“Below” 96.2 1

Quarterly Journal of the Shropshire Caving & Mining Club Summer Issue No: 96.2

E L O W !B

Jack Haseley1913-1996In September 1964, when ShropshireMining Club members turned up at their‘new’ overgrown Clubhouse armed withall the tools they could muster and aWhitlock digger, the neighbours lookedon with increasing concern. When wetold them that we wished to use thecottage exactly as it was and not to alterit in any way they began to relax andoffer advice.

Mr.Haseley began to take an increasinginterest in our works and the doings ofour Club. He had been a masterbricklayer, stonemason, and generalcraftsman, his knowledge of building,and the proper treatment of thatch wasconsiderable. Both I and the Club hadfound a friend.

With any advice we needed on theClubhouse Jack was always there. Oneday after a weekend when we had beenburning huge logs on the fire thechimney, filled with old crow’s nests,was found to be well alight. It was Jackwho attended to it and calmed our fears.When we had mice he produced aremarkable trap, which must have been150 years old. Our maintenance was notalways of the best and he often mowedthe grass, and even tidied the interior.In short he often went beyond the callof duty and was an elder friend to us all.We became much indebted to him andit was a Club rule that he should not beforgotten at Christmas.

He was a compendium of localknowledge and loved to point out the

minor things that others might miss, likethe peg still driven into the side of hisdrive to mark the route of the pre-warNewport by-pass which would havetaken his cottage. When we completedthe survey of Llanymynech Ogof it wastime to start the next project, on thesuggestion of the editor of the NewportAdvertiser I began the survey of thelocal mines of Church Aston & Lilleshall- a task which 30 years later still occupiesme today. Jack was in from the start,leading me to all the strange places hehad known from his youth and whichwith our combined knowledge we wereable to piece together into the firstcomprehensive survey. He helped meplumb the shafts and hauled our rubberdingy across the pools while I did thesoundings. He deserved in every wayto be my co-author in the work.

Once it was published and ouremphasis moved elsewhere we met alittle less, but we made him the firstHonoury member of the Club, MikeJames and then Mike Mooremaintaining contact. Unfortunately inthe late seventies our Clubhousebecame neglected and a source ofmuch concern, eventually followingthe death of the owner we lost it. Jackhowever never lost interest in the Cluband was pleased to attend our AnnualDinner in 1992, shortly afterwards hehad a stroke and lost all means ofcommunication. When I visited this oldfriend in the nursing home he couldonly cry, but I am sure he recognised meand was thinking of times past.

After three years he quietly passedaway on 10th MAy aged 83. Mike

Moore, Mike Clough, Alan Taylor andI represented the Club at his funeral atChurch Aston six days later. We werepleased to - his like is rare to find today.

I have decided that the second editionof Account No.7 “The Church Aston &Lilleshall Mines” should have adedication to him which I have wordedas follows:-

This Second Edition is dedicated to the memory ofJack Haseley 1913-1996

bricklayer, stonemason, soldier, advisor, friend,Honoury Member of the Shropshire Caving & Mining Club

who with his local knowledge and enthusiasmhelped so much to produce the first detailed workon these mines and canals between 1960 and 1970

and who regrettably was never able to studyand discuss the much greater knowledge gained

since and reproduced herein.

David R.AdamsFounder Member

Constitution ChangesA couple of changes are proposed tothe Club Constitution for ratification atthe AGM:

1. The reference to the monthlymeeting be changed to read “...meetusually on the first Friday of themonth.” So if necessary we can avoidBank Holidays.

2. It has been suggested thatProbationary Membership bedropped and new members beallowed to join as Full Members.Such new members would not beallowed to vote for 6 months andwould only attend simple trips untilthey have been through a trainingprogramme.

Comments to Adrian Pearce asap.

2 “Below” 96.2

News Round-Up 1by Ivor Brown

Shropshire EngineIt is expected that work will commencesoon on the restoration of the 1902winding engine built by the LilleshallCo. (Shropshire) for Pleasley Colliery(Derbyshire). The engine is to form acentrepiece for a major heritage centreproject, supported by PDMHS, EnglishHeritage and local Councils etc.

Disaster TalkOn 13th March 1995, IJB gave repeattalks on the Snailbeach Disaster inShrewsbury, exactly 101 years 1 weekto the day (Wed. 6th March 1895) of theaccident and exactly 101 years to theday (Wed. 13th March) of the inquest.About 60 attended.

