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Oxlow - 2 Questions

M

MJenkinson

Member
Hi all

Forgive my quite possible stupid questions but:

1. Understand that Oxlow was once mined (hence the stemples and ginged shaft). On a recent trip someone asked me when I pointed out the stemples "how did they get the ore out"..I have no idea. Was it all lifted up through the entrance shaft?

2. Whats the length of poly prop for on the left handside of the West Chamber as you head downhill. It seems to lead up to a red marker and is too thin for SRT and, I would think, too thin for a handline.  It's also not a pull through (i.e. double strands).

Cheers
Matt
 
AR

AR

Well-known member
Regarding question 1, the ore would all have come out of a shaft but it's not certain whether the present entrance shaft was the main winding shaft or whether there was another that's now blocked. There's not any surface evidence that there was a horse gin on the shaft as far as I know, but there may have been a hand windlass (or a pair of stows, if we're going for the proper Peak terminology!).
 
Pete K

Pete K

Well-known member
2. It's the pull through system to rig a rope up for Pilgrims Way and the Giant's connection. The DCA Handbook has rigging info and a how to guide I think.
 
bograt

bograt

Active member
IIRC, the pull through up to Pilgrims is on the Right hand side of West Chamber facing downhill from Oxlow entrance?.
 
C

Chocolate fireguard

Active member
The Pilgrims pullthrough rope is on the RHS of West Antechamber, facing downhill.

Somewhere on the LHS of West Chamber (near the lowest point I think) is a rope marking the climb to the traverse round the chamber, done by Ben Bentham I think. I don't remember it being polyprop though.
 
M

MJenkinson

Member
Yeah, it's definitely not the pilgrims way pull through and I am sure it was polyprop - defo not kermantel.

Just curious really.
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
I know the length of rope you mean - it's near the base of the slope heading up to the Maskhill connection? I think the Ben Bentham explanation is the correct one, as I'm sure that's roughly where he began the bolt traverses from. And on that note, I have another question - does anyone know what the situation is with Oxford Aven in the roof of the West Chamber? As in, was it ever properly bolted, or would it just be ancient spits up here now? And now far short of the surface is the top? I have no idea what the top of the aven was like, but if it's a choke rather than solid, is it possible that was once used as a haulage shaft to surface? Don't know where any notes of that might be - possibly the TSG library.
 
M

MJenkinson

Member
Thanks all, the rope is before the final pitch by the waterfall at the 'end' of the Oxlow West chamber.

Now the question is - is it worth climbing and how does one get up?!?!?
 
Mrs Trellis

Mrs Trellis

Well-known member
Getting back to Q1 for a mo' - the entrance shaft , surely a climbing shaft,  has a blocked level near the bottom and another straight on at the bottom and a lot of deads.  Then you're quickly into the natural so I'd posit mining activity took place mainly at the foot of the current entrance shaft though obviously t'owd man knew of the big natural; one former name is "Opens Mine" along with the more well known "Racketty" or "Ricketty" names.

It should be noted that the passage to the head of the fifth pitch is mined.

Interesting place in toto. On Faucet rake but with development along the same bedding plane as Nettle.
 
Roger W

Roger W

Well-known member
Mrs Trellis said:
It should be noted that the passage to the head of the fifth pitch is mined.
Click to expand...


Oh dear - I really shouldn't start to read ukCaving before I'm properly awake.

I'm afraid I totally misunderstood the above statement at the first time of reading.    :-[

At least, I hope I did!
 
AR

AR

Well-known member
You're giving me evil ideas now... expect to start seeing  signs saying "Warning! this conservation tape is the trigger wire for a claymore mine" around the Peak in future!

On a more sensible note, when I finally  get round to it I'll take a look at the ground between the Oxlow and Maskhill entrances and see if there's any sign of a gin circle to be found. The big caverns in Oxlow  we see may well be open courtesy of t'owd man working through sediments in them for lead and if it was productive, I can't imagine they'd have wanted to wind ore up several turns to get it to day.
 
John B

John B

New member
Interesting question that I haven't really thought about before. There is nothing in the roof of West Chamber, not that Ben found anyway. I can't think where a winding shaft would be.

Suppose West Chamber was VERY VERY big, and all the spoil was dumped in it?
 
Alex

Alex

Well-known member
You're giving me evil ideas now... expect to start seeing  signs saying "Warning! this conservation tape is the trigger wire for a claymore mine" around the Peak in future!
Click to expand...

Would that not do a lot of damage to the formations, at least the ones on the other side of the passage ;)
 
M

MJenkinson

Member
Anyone been up there? Is it simply a traverse round the chamber? Might be a good photo spot.

Not sure I want to be srt'ing up that rope though.....
 
martinm

martinm

New member
I wonder where that aven/shaft in the roof of East Chamber goes, don't know if anyone's climbed it. Maybe that's where the miners got the ore out?  :-\
 
AR

AR

Well-known member
John B said:
Interesting question that I haven't really thought about before. There is nothing in the roof of West Chamber, not that Ben found anyway. I can't think where a winding shaft would be.

Suppose West Chamber was VERY VERY big, and all the spoil was dumped in it?
Click to expand...

It's one possibility, it would depend what the miners found when they originally got in -  rocks or fine sediments, and on whether they could process undergound or needed to haul to surface.
 
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