Devonshire Paint Cleanup

[EwanCameron]

Hi All

A number of people are meeting at 11:00 Monday the 16th to clean spray paint up in Devonshire. If anyone would like to join us meet at the new bath hotel car park.

Post here if you have any questions?

Yours
Ewan

 

[AR]

I think the original title reflects my feelings on having to scrub paint markers off yet another site....

Well done for organising this Ewan, I've got most of it off updip of the entrance up to the breakdown chamber, so it's the stuff downdip heading for the Miner's Pillar that will need the most attention. Sorry I can't join you, but I'm  taking SWMBO to a Christmas dinner at Hassop Hall on Monday.

 

[EwanCameron]

Any advice on kit and equipment

 

[Gollum]

I hope you're not removing the arrows or I'll never find my way around the place  :doubt: :-[

 

[Pete K]

From the Carlswark arrow removal of a few years ago I can recommend stiff brushes, the stiffer the better. Dustpan style nylon bristles are too soft to remove paint. A 2ltr bottle of water (per person) to wash down and see what still needs scrubbing would be useful too. I'm also bringing a small wire brush for really stubborn bits.

 

[EwanCameron]

Will dig out some bits

 

[EwanCameron]

I hope you're not removing the arrows or I'll never find my way around the place  :doubt: :-[

lol

 

[Brains]

A friend is working hard on a Bath Stone quarry to remove paint and litter etc. It is oolitic limestone rather than carboniferous rock, but his technique is to use a scrapper to start with (a sharpened spoon!), followed by a brushing to blend in the cleaned area

 

[EwanCameron]

Massive thanks to all involved that's the paint now removed. Without Beth & Pete I would have walked past a lot of paint.

Thanks to Vin and all the lads that have offered help and support.

Yours
Ewan

 

[Pete K]

Only got home an hour ago, van broke down about 10 minutes after you left. So much for a relaxing afternoon.
Nice to meet you finally and nice to see Owd Git hanging out of a bedroom window in Matlock. Shout if you need a pair of hands again.
Pete

 

[al]

Hi Ewan,

As I expected, it was pretty late when I got away from the meeting in Derby, and there were no cavers' cars at the New Bath when I got there just before 5pm. So, just in case you'd managed to get permission to park somewhere nearer, I got changed and, picking up a couple of litres of water at the fountain, I went up to Devonshire.

Nearly all the graffiti that I had seen last Friday was gone - did manage to find one solitary pink arrow on the back wall of one of the return crawls above Clay Hall (just by the Rock Bridge) so I did get to scrub something off!!

Well done folks - a really good job! 

 

[Pipster]

Good effort everybody 

 

[EwanCameron]

Hi Ewan,

As I expected, it was pretty late when I got away from the meeting in Derby, and there were no cavers' cars at the New Bath when I got there just before 5pm. So, just in case you'd managed to get permission to park somewhere nearer, I got changed and, picking up a couple of litres of water at the fountain, I went up to Devonshire.

Nearly all the graffiti that I had seen last Friday was gone - did manage to find one solitary pink arrow on the back wall of one of the return crawls above Clay Hall (just by the Rock Bridge) so I did get to scrub something off!!

Well done folks - a really good job! 

sorry we missed you dude

Well done for finding the last arrow

 

[AR]

Well done to all involved!

 

[paul]

Well done to all involved!

Seconded.

 

[pwhole]

Brilliant stuff. Is it possible that some kind of laminated sign might be placed inside the mine warning future visitors not to use any paint, etc. and that legal processes might be brought to bear on any offenders? If there are any processes, of course - isn't it within the SSSI area? I know it's a long shot actually catching folks in the act, but stern warnings read before they do it may actually deter some from going ahead with it.

It's odd that it's always this hill that gets all the spray-paint action - I'm not aware of much of this going on in the more northern mines. Does that mean it could be one small group (or individual) who are always guilty?

 

[Pete K]

Education is the way forward. The thought process evident in the most recent set of spray painting in Devonshire is quite understandable, if still unforgivable. The arrows were all done at junctions where the route was not obvious and all showed the direction to surface. Passages that had been dismissed were marked by '?'. The same paint was only used for 2 'tags' right in the far reaches, where 2 names were signed.
I see the logic in the process used here; mark the way out, mark dead ends or bad routes & show your limit of exploration. I don't see any malicious intent at all in this batch, just kids (or not perhaps) using their brains to explore this cool place. Not one giant penis mural in sight.
It is not acceptable but lets face it, if a group wished access to the mine to have a rave, spray phallus symbols or smoke dope then it's not hard. Get these kids that did the recent painting in a cave club, not a jail cell. They clearly just need to know what's not acceptable.

 

[Pete K]

Brilliant stuff. Is it possible that some kind of laminated sign might be placed inside the mine warning future visitors not to use any paint, etc. and that legal processes might be brought to bear on any offenders? If there are any processes, of course - isn't it within the SSSI area? I know it's a long shot actually catching folks in the act, but stern warnings read before they do it may actually deter some from going ahead with it.

It's odd that it's always this hill that gets all the spray-paint action - I'm not aware of much of this going on in the more northern mines. Does that mean it could be one small group (or individual) who are always guilty?

This recent batch of painting only occurred while the door had been removed for fixing/replacement. Now that's all back and working again I'd hope we don't get more problems.

 

[AR]

Masson is the one that usually seems to attract the spray painters, but the paint in Devonshire was certainly a bunch of teenagers going in for a party, I removed smiley faces and graffiti as well as arrows. I have considered  putting up notices at both sites stating that they are part of a SSSI and spraying paint around is contrary to the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and if you can't navigate without paint markers you shouldn't be underground in the first place....

 

[pwhole]

I recently bought a box of 50 mini -lightsticks for fishing floats, in three colors from Lidl for ?4.99 - they'd be great temporary route-markers, as you could utilise the colors to have significance. As long as they picked them all up again afterwards of course!