The next talk is to the Black CountryGeological Society at Ward Arms Hotel,Dudley, 8pm, Monday 7th Oct. 1996.The subject is Limestone Mining inShropshire.

Wanted BookThe Life of Richard Weaver, asmentioned on p2 of the Spring issue of‘Below’. MDCCCLXI does not mean1856 but 1861. Sorry!

The original B.C.G.Soc. was founded in1842 and took a great deal of interest inShropshire - many mining celebritiesfrom Shropshire contributed to theirresearch and excursions.

Coal MerchantsJ.A.Smallshaw, formerly small mineowners near Dawley, now CoalMerchants, have started to import coalto Shropshire, via Gobowen Sidings.The coal is coming by the train-load -the last one, 350 tons came form SelbyCoal International Journal, Jan. ’96

Lilleshall FinishedContractors working on LilleshallLimestone Mine stabilisation expect tofinish in May 1996. They are now makingsafe a number of mine shafts. It isreported that the water filled oldworkings were found to be much moreextensive then anticipated.

Tankerville ChapelAttempts have recently been made todetermine whether there was a chapelor Methodist Meeting Place atTankerville Mine. Suggestions havebeen put forward that there wereservices held in the “Clubroom” andthe “Blacksmiths Shop” at the mine.Also there was a West TankervilleChapel in 1879 but this could well havebeen in the Hope Valley, where severalmines worked under this name at varioustimes.[For more on this topic see the letter onpage 8 from Andy Cuckson]

Israel UndergroundIJB has recently been in Israel. No pastor present mines were found innorthern Israel, but there are manycaves, grotto’s, cisterns and ancientwater tunnels (all mostly in limestone).In the south the ancient Timna CopperMines are now part of a Country Parkand an important tourist attraction.

Rossington CollieryThis Yorkshire mine is one of Budges’4 leased mines, as distinct from the 17purchased mines. Rossington was re-opened and re-equipped by Budge in1994 and now employs 320 men,producing nearly 1 million tons of coalper year. Shortly before BC closed it,1,000 men produced the same amount.The workings are over ½ mile deep, andreached by a 5 mile ‘paddy’ train, then1½ mile walk - it takes about 1 hour ateach end of shift.

1864 Geo. AtlasIn 1864 Reynolds Geological Atlas gavethe following information:- TheCoalbrookdale Coalfield is rich in ironore, blende, petroleum and fireclay - it is28 square miles in area and contains athickness of 27ft of coal in 1,200ft. ofstrata. It produces 800,000 tons perannum and at this rate has a future lifeof 20 years. Slight miscalculationsomewhere, also where was the“blende”?The foremost areas for the productionof petroleum or mineral oil from coalmeasures and shale are given asDerbyshire, Coalbrookdale and nearEdinburgh.

Shares For SaleB.R.Moore & Co. (Tel: Borth 871795),antiquarian Share and Book Dealershave recently been offering a collectionof mining share certificates, one was forRoman Gravel’s Mining Co. 1871. It isunusual to see Shropshire certificatesfor sale.

Mining MuseumsIJB has recently visited 3 miningmuseums of interest:

1) Black Country Museum, thelimestone mine tour by canal is quitespectacular, and also the mock-upof the Thick-Coal Seam workings.By special arrangement it is possibleto go down a real coal shaft (30ft.)and enter original workings.

2) Cannock Chase Mining HeritageCentre, The Valley Pit, Hednesford.Some of the old colliery buildingsremain and now include exhibits.Underground trips are not yetavailable but there are some traininggalleries yet to be re-opened.

3) Florence Ironstone Mine,Egremont, Cumbria. Still workingduring the week, tourist trips atweekends. The mine will remainopen until Sellafield Power Stationfind an alternative supply of water.

Query“Blast from colliery explosion killsShropshire children”

About 1900 there was a family namedFrost who lived at “No.1 Turners Row”in New Dale (Telford). The explosivesfor the local pits were stored in theircellar. There were 5 children in the familyand one day, while they were playingwith matches in the cellar, there was anexplosion. It is said that four of themwere killed.

Does anyone know the actual date andlocation of the accident?

“Below” 96.2 3

Under Down Under: Mines, Caves and Tunnelsby Alan Robinson

During the Christmas of 94/95 Vickyand myself were able to visit NewZealand for a tour of both islands. Aswell as the obligatory visiting ofrelations, namely my brother; we didmanage to venture underground on afew occasions. Actually Derek is avery keen caver and has been busy inthe Mount Owen and Bulmer caves inthe South island.

