Browns Folly Quarry / Mine - ongoing deliberate destruction

[Disgusted from Cornwall.]

This is the sort of thing that happens.

A load of people think "what are we going to do to get revenge +++?"

We had some idiot messing with our rigging (on purpose) and the next thing to do is go and burn his house down when he's out at work. (not serious).


The solution is to let the idiots continue, otherwise it will end in damaged/dead people. If this means putting up with things, or letting them win, then so be it. If you engage with them in a warlike manner, you will all reap what you sow.

 

[royfellows]

This is the sort of thing that happens.

A load of people think "what are we going to do to get revenge +++?"

We had some idiot messing with our rigging (on purpose) and the next thing to do is go and burn his house down when he's out at work. (not serious).


The solution is to let the idiots continue, otherwise it will end in damaged/dead people. If this means putting up with things, or letting them win, then so be it. If you engage with them in a warlike manner, you will all reap what you sow.

This is common sense at its best and sums up exactly how situations can escalate into something serious.

Yes, go in mob handed and you end up with an affray.

Well said Stu

 

[Brains]

These vandals hide behind annonymity, but people MUST know who they are in real life, can not a message of "please dessist" be passed on firmly but politely?

 

[Disgusted from Cornwall.]

A good sulphur fire whilst they're in there would sort them out

That would learn 'em

"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!?An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound?ring like a man in fire or lime.?
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil?s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,?
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

 

[Minion]

We also need to keep in mind that generally Brian works alone in the mine.

Should people start 'taking action' against the vandals, there is a good possibility the vandals may seek revenge on Brian as he would be the easiest target (they already know where he lives and has caused damage to cars etc.). Should the vandals happen up Brian working alone in the mine, I dread to think what may happen.

 

[royfellows]

I can remember when I first went in there, late 1980s or early 1990s.
Basically, as the miners left it.

Keep going past Clapham Junction and there are watering troughs on the left. Someone ( he posted on here or AN a while back) had carved a fishes head there for the water to run through. Not original, but I loved it and christened it the "fish Fountain"

This was smashed in the later 1990s. I know how I felt at the time.

 

[royfellows]

These vandals hide behind annonymity, but people MUST know who they are in real life, can not a message of "please dessist" be passed on firmly but politely?

Unless someone is being 'set up' its all there in previous postings. Bearing in mind this comment, one person should be easy to contact through his business, again its all in previous postings.
I thought of contacting him to see what he has to say for himself, but I don't really want to become involved.

I just wish it was all back to as I originally found it.

 

[MonkeyCaver]

And to MonkeyCavers point about there being no signs, I don't think this gives any sort of access. We have the legal concept of ownership, of land and buildings (amongst other things), which give the owner a monopoly of access which he is entitled to extend. Footpaths clearly are an exception. But as an example, there are no signs on my garden or house saying keep out, nevertheless an intruder would be on the wrong side of a number of laws......

Chris.

When I said 'signs' I was not referring to things you stick on a wall that tell you messages of what to do. I was meaning as in no one has made any effort or shown any signs to prevent access what so ever aside AWT with their grills. The owners know of the troubles as they have been informed but seem content to leave it open for random exploration by the public.

 

[MonkeyCaver]

Is it just me or did anyone else notice? I think somebody at least, or maybe some bodies are perhaps getting a little concerned maybe??? The Face book group Brian's Folly seems to of miraculously disappeared!!  I wonder if it is because everyone is unhappy and talking of sorting the issue out? Time will tell I am sure.

 

[NewStuff]

Is it just me or did anyone else notice? I think somebody at least, or maybe some bodies are perhaps getting a little concerned maybe??? The Face book group Brian's Folly seems to of miraculously disappeared!!  I wonder if it is because everyone is unhappy and talking of sorting the issue out? Time will tell I am sure.

No, I give you decent odds that it means they've twigged that unintended persons know about it, and have set it to approved members only. It'll still be there, unless facebook nuked it for being "offensive".

 

[Wayland Smith]

They will re-surface again soon posting crappy pictures, they can not help themselves!

 

[MonkeyCaver]

Both valid points!

 

[Carbide1]

During August 2012 when Brians unofficial locks were being cut off there was a FB page called "Kojack Master", used similar tactics to the "Brians Folly" page.

 

[MonkeyCaver]

OK Please feel free to make sense of this.

This photo was posted in Darkplaces Facebook page Saturday evening, showing and referring to the heavily damaged area known as Clapham Junction.

What's wrong with this one might ask?

How about the fact that when this damage was done, Brian was on the scene so soon after this happened that there was still fumes of many kinds very prevalent in the whole area. It was like a fog is how he describes it. This photo seems to indicate being possibly similar?

How about the fact that the rubbish in the photo was cleared within minutes of being found?

How about the fact that there is still unpainted areas, the rails for instance in this photo? The damage is not complete when compared to other photos of how it was finally left.

Coincidently also, when this photo was questioned in the group, around the same time all the content of a certain individual disappeared from the group Brian's Folly. Very soon after that the whole group disappeared also.

Now I am not Sherlock Holmes but there is a lot of things going on here. Maybe someone can make sense of it?

Untitled by Cave Monkey, on Flickr

 

[RobinGriffiths]

Still cached on google:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.facebook.com/briansfolly/

 

[Brains]

The list in black on the wall reads differently as well to how it appears in the other photos - one name has been changed for another?

 

[royfellows]

......................., they can not help themselves!

