Park Lane Quarry - Bund - 3rd November 2012

[dave_the_cave]

Brian C and myself went on a ramble around Ridge/Park Lane tramway on saturday.

We were surprised to see the progress made on opening up park lane quarry in Neston. It is being re-opened after a lengthy planning permission process.

An enormous earth and stone barrier around the new entrance that Brian correctly calls a 'bund'. This is designed to reduce the noise from quarrying operations and so not annoy the local villagers.

A totally new road is or has been constructed from the bund to the road

The road leads directly into an area enclosed by the bund

Our curiosity got the better of us and we took a closer look at the hole in the centre of the bund

The deep hole is a planned new slope shaft into park lane quarry. Judging by the water levels the quarry is probably flooded at the moment.

The bund is very high and steep

Here is a video pan of the enclosure from the top of the bund
pan of the bund enclosure

 

[Ham and Doulting Stone]

I would like to remind you that this is private property! A lot of time and effort has been taken to construct the bunds and idiots like you climbing up and down them do nothing but ruin all of our hard work, CCTV has now been fitted on site due to vandalism and trespassing,
All your details have been logged and will be passed on to the Police if you are caught entering the site again, KEEP OUT!

 

[Ham and Doulting Stone]

Also the mine is not flooded.

http://news.hamanddoultingstone.co.uk/

 

[Mark]

Also the mine is not flooded.

http://news.hamanddoultingstone.co.uk/

Its good to see something positive happening in the quarrying/mining industry, too many have gone by the wayside because of the NIMBY brigade, good luck with the new venture.

 

[darren]

It is my understanding the the crime is one of trespass and thus a civil matter. Providing you leave when requested it is nothing to do with the police.

Anyone know any different?

 

[Smiley Alan]

something simlar happened  with a freind of mine so i think your right darren  but may be the ham & dolting bloke has a point specllly if people are  corsing damage or braking fenceing

 

[Andy Sparrow]

I would like to remind you that this is private property! A lot of time and effort has been taken to construct the bunds and idiots like you climbing up and down them do nothing but ruin all of our hard work, CCTV has now been fitted on site due to vandalism and trespassing,
All your details have been logged and will be passed on to the Police if you are caught entering the site again, KEEP OUT!

Or alternatively:

We welcome your interest in our project and you can find out more at http://news.hamanddoultingstone.co.uk/    We hope to allow occasional visits for enthusiasts with an interest in mining heritage.  In the meantime we would respectfully ask interested parties only to visit the site by arrangement with us as we are concerned about the safety of members of the general public straying onto this privately owned land.

Better?

 

[Les W]

Trespass is a civil matter and the police have no jurisdiction (criminal trespass excepted), however, causing damage can be criminal damage, definitely a police matter, however there is a need for evidence that will stand up in court... 

 

[droid]

I would like to remind you that this is private property! A lot of time and effort has been taken to construct the bunds and idiots like you climbing up and down them do nothing but ruin all of our hard work, CCTV has now been fitted on site due to vandalism and trespassing,
All your details have been logged and will be passed on to the Police if you are caught entering the site again, KEEP OUT!

Or alternatively:

We welcome your interest in our project and you can find out more at http://news.hamanddoultingstone.co.uk/    We hope to allow occasional visits for enthusiasts with an interest in mining heritage.  In the meantime we would respectfully ask interested parties only to visit the site by arrangement with us as we are concerned about the safety of members of the general public straying onto this privately owned land.

Better?

Maybe they don't welcome interest?

As far as I'm aware, they are a private Company, not a public resource.

 

[graham]

Maybe they don't welcome interest?

As far as I'm aware, they are a private Company, not a public resource.

After all, why should they? It is clear from the bund that they have had to make a significant outlay to satisfy their neighbours that they will keep disturbance to a minimum. Attracting nosey visitors would not seem to be part of such a strategy.

 

[Andy Sparrow]

To my mind it's not really about whether the company does or doesn't welcome interest.  Two chaps took a walk on the site out of hours because they have an interest in stone mining.    All quite innocent really.  They get lambasted on the forum, called idiots and threatened with prosecution.  It seems very disproportionate to me and does not reflect very favourably on the company.  There are ways to say things, and ways not to say things - that was the point I was making.

