Andy Hall, Slug, Pete
Llewellyn, Steve Gray, Dave Ottewell, Emma Key,
The Alderley Edge mines in
Most of the mines are still
accessible although many surface features have been obscured by vegetation over
the years.
Many of the mines are owned by
the National Trust and have been leased from them by the Derbyshire Caving Club
which maintains access and continues to explore and search for areas of mining
that have been closed for centuries.
I had been meaning to arrange
a club trip down here for some years and was prompted to get it organised when I
met up with Nigel Dibben, an old caving friend from university days at the
Hidden Earth in
We decided on West Mine as it
offers the best option for a sporting trip, so everyone was asked to bring a
sit harness and cows tails. We met at the main car park at Alderley edge near
the Wizard pub. The meeting time of 11 o’clock came and went and Nigel, our
guide had not arrived. The club members now started to give me some grief. I
was now getting anxious so after a couple of phone calls and a chat to the local
park ranger I spoke to Nigel who had lost track of time and would be arriving
late!
We got changed and set off. By
the way do not wear a PVC oversuit, you get too hot! A boiler suit will do. The
mine is mainly dry and sandy as it is in Triassic sandstone. The locked
entrance shaft is in a field about 15 mins walk through the woods from the car
park West Mine is the largest
mine on the Edge and was worked between 1858 and 1878. However, some parts
appear to be a bit earlier and others later with clear signs of twentieth
century workings.
West Mine consists of a series
of large tunnels on three levels following the dip down towards the WSW and
then turning NW on the strike towards the end of the mine. During the main
working period from 1857 to 1877, West Mine was probably known as the Western
Mine and was worked in two sections divided by a fault or Great Slide.
A short ladder leads down to
an adit, which opens out to larger passage, The Roman Galleries. This lead past
a shaft rigged with a fixed SRT rope from above and you head back underneath to
immerge in the roof of the Main Chamber at the start of a well rigged traverse
rope. This proved a bit of entertainment and was followed by a fixed rope
descent to the floor of the large chamber. This I a large stope that used to
lead directly out to the surface. We followed this downhill through a series of
large passages to Sphinx Chamber. The Sphinx rock itself has been damaged in
the 1950’s. Here the first part of the mine ends at a fault. A short climb
(fixed ladder and chain) leads to a steep incline up to a bridge across the
infamous Plank Shaft. This bridge is an impressive structure put in to make the
route across the shaft safe.
The second part of the mine
proved more sporting with a number of different interconnection routes via
passages on three levels running in a NW direction.
Nigel sent the more energetic
younger members on various alternative routes up some awkward chimneys and
crawls, all of which could be bypassed via walking passage. Several routes lead
via Chain Shaft and joins the old railway level after a gentle slope down. Just
after joining the railway level is a prominent rock known as The Dog or The
Lion. From here, access is possible by some easy climbs and devious routes to
the Middle and Top levels at the far end of the mine.
On the return trip we returned
to Sphinx Chamber and a passage leads N into Twisted Pillar Cavern. The pillar
has now collapsed. Above this route is another large stope reached from the Cavern
of the Twisted Pillar and ending in a covered shaft to surface above Sphinx
Chamber. We made our way out via the same entrance we came in and I was
completely confused by then!
We spent about four hours
underground on a thoroughly enjoyable trip and it was great to have a guide who
knew the mine and its history well. We plan to do another trip in the spring of
2013 involving a through trip along the Rough Level from Brynlow Mine to Wood
Mine that involves a boat.
Andy Hall