Compared to ourimages ofv o l c a n o e s ,geysers or thefierce Maori

warriors (andrugby players), New

Zealand is not normally a countrystrongly associated with mining.However the discovery of gold in the1850’s helped boost the flaggingcolonisation of the furthest reaches ofthe Empire. In time many otherworkable ores, including copper,tungsten, antimony and platinum werefound along with coal outcrops toenable smelting and steam production.Even today gold mining continues ona large scale at two sites in the Southand one on the North Island.

Whilst there we were able to visit thedevelopment at Macraes Gold Mine inEastern Otago. It is the only hard rockventure in the South Island. Gold wasdeposited in the Macraes area as aresult of super-heated fluids flowingup through the faults in the countryrock of schist approximately 120million years ago. The gold is generallyfound within quartz veins and it isthought that there is a reserve of overone million ounces available. Goldwas first produced at the end of 1990and since 1992 has been producingover 100,000 ounces a year.

The mine is entirely open cast, withoperations continuing 24 hours a day,6 days a week to maximise productionand offset the effect of weatherconditions during the winter.Excavation uses conventionalquarrying techniques of benching ineither 2.5m lifts for the ore or 5m liftsfor waste material. All movement ofmaterials is carried out by 85 tonne or150 tonne dump trucks.

The main pit has been divided up intoa 10 metre square grid, with a boreholebeing drilled at the corner of eachsquare to obtain a core of the oredeposit. In this way a map of the goldconcentration, typically 2g/t can beobtained prior to removal. Most of therock breaking is done by ripping butblasting is required in some sections.All excavated material is then classifiedfor immediate processing in the mill,stored on site until gold prices increaseor as waste if the gold content is lessthan 0.7g/t. In practice nearly 80% ofthe excavation is graded as wasteimmediately and the mill generatesalmost 15 tonnes of tailings for everyounce of gold.

To recover the gold, the ore is crushedand ground in a ball mill to a smoothslurry. The blue grey ore whichcontains sulphide is then concentratedin a flotation process and re-ground toliberate the gold particles trapped bythe sulphide. Cyanide is added to theslurry to dissolve the gold. The goldsolution is recovered by passing it overcarbon made from coconut shells.When the gold is washed out of thecarbon, it is electroplated onto steelwool; and the resultant gold deposit isthen melted into ingots called dore tobe sent for refining.

The tailings from the recovery plantare pumped into two storage damsbuilt across a natural gully adjacent tothe ‘pit’. In the retained water thefinely ground rock settles out and thewater is recovered. The cyanide usedto extract the gold is allowed to degradein sunlight or is denatured before thewater is re-used. Environmentalmonitoring is an on-going part of theproject and deals not only with thewater quality resulting fromthese processes, but also air,noise, blast vibrationand aquatic biology.All aspects ofc o n s t r u c t i o nmust include forthe potentialpollution thatmight result frome a r t h q u a k edamage.

Nearby to this mine are the remains ofthe Round Hill Mine at Golden Point.A number if levels are still open and anintact water powered stamp battery(complete with compulsory corrugatedtin shed) can be found. This site has amore authentic feel to it than the‘restored’ tourist gold mine siteselsewhere.

Still, many of the tourist trails do keepa realistic theme with their miningartefacts, particularly where the goldmining is secondary to the ‘MainAttraction’. A good example of this isthe Shotover River and Skipper’sCanyon which can visited as part ofthe very exhilarating white waterrafting or jet boating excursions. Here,in 1862 two sheep shearers found about200 ounces of gold in 8 days and toldeverybody about it! Townships ofthousands sprang up with every ablebodied person in the region intent onfinding a fortune. As with manygoldrushes, the easily found gold usingsimple panning or sluice-boxtechniques was quickly exhausted and

Banks Peninsula

Christchurch

Waitomo

Auckland

Southland

Mt.Owen

Clutha River

New Zealand

NorthIsland

SouthIslandOtago

4 “Below” 96.2

after two years the population of thegoldfield began to dwindle.

Longer term mining methods startedwith timbered tunnels and shafts intothe loose gravel terraces or using highpressure water jets to remove the greatdepths of overburden on the sides ofthe gorges. The search also movedtowards looking for gold in the reefs ofquartz veins further upstream. Theseventures required larger groups orsyndicates, often financed fromAustralia.

