful look around we ascended and went over the hill to a shaft with a big beam across the top. HOLE 3. This shaft had been shored all the way down, but the thin boards had rotted away, leaving the thick cross members in place. Mick Omerod descended first and he informed us of a dead sheep’s presence at the bottom of the shaft. The rest of us descended and followed Mick up a high passage. |
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