Dyfngwm

[Lizzie84]

On the other side of the Dylife set is Dyfngwm. The water is usually as far back as I can remember, too high to explore but the drought we have just had has lowered the level enough to maybe do a dinghy trip along the level. Has anyone been in Dyfngwm recently and is it worth it, does it dry up, is it explorable? Or sketchy and not worth it. At one time it was rumoured to connect with the workings of Dylife on the other side of the valley.

 

[Graigwen]

I was back at Dyfngwm deep adit about six years ago for the first time in more than forty years, a lot of rock had been moved around at the entrance, but the water was still pretty deep. It always seemed very cold. I did not go in!

The Dylife Great Crosscut was always blocked by a fall at Alfred's Shaft (the first time I was there we only had candles for illumination).

You will find Michael Brown's book "A History if the Dylife Mines and Surrounding Area" very useful.

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[Lizzie84]

I was back at Dyfngwm deep adit about six years ago for the first time in more than forty years, a lot of rock had been moved around at the entrance, but the water was still pretty deep. It always seemed very cold. I did not go in!

The Dylife Great Crosscut was always blocked by a fall at Alfred's Shaft (the first time I was there we only had candles for illumination).

You will find Michael Brown's book "A History if the Dylife Mines and Surrounding Area" very useful.

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I have his book, it really is useful. I know the block is over at Alfred's shaft but there is still a potential for a fair way before it gets to that point in the valley.
How come you only had the candles? I love that, very authentic.
And yes the cold is definitely a factor that would need to be thought about

 

[Plwm72]

Was there on Thursday Liz... Water waist/chest deep, cold. I had waders on tho, just don't trip over the rocks!
Dry towards the end....
(If you go into Cafartha Castle deep beware of the large false floor at the Engine Shaft! )

 

[Graigwen]

How come you only had the candles? I love that, very authentic.

This is a story so stupid it will be hard to believe. Myself and a colleague were conducting an EM survey* on the hill between Dylife and Dwfngwm for a Canadian mining company and at the end of the day I decided it would be a good idea to look at the mine. I did not have much information, just the 6" map copies we were using to record our transit lines and a rather garbled conversation with the late Si Hughes (he was at school with my late wife). We were carrying as little metal as possible and no other electrical equipment but I had my emergency caving pouch with two candles and a few windproof matches; although I had removed the carbide lamp spares that were usually in it.

The EM equipment consisted of two large bright blue plastic hoops about 90cm diameter containing the coils. Adrian was wearing the receiver coil around his waist on a harness, with the electronics in a box strapped to his chest. I was carrying the transmitter coil on a single shoulder strap with another box for power and control. The equipment was so expensive we were terrified of it being stolen if we left it on the surface so we wore it underground all the time. Today there would be a photographic record of this insanity.

It is well known that Balch in 1937 said something like "Candles are by common consent the most dependable illuminant, as they cast no treacherous shadows?" - to which the normal response was "That is because they cast no bloody light!". I believe I quoted Balch's words about shadows to Adrian when, a short distance into the adit, ,we came across a winze. In order to ascertain if it was flooded or not I was obliged to kneel down and touch the surface of the water - it was impossible to tell by candlelight. Progress to the collapse at Alfred's Shaft was slow and tentative but the candles never went out.

So not really "authentic" at all!

* A couple of months later when I had learned a lot I was able to demonstrate that EM was almost completely useless at detecting the type of lead/zinc veins found at Dylife and in north Cardiganshire. The reward for this discovery was returning to Dylife in the terrible snow of January 1971 to repeat the survey using IP equipment. (It was so cold I had to carry 5 gallons of salt and soap solution to get a good ground contact.)
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