A question, is there just one entrance, excepting locked-up shafts, into the dreaded Odin Mine (rather scary one ones own).  To the right of Odin Cave (when facing it) there is a narrow deep chasm.  Passing through this leads you to a rambling climb up large boulders, rotting tree trunks, and slippy fallen leaves which brings you to an entrance on the right (actually there is a narrow rift on the right which looks very deep indeed).  There is actually a (sure there is a more modern name) shiny piton at the entrance (and one on the rock face on the right too).

Anyway, with the help of a krab and a cord, I lowered myself down the seven or eight foot entrance.  Once inside, one can see it is an excavated vein, with very old looking stemples dotted around, some very high up indeed (those miners, some (surname Gregory) ancestors of mine, were brave or hungry, most likely both, a necessity of survival before social security came along).  There is a passage on the left about 15 yards after the entrance and another on the left about 20 yards further on.  You then reach an ascending climb (there was a slippy in situ rope there), but, as I was on my own, I didn't dare get to the top of the climb despite it not being too difficult.  I therefore turned back.

After this overly detailed narrative, I need to ask, this is Odin Mine, isn't it?  I'm 99% sure of that.  But what I don't know is whether this adit is the usual entry to Odin Mine?  Any input would be appreciated.

Ta, Jon

Yep thats Odin Mine adit entrance alright. There should have been a bolt the bottom of the entrance climb/pitch to anchor your rope to so tourists don't pull it up.
If I'm correct a through trip used to be possible down throught the cartgate, emerging on the far side of the road under the bus turning circle. If you walk down there you can see the walled up waggon gate entrance with lots of tailings (waste rock) on the floor. I don't know when, but this ran in at some point in the last 10/20? years.This is where ore was removed from the mine and crushed (obvious crushing ring nearby).
From what I've read the mine used to extend all the way to under Mam Nick car park and some of the obvious hillocks in the Peakshill Farm land nearby may also have been associated with it. Quite impressive.
Find a friend and venture further in, it's well worth a look. Nice stone stemples and the roofing in the cartgate is very impressive, and then there is the table leg stemple/rebelay!
Very old mine and starting to get a bit crumbly so take care!

Pete

Only the one entrance now, rigging description in the Peak Rigging Guide for one of the routes down through the mine. Other, less secure, routes are possible. The shiny things you found will be resin fixed P bolts.
The vein was indeed worked beyond Mam Nick, where there were deep shafts in the modern carpark. A sough also ran down to Peakshill Farm, as well as another deeper one that headed for Castleton. I am told this later one is now full of goo that releases gas as you flounder up it, as well as warm water...

Can the Castleton sough be reached from the inside (i.e. through trip)?

Not that I know of, but the hope of finding the inside end has led many to venture into the rotting Victorian levels in search of a scary time. Going upstream is also less than popular due to the bad air

We were down Odin Mine some years ago, somewhere in the lower levels, when we came across a small hole in the floor. Luckily, before we jumped across, someone had the foresight to throw a small rock onto the floor on the other side - the floor immediately disappeared into a black hole. We made our way gently back out and haven't been back since! The trouble with old mines is that you never know what you are stood on. It may be a solid floor or it may be a few inches of rubble on top of rotten wooden stemples. Be careful down there especially if you go beyond the normal tourist area! 

I have vague memories of a mined rift with deep water on the right between Odin Cave and the actual entrance to Odin Mine - dived in the late 70's / early 80s by Tim Nixon, to a dead end. So this isn't an entrance to the mine; just thought I'd mention this in case anyone was considering trying to remove the water.

The Peak District Mines Historical Society (see website) has produced a number of excellent publications over the years - if I remember rightly there is a large part of one of the Bulletins devoted to Odin. The PDMHS book "Lead Mining In The Peak District" (Ford & Rieuwerts, first edition 1968 - the most recent version, I think, is a reprint of the 2nd edition dated 1981) has some useful starting info in the Castleton Area chapter. The reference number of this book is ISBN 0 901428 25 6. A good basic description of the underground passages exists in Caves Of The Peak District (the standard cavers' guide book). There's a new edition due out soon, incidentally. If you can lay your hands on a copy I can thoroughly recommend Dave Elliott's "Caves Of Northern Derbyshire, Part 5" (1975 I think), which has a big section on Odin Mine (including an elevation showing the pitches).