The 1870’s and 1880’s saw thedevelopment of dredgers, which was aparticularly intrepid endeavour for afast moving river. The first boats weresimple pontoons armed with a giantspoon which would blindly dip downinto the river bed. A steam poweredbucket dredge was used on the CluthaRiver nearer the coast in 1881 and itssuccess there led to another dredgebeing brought to the Shotover in 1888.

This proved very profitable for thenext ten years realising a return of overtwenty five times the originalinvestment and allowing theconstruction of a further 3 dredgers onthe claim. ‘Dredge Fever’ hit the regionand by 1904 there were over 150 on therivers of Southland and Otago. Astechnology developed electricity wasused for power and suction, rotatingcutters were also introduced to workthe rockier sections of the river beds.However the downfall of manyoperations was twofold: not enoughgold and the extreme flooding in thealready fast moving river.

Two schemes to win riches from theShotover river bed involved majorengineering projects for diverting thewhole river. In 1906 the Oxenbridgefamily started blasting a tunnel to carrythe water. After more than three yearsa level 14 foot wide and 750 feet longhad been driven through solid rock.

Unfortunately, their efforts were notfinancially successful, as Chineseprospectors had managed to win muchof the gold there during droughts some15 years earlier. A similar attempt in

the late 1920’s involved cutting acrossa large loop of the river to create anoxbow. This consisted of a sluicingoperation to cut a channel nearly 2,000feet across the glacial deposits,removing over 2,500 million tonnes ofmaterial. Once again it was a financialdisaster with only small quantities ofgold being recovered.

A final attempt at ‘capturing’ the riverwas made in 1932, with theconstruction of a steel flume 16 feetwide and 4 feet high through whichthe Shotover was to flow along oneside of the river bed. The remains ofthis and an old suction dredge can bevisited on the white knuckle ride of aJet-Boat ride as it races up the narrowgorge of Skippers Canyon. In betweenthe stomach churning spins and twistsof this more recent NZ innovation thescarred sides of the gorge terraces canstill be clearly seen with old cablehoists, leats, and compressor pipes.

There is also an opportunity to gothrough the Oxenbridge Tunnel byrafting the rapids of the Shotover whichstill flows through it. This is not for thearmchair mining enthusiast as there isabout an hours ride of fast flowingriver and rapids (with quaint nameslike Pinball, Toilet and Oh Shit!) toreach the tunnel. The raft then hurtlesthrough the darkness to emerge out ofthe tunnel about 2 minutes later straightonto an enormous all-engulfingcascade.

New Zealand has significant areas ofkarst landscape with an abundance ofwell developed caves. In the Waitomoregion of the North Island several cavesare over a mile long. However, it isperhaps best known for the incredibleglow worm caves and the relativelynew sport of blackwater rafting.

Here the would-be caver floatsdownstream on an inflated inner tubethrough passages lit up by thethousands of pin pricks of light.

The glow worms produce a blue orgreen light from their luminescentorgans to attract other insects (andadult glow worms) onto a sticky fishingline of silk suspended beneath them.Once caught on the fishing line theglow worm reels the thread back upand eats its catch. The glow worm isin-fact the larvae of a fungus gnat,Arachnocampa luminosa and stays inthe larval stage for several months.The brightness of the glow isproportional to how hungry the larvaeis.

Access to these caves is controlled bycommercial interests, but we were ableto have a trip in the Footwhistle Cavewhich lies on Maori tribal lands. Wealso managed to get another trip intothe entrance series of the Okupta RiverCave as a Christmas Day excursion onanother hunt for glow worms. As thename suggests the cave entranceswallows the whole of the Okupta riverwhich flows through a heavily forestedgorge.

Under Down Under: Mines, Caves and TunnelsContinued

Foot Whistle Formation

‘Cave Tubing’

“Below” 96.2 5

Under Down Under: Mines, Caves and TunnelsContinued

The New Zealand forests of the Northare better described as jungles, with adiversity and thickness of vegetationthat has to be seen to be believed. It isvirtually impossible to stray off cutpaths without a machete. This wasalso true of the flood debris which hadlog jammed itself into the entrance,along with smashed remains of a timberwalkway which had, until very recentlyprovided a river crossing. Findingentire trees inside the cave suggested itwas NOT the place to be on a rainyday!

