Brains
Well-known member
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Well at long last I managed to get myself and my underground gear over to Nent Head, and in the company of Roy Fellows as well. As it has been about a year since I last went underground, and my health has been a bit dodgy with heart problems and diabetes etc Roy decided to take it easy on me, although he is 18 years older!
After brief introductions we headed into Rampgill through the giant catflap and paddled off into the darkness, We had a grand tour of the Rampgill, Scaleburn, Hanginshaw and other levels and veins I cant remember the names of.
Brewery Shaft looked like it would be a good descent for another day - 80m to the deep Nentforce level that runs several miles to Alston, shame there are some falls along the way. From there we splashed up the Scaleburn Vein workings looking at numerous things of interest until we got to the Miners Steps that led up into a flat working with some carved intials from 1793. Further along the vein, in a small flat working to one side were the remains of a Horse Gin that has fallen over. This was for winding from a deep shaft nearby, but we couldnt see any remains of how the rope would have been managed over the shaft itself.
Back in the Rampgill horse level we continued upstream to the famous Whisky Bottle Junction. I think the LH passage was the Rampgill Vein which we explored for a fair way, I think this led us to the now broken NORPEX door. Roy gave me some of the history of this saga, and as he is so mobile around the UK mines he was also able to give me insite into the people behind the posts. There is a lot more "mischief" or "piss taking" going on than many realise. Shame it doesnt translate well into forum speak!
Having decided to save the NORPEX delights for another trip we headed up the Hangingshaw Branch Level next, and soon we passed a "Whimsey" which looked for all the world like a gert big wet shaft dropping to the Nent Force Level! We continued up the passage, which seemed very "steep" for a drainage and horse level, the water was flowing fast and riffling over the sleeprs. We passed numerous rises or ore shoots up to the Prouds Flats above on the Smallcleugh vein, and it would be through these that a descent would complete a transit from Smallcleugh to Rampgill, however I am told that there is also an SRT pitch or abseil to get to the flats, and the water level in the upper mine requires a wetsuit!
As a result of a rock/helmet interface issue causing an internal fitting to scrape some flesh from his scalp Roy was a bit miffed, and I was feeling quite satiated, we agreed to head out nosing into anything we had missed earlier. We found a short crosscut leading to a raise that the owd man had given up on, leaving several large stemples and a platform to work from.
Once out we changed and poked at maps and surveys then went our own ways. Following the A686 to Penrith was awesome as ever, with the added fun of numerous horse drawn craravans of all types heading for the Appleby Horse Fair. The M6 was a real pain, 3 sections of stop start due to roadworks and accidents, and to add insult the car died a mile from home. luckily after cooling down and refilling the water, gentle words and an incantation or two I arrived home safe!
Well at long last I managed to get myself and my underground gear over to Nent Head, and in the company of Roy Fellows as well. As it has been about a year since I last went underground, and my health has been a bit dodgy with heart problems and diabetes etc Roy decided to take it easy on me, although he is 18 years older!
After brief introductions we headed into Rampgill through the giant catflap and paddled off into the darkness, We had a grand tour of the Rampgill, Scaleburn, Hanginshaw and other levels and veins I cant remember the names of.
Brewery Shaft looked like it would be a good descent for another day - 80m to the deep Nentforce level that runs several miles to Alston, shame there are some falls along the way. From there we splashed up the Scaleburn Vein workings looking at numerous things of interest until we got to the Miners Steps that led up into a flat working with some carved intials from 1793. Further along the vein, in a small flat working to one side were the remains of a Horse Gin that has fallen over. This was for winding from a deep shaft nearby, but we couldnt see any remains of how the rope would have been managed over the shaft itself.
Back in the Rampgill horse level we continued upstream to the famous Whisky Bottle Junction. I think the LH passage was the Rampgill Vein which we explored for a fair way, I think this led us to the now broken NORPEX door. Roy gave me some of the history of this saga, and as he is so mobile around the UK mines he was also able to give me insite into the people behind the posts. There is a lot more "mischief" or "piss taking" going on than many realise. Shame it doesnt translate well into forum speak!
Having decided to save the NORPEX delights for another trip we headed up the Hangingshaw Branch Level next, and soon we passed a "Whimsey" which looked for all the world like a gert big wet shaft dropping to the Nent Force Level! We continued up the passage, which seemed very "steep" for a drainage and horse level, the water was flowing fast and riffling over the sleeprs. We passed numerous rises or ore shoots up to the Prouds Flats above on the Smallcleugh vein, and it would be through these that a descent would complete a transit from Smallcleugh to Rampgill, however I am told that there is also an SRT pitch or abseil to get to the flats, and the water level in the upper mine requires a wetsuit!
As a result of a rock/helmet interface issue causing an internal fitting to scrape some flesh from his scalp Roy was a bit miffed, and I was feeling quite satiated, we agreed to head out nosing into anything we had missed earlier. We found a short crosscut leading to a raise that the owd man had given up on, leaving several large stemples and a platform to work from.
Once out we changed and poked at maps and surveys then went our own ways. Following the A686 to Penrith was awesome as ever, with the added fun of numerous horse drawn craravans of all types heading for the Appleby Horse Fair. The M6 was a real pain, 3 sections of stop start due to roadworks and accidents, and to add insult the car died a mile from home. luckily after cooling down and refilling the water, gentle words and an incantation or two I arrived home safe!