 

[Blakethwaite]

There are ways to say things, and ways not to say things.

To paraphrase your comment, there are times to say things and times not to say things. If you've been somewhere you shouldn't have then maybe it'd be wise not to bang on about it on a public forum?

I suspect most people on here have snuck over a fence at some time or other to have a peek at something but have then applied a modicum of discretion and not shouted about it.

 

[graham]

To my mind it's not really about whether the company does or doesn't welcome interest.  Two chaps took a walk on the site out of hours because they have an interest in stone mining.    All quite innocent really.  They get lambasted on the forum, called idiots and threatened with prosecution.  It seems very disproportionate to me and does not reflect very favourably on the company.  There are ways to say things, and ways not to say things - that was the point I was making.

Andy

Two points:

One: they were trespassing at a site where, we are told, vandalism has taken place. I do not doubt that this would affect the way that the property owners would view their publication of their visit.

Two: I seriously doubt that the owners give a flying f**k how their attitude appears to those whom they view, with some justification, as a nuisance.

 

[dave_the_cave]

The re-opening of the park lane quarry is an important moment in quarry history. I fully intended documenting the developments as it is not often that a quarry opens and was very interested in how it was to be done. However on another forum someone pointed out that Ham and Doulting were doing this for themselves with a news-blog and I have not felt the need to re-visit.

Perhaps I should have posted this news on but no one seemed interested. But when legal issues are mentioned interest perks up.
FYI - The site is next to a public footpath and access was easily possible without causing any damage.

The locals are concerned with the amount of lorry traffic and the noise from quarrying operations for which the bund is an interesting solution that has not been used by existing quarrys in the bathstone area. Also the local rumours suggest that the new stone will be taken from the direction of cuckoo woods heading for whitley.

 

[Maj]

Has anybody considered the possibility that the reply from Ham & Doulting Stone, may in fact be from someone other than the quarry company? I don't know how the registration on UkCaving works, but could it not easily be from someone else just claiming to be from H & D Stone who just wanted to anonymously point out the error of judgement in posting the forray on a public forum, and directing interested parties to the H & D Stone website to negate the need for further unauthorised visits? Not that it matters either way, since the point they made is a valid point.

Perhaps it ought to be read as a reminder to all, that posting here could have the same repercussions as putting an article in a local (or perhaps national) paper.

Merry Xmas
Maj.

 

[tony from suffolk]

I would like to remind you that this is private property! A lot of time and effort has been taken to construct the bunds and idiots like you climbing up and down them do nothing but ruin all of our hard work, CCTV has now been fitted on site due to vandalism and trespassing,
All your details have been logged and will be passed on to the Police if you are caught entering the site again, KEEP OUT!

Or alternatively:

We welcome your interest in our project and you can find out more at http://news.hamanddoultingstone.co.uk/    We hope to allow occasional visits for enthusiasts with an interest in mining heritage.  In the meantime we would respectfully ask interested parties only to visit the site by arrangement with us as we are concerned about the safety of members of the general public straying onto this privately owned land.

Better?

Much better Andy. Given the importance good PR should be to his company, given that their activities are of such a sensitive nature, their belligerent post doesn't bode well. It's amateurish and unprofessional.

 

[Blakethwaite]

As a working quarry they will be bound by countless regulations. I don't think its particularly unreasonable that they don't want gangs of bobble-hatted berks mincing around their site once they've shut up for the evening.

How happy would you be about somebody wandering about your property and pasting pictures on the internet? A few 'belligerent' words seems a mild response.

 

[tony from suffolk]

So, how best to discourage "bobble-hatted berks" from trespassing on your property I wonder? Absolutely not with such aggressive tactics; it's ignorant and inappropriate.

 

[Blakethwaite]

Could a few angry words on the internet really be considered aggressive? Even Enid Blyton books had bigger threats...
Aggressive would be the business end of a steel toe-capped Dunlop implanted firmly up the backside and probably not undeserved.
I suspect if it was me having to deal with the M&Q act, a rote of environmental acts & the usual EL & PL stuff just to make sure I could carry out business I'd consider it a moderate response.

 

[tony from suffolk]

If you're running a reputable business you'd be ill-advised to post a response of this nature on a public internet forum. It's a PR disaster and I'd be very surprised if it originated from senior management.