During the late 1800’s the threat of anever expanding Russian sphere ofinfluence led to the fortification of theEast coast ports in the South Island.These often involved tunnels aroundthe cliff tops protecting the harbours.

17 years to complete under mountainswhich are snow covered nearly allyear. Avalanches and cold added tomake extreme working and livingconditions and there was manyfatalities.

The tunnel climbs at a steep gradientof 1 in 11 and does not have a sealedtarmac road surface over the roughhewn rock. It is only in the last fewyears that it has been widened to allowtraffic to flow in both directionssimultaneously. Until then, thedirection of traffic flow was determinedby set times, but this was never seen asa hardship in a country where even thetrains and cars share the same track!

Alan Robinson

At the Banks Peninsula nearChristchurch it is still possible to walkdown through the cliffs along an oldtunnel with its ‘windows’ looking outto sea across the bay. This allowedaccess from the barracks on top of thecliffs to the beach. In WW2 a pair ofsearchlight positions were installed tofurther increase the defence againstJapanese landings.

Today all the popular tourist spots areinvaded by luxury coachloads ofJapanese, who turn up for 15 minutesand then mysteriously disappear again.

One place they can be seendisappearing is the Homer Tunnel onthe only road to the spectacular MilfordSound fjord in the South. Constructionof this tunnel started in 1935 and took

A Short History of Meeson Hall & EstateMeeson Hall was completed by 1640,its main timbers being recently datedby dendrochronology to 1636. It hasthree close jointed red sandstone gablesat the front, the middle gable being setback, and a long cross wing at the rear.Behind the house are two half timberedservice blocks each side and within astone walled courtyard with a centralgateway to the rear, timbers dated to1649.

There is an elaborate wooden fire placein the dining roomcontemporary with thebuilding and several roomsare panelled. An unusualfeature is a cellar cut intosandstone below the diningroom with numerousdrainage channels in thefloor, these lead to an outletin the wall presently blockedby a 2 x 2 paving slab. Fromhere a stone cut man-sizedtunnel curves away to amanhole in the paddockbehind the house and thenheads straight for the woodbeyond under which it hascollapsed, but depressionson the surface lead to a smallstone built chamber. Thiswas probably a ‘wet’ cellar

system. In the 17th century many greathouses brewed their own beer and inorder to keep it cool a spring would betapped into the cellar and continuouslyrun off into a drain, this would havethe effect of keeping the cellarconsistently cool for the storage of notonly beer but also cheeses and dairyproducts. It is also possible that therewas also another cellar now lost.

The house was built by the Tayleurfamily who held the estate for nearly

two centuries, originally fromLongden-upon-Tern, they hadpurchased the whole manor of Bolasby 1632, and most probably occupiedthe Manor House before building thepresent Hall on a virgin site. The familyhad the custom of naming each eldestson ‘Creswell’ so there was a successionof Creswell Tayleurs. As time went onparts of the manor were sold, in thenorth some plantations were retainedfor game and in the south of the Parishsales are recorded of a considerable

number of fields and propertiesas far as the Strine Brook toThomas Meeson in 1718.

The Club visited the site toexamine the tunnel on the 26thMarch last year, although thetunnel from the cellar under thehouse was not measured on theday. Following this visit I havesurveyed the small 8 acre estatearound the Hall for the presentowner Mr. Adrian Jones (seeplan on page xx). Measurementsof the underground length of thetunnel have been taken fromevidence on the surface andunderground details from myown memory and photographs.

David R.B.Adams

56cm

Dimensionsapproximate

Tunnel cutthrough solidsandstone

water

Earth over

1.9m

36cm

Section of Underground Tunnelat Meeson Hall, Great BolasDrawn by David R.B.Adams, Jan. 1996

Alternativebrick archedroof towards

the wood

6 “Below” 96.2

Meeson Hall Plan ofHouse and Grounds

Drawn by David R.B.Adamsfor Mr & Mrs A.C.Jones

January 1996

“Below” 96.2 7

Thorpe, Stuart Tomlins and MikeWorsfold.

Surface walk to investigate surfaceremains, a visit to four Pumping EngineHouses (two of which have been turnedinto residential use), plus Snailbeachand Grits Smelters.

7 January 1996Well and Tunnel, Old WyndMembers Present: Colin & Liz Armfield,Eileen Bowen, Peter Eggleston, SteveHolding, Kelvin Lake, Mike Moore, NealRushton, Adrian Pearce, NickSouthwick, Rob Southwick, EdwinThorpe and Alan Taylor.