I have wondered on this. Is daubing walls with daft rubbish some kind of psychological compulsion?
Maybe the degree of compulsion is inversely proportional to the degree of intelligence.

 

[popeass1]

That picture is curious, the presence of bottles and Brians name on the wall shows it was taken before it was discovered by Brian, who as Cavemonkey says practically caught them in the act, not giving anyone else much time to discover and photograph it, apart from those that did it?

 

[MonkeyCaver]

The list in black on the wall reads differently as well to how it appears in the other photos - one name has been changed for another?

Well spotted. It is known when this happened! Does it mean two groups? The main damage perhaps done by distant organised groups, then adjusted, added to or otherwise altered, by a more local group maybe? Evidence would appear to indicate this. maybe there are two groups and they work together? Maybe that is what Brian's Folly was about?

 

[Brains]

Over on AN someone called DrJ has been repeating the lies from the propaganda wing of the vandals... In a not unsurprising tirade he switches events around to try and blame the caretaker for the vile actions of a few. Disappointing as AN claims to hold the moral high ground for online debate...

Dr J wrote:
Wading in, sorry..but everything that has happened can be traced back to Brian, you can argue otherwise but it started with him, only with him can it ever end-campaigns of naming and shaming, witch-hunting etc aren't gonna do it, nor is trying to quieten it down..

Cart before horse, the place was getting worse and worse in an escalating spiral of destruction when he stepped up

First well-known and iconic early explorers graffiti e.g. the Eye, stuff in Devils Chamber was removed, self-decision made for miners' stuff only...and then the 'alterations' began. Back wall of Pit Prop Chamber was ripped down (and sorry, but that was a total act of destruction, complete loss of historical context for this area-you can't recognise it anymore as anything but another passage-way), the walls started appearing, everywhere, and then the turning of Clapham Junction, once the absolute highlight of Browns, into a rockery, like some novelty entry for the Chelsea Flower Shower.

Not so - DC had to be cleaned after an extensive attack, including burning the cross as part of a "party." Likewise Pit Prop Chamber was vandalised and walls pulled down (a favourite trick). The eye was a focus for additional vandalism, as was the whole of CJ with vast quantities of detritus left weekly. He has placed the "punji stones" to discourage activities, and plans to restore this area once the attacks cease. Many delicate areas were becoming damaged and artefacts deliberately sought out and destroyed. Initially repairing the stacked deads, then diverting the unwashed onto more suitable routes followed. All areas are accessible

No doubt his intentions were pure, by removing all the open space, prevent 'un-welcome' congregating, but *this wasn't his decision to make/execute*, and the spot that had served as lunch for mine explorers for countless years was taken away. Don't think it's coincidence that most of the trouble and 'reclaiming' get togethers have been exactly here. And still the wall-building carried on, wherever-in fact rather than any reasoning for protecting areas of interest, really does seem to be towards whatever his whim of that day, week, month happens to be..to feed his truly bizzare obsession with moving rocks.

Reclaiming groups - now that is a real spin, they are mostly people invited to an underground party with lights, fires, drugs, alcohol and fireworks to try and cause as much collateral damage as possible, while disguising the more deliberate and targeted vandalism, including repeated attacks on the neighbouring Restore facility

Faced with this, concerns mounted, and the likes of DP, 28 Days, much of UK Caving and various other parties started asking, then requesting, ultimately pleading, for the alterations to stop...but to no avail, the only response being incoherent rants (which earned him the ban on DP). Coupled with replacing the official locks on Shakespeares gate, then walling it off from inside (which are reckless, frankly dangerous acts, given this is the best entry point in the event of any underground emergency/rescue), and the following/confronting/stalking of explorers underground, which many, including myself personally have experienced-not enjoyable in the slightest...frankly, he's p?ssed off a lot of people.

The trolls inhabit certain sites more than others, DP is now an offshoot of 28dl and no dissent is allowed. I don?t recall pleading on here either. He had permissive access to Shakespeare?s and maintained the gate in the face of costly attacks, replacing destroyed locks and metalwork at his own expense. BF has numerous entrances all open to varying degrees. The trolls have frequently broken the gate or walled it up from inside and out, as well as MH, hoping to exclude/ trap the caretaker. He spends a lot of time doing his work in there, and is bound to meet other explorers. In view of the threats often made to him he is wary of meeting strangers underground and usually tries to avoid them. The only people p'd off are those with a guilty conscience. He will gladly show people around, help the lost exit, and has an extensive knowledge of the place for those that can be bothered to converse

So, the bite-back started, first minor acts, pulling down the walls, re-arranging the stones etc..to show displeasure and 'reclaim'..but with no sign of him stopping they escalated and have got more and more extreme. It was inevitable. History demonstrates it time after time; when people are ignored, and others in control, their resistance becomes ever more extreme, and the desperation/anger/resentment grows... Which brings to what has happened now. I don't condone it, at all, such destruction and vandalism that has occurred is heart-breaking, but I do understand it

No, not reclaim, not bite back, just the ongoing and increasing trouble that first gave him the impetus to do something about it. Historical features are deliberately sought out and destroyed / trashed. Square well won?t hold water now, the puddle at the bottom is full of raw sewage and waste food in amongst the rocks. The ferret cage has been blown up with fireworks and poo, filled with foam, painted many time. The door and key have been smashed to pieces. Troughs have been broken and painted, saw benches smashed, artefacts crushed and broken, historic graff deliberately painted over. Turds are left scattered around. Attempts continue to break into Restore.
I contend this poster is part of the problem, not the solution..