Devis hole mine

[docfunk]

Went to Devis hole last night for the first time,the mine is great,impressive dry(but wet) stone wall tunnels, lots of mining artifacts,carts,buckets,greese pots,rail lines and some very well preserved clog prints between the rails from the people who pushed them,the natural system is amazing too, the central maze is so confuzzleing it has something like over a mile of passage in a 400 metre square with lots of very tight squeezes,lots of shut downs and low crawls, a good fun evening. 

 

[crazystaci]

cool sounds fun, where is the mine?

 

[dunc]

cool sounds fun, where is the mine?

Makes for an entertaining outing!
In the Yorkshire Dales.. In Swaledale, south of the villages of Grinton and Reeth..

 

[docfunk]

cool sounds fun, where is the mine?

`tis aroundabout where the cross hairs are http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=54.362755&lon=-1.925774&z=18.6&r=0&src=msl

 

[gus horsley]

cool sounds fun, where is the mine?

If you're intending to do it I'd recommend getting hold of a copy of the survey (from Moldywarps Speleological Society I think) and also take a compass.  the central maze really is bewildering, with multiple junctions every few feet, and most of the passages look the same.  Good novelty trip though.

 

[docfunk]

I went with the guys from Moldywarps Speleological Society who did the survey, so needless to say we knew where we were 

 

[Getwet]

Went for a look into Devils hole mine recently.

Thanks to Docfunk for the link to the location, it got us to the general area, however the entrance is not where the cross is!! We finally found it but following the stream up, 1/4 mile, to an area of workings/spoil and then bearing right up an obvious gully above this.

The entrance is a short climb down a shored up shaft into a low passage that opened up after 50 yds, I assume we found the right one!??

We had no survey but there was plenty to explore. We ended up in an area where  "West Wellington vein" was marked on the wall, so I assume thats where we were! Plenty of loose overhead stuff on the route to this area.

 

[dunc]

The entrance is a short climb down a shored up shaft into a low passage that opened up after 50 yds, I assume we found the right one!??

We had no survey but there was plenty to explore. We ended up in an area where  "West Wellington vein was marked on the wall"

Sounds about right! Did you have an explore around the central maze area?
Looking at a basic survey of the mine, West Welly leads to the natural passages of the Occidental Series, whereas East Welly leads to a lot more mine workings and more recently re-discovered natural passages - anyone done that stuff, curious to know if its worthy of a trip?

 

[Getwet]

I don't think we found the central maze area :-\. From the entrance we proceeded straight on past a few passages on both sides until we came to an obvious T junction or + roads to be precise, however straight on looked a bit collapsed and crawly, so we opted for the easier passage off to the right which took us off to Wellington west as described.We didn't explore any of the other passages on this trip

 

[dunc]

I don't think we found the central maze area . From the entrance we proceeded straight on past a few passages on both sides until we came to an obvious T junction or + roads to be precise, however straight on looked a bit collapsed and crawly, so we opted for the easier passage off to the right which took us off to Wellington west as described.We didn't explore any of the other passages on this trip

Following main passage from entrance you pass a level on the left (Pearsons) and a bit further on past that is where you can access the Central Maze - if memory serves me right theres a few places where you can gain access to it.

 

[Getwet]

Had another trip into Devils Hole mine recently, had a tour through the central maze, truly AMAZING!!!

We didn't find the area of mine workings with artifacts, or any SRT options which I have seen pictures of on another site

 

[Getwet]

We didn't find the area of mine workings with artifacts, or any SRT options which I have seen pictures of on another site

Can anyone offer any advice on how to locate this area? We got rather lost in the central maze area looking for it, but we got out in the end!

Cheers 

 

[docfunk]

Give me a couple of days and I will try to get a survey...

 

[moocher]

i do like the sound of this place, i love what nature can make but also like to stand in awe of what man can achieve with blood sweat and tears

 

[Getwet]

hi docfunk

regarding your recent offer of help:-

Give me a couple of days and I will try to get a survey...

Did you ever manage to get a survey or any clues to route finding to the pitches etc

Cheers

 

[dunc]

Did you ever manage to get a survey or any clues to route finding to the pitches etc

There was an article with some basic surveys in the last issue of Caves and Karst Science (Vol 33, No.2) - can't remember if the article contained the information you require (haven't got the magazine to hand due to decorating) - but it might be worth a look, even if it's just to get an idea of the layout of the mine.

 

[docfunk]

Er I forgot all about it,i will get some sorted out  :-[

 

[Getwet]

Cheers

I must admit my memory span is rather small these days, I had forgotten you offered until my mate asked me again