Rob
Well-known member
For those that don't know, Hollandtwine is a lost mine shaft up on Dirtlow rake that was explored up until the 1970's, at which point the surface was dug up by the workings up there and then re-landscaped to the state that it is in today, without the shaft being capped. Before it was "lost" the main shaft reached to a depth of 365ft and then workings off that led down to 420ft. Quite a bit of natural was found including some chambers and a stream way with a number of pitches. However, according to old mine records a "Great Swallow" was reached at a depth of 600ft, water that almost certainly is connected somehow to Lake Passage in Peak Cavern (Doom's Retreat is about 750 metres North East of the entrance shaft!).
Over the last year a great deal of research has been done towards relocating this shaft, including the purchasing of old maps and aerial photos to pinpoint its position to within a metre.
Collaboration with the Peak Park, English Nature, the land owner, and the Dirtlow quarry manager has recently all come together to give permission for a short term excavation of the site with the hope of finding the shaft (estimated by different sources to be between 15 - 50 foot down). Fortunately for us, that whole area of Dirtlow Rake is undergoing a huge landscaping project at the moment meaning a whole load of large dumpers and 360 diggers are up there. An agreement with the site manager has been made allowing us to borrow a 360 and driver for a few hours to dig our hole, at a small price. This is hopefully going ahead on next Saturday (Jan 20th).
However, after the land owner has already had a 6 year long dig operating on his land (Titan), he does not want a long term scar in the middle of another one of his fields. This leaves us with a few options, depending upon what we find on Saturday.
1. We find nothing interesting at all, just a 20ft deep hole with not even a draught at the bottom.
- Outcome = fill the hole back in while we have a digger present and gracefully walk away with "at least we tried" attitude.
2. We find a great big shaft, hopefully don't loose the digger down it, and every one is happy.
- Outcome = immediate fencing to be erected around the site and lid capping materials to be sourced. Spoil back filled around a central shaft
3. We find something inconclusive, maybe a ginged shaft or a big draught from the centre of our hole.
- Outcome = a difficult decision to be made, probably by those involved in the project present at the time. May involve some of point 2, leaving a 20ft shaft down to the dig face where it can be continued by interested parties.
Unfortunately point 1 is probably the most likely. However, if something is found that is worth keeping, some work will need to be done that day with the main objective of making it safe. Then over the next few weeks the shaft will need to be built and the spoil back filled to level of the surrounding area.
So, who’s up for some fettling?
It would be great to have some preliminary names down for this Sunday. In the event that work is needed to be done I can let you know on the Saturday evening. From then on most days will be a good day for help.
We will also be very interested in getting all the materials (fence posts, wire, wood, boards, concrete, etc) on the cheap, some for saturday, some for later on. Any offers?
Over the last year a great deal of research has been done towards relocating this shaft, including the purchasing of old maps and aerial photos to pinpoint its position to within a metre.
Collaboration with the Peak Park, English Nature, the land owner, and the Dirtlow quarry manager has recently all come together to give permission for a short term excavation of the site with the hope of finding the shaft (estimated by different sources to be between 15 - 50 foot down). Fortunately for us, that whole area of Dirtlow Rake is undergoing a huge landscaping project at the moment meaning a whole load of large dumpers and 360 diggers are up there. An agreement with the site manager has been made allowing us to borrow a 360 and driver for a few hours to dig our hole, at a small price. This is hopefully going ahead on next Saturday (Jan 20th).
However, after the land owner has already had a 6 year long dig operating on his land (Titan), he does not want a long term scar in the middle of another one of his fields. This leaves us with a few options, depending upon what we find on Saturday.
1. We find nothing interesting at all, just a 20ft deep hole with not even a draught at the bottom.
- Outcome = fill the hole back in while we have a digger present and gracefully walk away with "at least we tried" attitude.
2. We find a great big shaft, hopefully don't loose the digger down it, and every one is happy.
- Outcome = immediate fencing to be erected around the site and lid capping materials to be sourced. Spoil back filled around a central shaft
3. We find something inconclusive, maybe a ginged shaft or a big draught from the centre of our hole.
- Outcome = a difficult decision to be made, probably by those involved in the project present at the time. May involve some of point 2, leaving a 20ft shaft down to the dig face where it can be continued by interested parties.
Unfortunately point 1 is probably the most likely. However, if something is found that is worth keeping, some work will need to be done that day with the main objective of making it safe. Then over the next few weeks the shaft will need to be built and the spoil back filled to level of the surrounding area.
So, who’s up for some fettling?
It would be great to have some preliminary names down for this Sunday. In the event that work is needed to be done I can let you know on the Saturday evening. From then on most days will be a good day for help.
We will also be very interested in getting all the materials (fence posts, wire, wood, boards, concrete, etc) on the cheap, some for saturday, some for later on. Any offers?