Confession Time

Paul Marvin

Paul Marvin

Member
Hi Guys

How many mine enthusiasts also go caving as well , I am very interested ?. Dont start a bun fight though !!!

Paul
 
tomferry

tomferry

Well-known member
I admit I also go caving their both underground in a dark hole both have their own formations, As long as I am underground I am happy , also have to admit I have been down lots of nice railway tunnels !
 
Brains

Brains

Well-known member
I am immensely happy exploring mines or caves, each have so much to offer to those that have eyes to see! For those that want a gym workout I dont suppose it matters
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
Again, no real preference for me either - though I do still feel that odd twinge of frustration and awe when I think I've found some new natural cave and then see a stemple in the roof. Seeing five intact clay pipes and a jacket button on one short trip into a 'new' site recently was pretty cool too :)
 
Cantclimbtom

Cantclimbtom

Well-known member
Not tried caving, but If I ever manage to get outdoors rather than just discussing it on a forum :(  I'd like to try a cave. Some of the pots in the dales look interesting from the photos I've seen, lots look quite up-and-down in nature. Don't mind getting damp but don't own a wetsuit or furry oversuit so I'd need to choose wisely
 
ZombieCake

ZombieCake

Well-known member
Not sure it really matters much, as long as it's avoiding that pesky daylight thing.  Of course there's different nuances, but what's not to like?
 
Paul Marvin

Paul Marvin

Member
pwhole said:
Again, no real preference for me either - though I do still feel that odd twinge of frustration and awe when I think I've found some new natural cave and then see a stemple in the roof. Seeing five intact clay pipes and a jacket button on one short trip into a 'new' site recently was pretty cool too :)
Click to expand...
 

Imagine the buzz we get being the first to swim down a tunnel that nobody has been in for many many  of years , not knowing whats around the next corner. Rhiwbach was particularly a great thrill  when we first dived that , there are a lot of goodies in there
 
royfellows

royfellows

Well-known member
I did some caving in the peaks many years ago and have been thinking of giving it another try. When i go into a mine and find someone has moved one of the rocks from where it was last time I start to think it about time to try something new.  :LOL:
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
What I enjoy about many of the Peak District sites is that you often get both options in one - we're currently surveying an old mine with a large natural chamber in it, with definitely more natural to follow. Bargain :)
 
PeteHall

PeteHall

Moderator
I'm primarily a caver, but while I lived in Durham, I spent a lot of yine exploring (and digging) in the local mines as I could be underground 40 minutes after leaving my front door.

Fir a time, I was much more mine explorer than caver and part of me misses that side of it.

I've got loads of projects I'd love to get back to, but it's just too far and I've got loads of projects down south now.

Either way, I'm happy so long as I'm underground (other than the London Underground, which doesn't count).
 
alastairgott

alastairgott

Well-known member
I've been caving fir yines too!  :tease:

Primarily a caver, as soon as I started 'caving' in Derbyshire I was taken to loads of mines, which I'd always told my mum (when a student) were far more dangerous!

My mum did ask me to stop telling her where I was going so she wouldn't worry, I think this is probably as the number of mine trips increased. But I think I've got a happy medium now.

And as if to prove pwholes case in point, me, him and "others" (it's pwhole's favourite gripe when all the key people are summarised as others...) spent 4years ::)  digging Longcliffe MINE and POT  :dig:
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
Indeed - here's another of those funny open stopes with no vein in it. What a waste of our mine-exploring time. And also the miners' passage leading away from its base. You can tell it was a mine passage from the staircase. Probably pre-gunpowder though, so it must have take a while to open it up :)
 

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davel

davel

Member
Started in north Wales back in in 1961 with the limestone caves and mines at Llandulas. At Manchester with MUSS from 1968 onwards was mostly caving in the Yorkshire Dales and occasionally elsewhere in the UK plus a couple expeditions to Matienzo in Spain. On moving back to north Wales it's been mostly mines and underground quarries and I've developed an interest in industrial and particularly mining history. However, I've had occasional underground caving trips in south Wales caves over the last few years and a very enjoyable trip down Lost Johns 18 months ago.

So, am I a caver or a mine explorer? I'll answer to either - and enjoy both.

Dave
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
Love both.. not sure why there seems to be this 'perceived' animosity between the two groups when if fact, with maybe the exception of the Yorkshire dales, all the area's of UK have a plethora of both.

Perhaps it dates back to the 'forum' wars of the early noughties.

Anyway, growing up in Castleton,  I guess my interest for the underground was first piqued by dropping stones down mine shafts up on Dirtlow Rake with my dad.  Then scout trips down P8 and Giants and then some forays with Dad into some of the Perryfoot caves.  Then when I got into caving proper (much later in life) it was trips into Rowter, Oxlow, Odin etc and the big slate stuff in Wales that gave me a real appreciated for man made underground spaces.

I get an equal buzz from both.
 
mch

mch

Member
I've always done both - as I started venturing underground in the Peak District this was really unavoidable! Are there actually people who only do one or the other or is that a myth?
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
mch said:
I've always done both - as I started venturing underground in the Peak District this was really unavoidable! Are there actually people who only do one or the other or is that a myth?
Click to expand...

Said with out judgement .. but I suspect there are more Mine Ex/Urb Ex types that have never been down a cave, against cavers who've never ventured into a mine.
 
thehungrytroglobite

thehungrytroglobite

Well-known member
I got into caving first, and was adamant that mines were rubbish and boring in comparison, but a combination of dating an archaeologist, my house being closer to mines than caves, and mines being more accessible to me (I go to the lakes a lot) mean that I have now done just as many mine exploring trips as I have caving trips.

I like them both for very different reasons, and although if I HAD to choose which one I preferred I'd probably go for caving still, mine exploring isn't far behind!
 
2xw

2xw

Active member
Being a peak district caver I'm not sure we have much of a choice, can't think of many caves that towd man hasn't been in
 
Mrs Trellis

Mrs Trellis

Well-known member
First trip aged 11 was Old Tor Mine from school camp on Cooper's Edale. As usual Derbyshire caving involves mines or part mines into part natural except Perryfoot, Gautries, Giant's * and Nettle.

Aged 40 and retired from real caving I took a wander with family to Alderley Edge and ran into a couple of DCC blokes who "persuaded" me to join - although I now realise they only wanted me for the lifts when required  ::). So I spent 20 years or so at Alderley most of it leading trips in West and Wood & digging the Hough Level . When the blokes died it became less fun so I stopped.

*Giant's is now mined after Watson's & Revell's efforts  :dig:
 
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