I know many experienced and careful cavers who have horror stories to tell about collpses happening in there - be extremely careful. Also, if by any chance you were thinking of looking at any of the old shafts higher up (and I think these are run in and inaccessible anyway) be aware that these were sunk through shale, which means they are likely to be very rickety and may well have bad air (just like the one which was sadly the site of a fatal accident recently in Scotland). Be very very careful . . . .

im told that the shafts in the shale and the shale gate levels are all collapsed so no need to worry about those.

i've been down to the level of the water table. (flooded worked out rake continues)
its not big hard or clever...

CT - I don't think anyone's suggesting going down Odin is "big hard or clever" but it does need care beyond that normally needed on an ordinary caving trip.

By the way Ditzy, I remember Keith Bentham doing some work on those particular shafts through the shale - also P B Smith many years ago. If any of them prove still to be accessible they're probably not right good places to be.

There is a natural looking hole almost opposite Odin Cave on the sort of higher terrace bit (if that makes sense, Summer and I had a look in some years ago and it quickly went down to crawling size, I decided it wasn't entirely sensible to explore much further with a 7 year old in walking gear with hand torches but it was still going when we turned round. What's that then? How far does it go? 

Pitlamp said:

I remember Keith Bentham doing some work on those particular shafts through the shale - also P B Smith many years ago. If any of them prove still to be accessible they're probably not right good places to be.

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After been given some info by Trevor Ford I opened up the Mam Tor Engine shaft. It went in the first session to my surprise. After sending down lighted paper which burnt well I descended to find the shaft had deep water at the bottom. Not having transport and seeing no way on and seeing no point in getting wet and then having a cold walk home I came out. Trevor then told me that PB had been down and at water level entered a level. Most of the water flowed off left and a way forward continued to another small shaft in the shale with nothing to place an anchor. I went back and placed a scaffold pole to descend into a shale chamber. Over a few sessions I dug in the base of the chamber and found the shale/limestone boundary. But then I finally got spotted by the landowner who lived the other side of Hope and my excuses of not being able to figure out who's land it was etc did not count for much and it meant I was banned so I never went back. The whole lot was in shale which can give problems with both gases and collapse but at the time I was young, wanting finds and did not always think things through! Still is a good lead though in to the back end of Odin and nearer the caves.

Since the surface collapse last November (2008) has anyone been down Odin to investigate if it has had an impact on the cartgate?
http://www.peakdistrictcaving.info/cave0811.htm
I'm planning a trip down there in the next day or so and it completely skipped my mind. Any info would be appreciated.
Pete

i'd be interested in what you find.

Off down after lunch so I'll take my camera and let you know.

ttxela said:

There is a natural looking hole almost opposite Odin Cave on the sort of higher terrace bit (if that makes sense, Summer and I had a look in some years ago and it quickly went down to crawling size, I decided it wasn't entirely sensible to explore much further with a 7 year old in walking gear with hand torches but it was still going when we turned round. What's that then? How far does it go? 

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So where was I then?

If you look at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48651817@N00/
I've just uploaded two photos of Odin surface
Can you use either of them to describe where you were?

I'll give it a go, although it was 2005 so my memory could be a little hazy. Possibly we saw all there was of it but it looked like it went on...


Just below my red cross (but on the other side of the rock).



I took this photo inside looking out which may help.

I think that you may have been in a small level roughly between the entrance to Odin Cave and the main mine entrance, just a short walk up the gorge from the entrance to the cave. I don't know what it is but I have stuck my head in there briefly in the past.

The surface depression on the grass looks to me like it has gotten deeper and shows some fresh cracking in the soil around it. Last time I saw it it looked like a small hollow but now it definatly looks like a hole opening up.
I do like how the sign on the fence says that it may be a shaft or the roof of a chamber collapsing but if nothing happens they will just fill it in.

Anyway, just got back from there with a few friends. I'm sorry to say that we did not reach the end of the cartgate, we were a rope short in the bags  , we did however make it to the last set of pitches down into the cartgate and a good time was had by all.
Having now looked at an old survey from Dave Elliot's 'Caves of Northern Derbyshire' vol 5 I would guess that the part of the mine corresponding to the surface collapse is beyond the limit of where cavers can reach, I certainly don't think it is in the cartgate. It's a good 50m from the collapse to the actual entrance (maybe a little more) and you go a long way into the mine before dropping down and heading back that way.

On the crawl under the fantastic stone stemples we saw a hole in the floor. Now it has been about 3 years since I was last there but I don't remember it being there. Is it new or is my memory just dodgy? It was my 1st ever SRT trip and 1st Derbyshire mine back then so not really looking about much, spent a lot of time with my eyes closed.

It does look a hell of a lot scarier down there than I remember. Still a nice trip though.
Pete