Well entered by Eileen Bowen, who re-surveyed the length towards the field.The underground location beacon wasalso placed at the fall so the exact spotcould be identified on the surface. Thespot was then dug with a mini JCB.Tunnel entered later - more surveyingto be carried out.

14 January 1996Well & Tunnel, Old WyndMembers Present: Dave Adams, Colin& Liz Armfield, John Davies, MikeMoore, Nick Southwick and RobSouthwick.

Tunnel entered via excavation, ownerstaken underground, photographic andvideo record taken.

Shropshire Project Up-dateby Nick Southwick

12 November 1995Well & Tunnel NGR: SJ671052Members Present: Eileen Bowen, JohnDavies, Peter Eggleston, Kelvin Lake,Mike Moore, Ben Shaw, Nick Southwick,Rob Southwick, Edwin Thorpe and TomWest.

MineCam lowered down Well to exposeTunnel, Ben Shaw investigated andsurveyed tunnel - digging to continueat a later date.

19 November 1995“1800” Tunnel(Behind The Malthouse, Ironbridge)Members Present: John Davies, MikeMoore, Nick Southwick and RobSouthwick.

“1800” Tunnel investigated andsurveyed to collapse. [See page 7 forsketch of accessible tunnel].

3 December 1995Yorton Bank Copper MineMembers Present: Colin & Liz Armfield,John Davies, Mike Moore, AdrianPearce, Julie Pearce, Nick Southwickand Rob Southwick.

“Treasure Map” locating the lostYorton Bank Copper Mine (as suppliedby Geoff Warrington) was investigated- metal grid cover located - furtherinvestigation required.

Clive Copper MineShaft stabilisation photographed.

23 December 1995Bulthy MineMembers Present: AdrianPearce and Stuart Tomlins.

Investigation of surfacefeatures, sketch map madeand recording from old minertaken.

28 December 1995Pontesford CoalfieldMembers Present: Colin & LizArmfield, Eileen Bowen, JohnDavies, Mike Moore, AdrianPearce, Julie Pearce, NickSouthwick, Rob Southwick, Edwin

4 February 1996Brierly Hill Tunnel SystemCoalbrookdale NGR: SJ671051Members Present: Dave Adams, Colin& Liz Armfield, Eileen Bowen, JohnDavies, Peter Eggleston, Kelvin Lake,Mike Moore, Neal Rushton, NickSouthwick, Rob Southwick, Tom Westand Mike Worsfold.

Bricks taken out of supposed BrierlyHill tunnel entrance - only to find solidclay behind. May only be a retainingwall, entrance bricked back up.

17 February 1996Rorrington MineMembers Present: Eileen Bowen, JohnDavies, Steve Holding, Neal Rushton,Adrian Pearce, Julie Pearce, NickSouthwick, Rob Southwick, StuartTomlins and Mike Worsfold.

Gate and lock fitted to Rorrington MineAdit.

3 March 1996Bulthy MineMembers Present: Colin Armfield,Eileen Bowen, John Davies, NickSouthwick, Rob Southwick, EdwinThorpe, Stuart Tomlins and MikeWorsfold.

Bulthy mine surveyed on surface andunderground.

10m25.7m10.1m26.7m

Fall

Side Elevation

VoidFall

2.9m

Plan

121o

123o

106o

FallVoid

2.5m

End ofbrickwork

1800

1.5m

0.9m

1.9m

N

Reynolds’ "1800" Tunnel, Ironbridge(Behind Malt House Public House)Based on a sketch by Nick Southwick, Surveyed 19/11/95

(Not to Scale)

8 “Below” 96.2

Methodist ChapelsWith reference to Ivor’s piece‘Stiperstones Miners Poem’ on page15 in the last issue of ‘Below’ and theearlier item on the ‘Chapel Circuit’poem in issue 95.5, I have a fewcomments:

Firstly, since the Primitive Methodistsare non-Conformists their places ofworship (if they are formal ones andnot a persons home) are always calledchapels and not churches. This wasfirmly impressed on me by Mollie andJoyce Evans, grand-daughters of EnochParry who spearheaded the building ofthe Snailbeach Primitive MethodistChapel. Church refers only to anAnglican or Catholic religious house.

The second point is that a mention inthe Circuit Plan did not always meanthere was a chapel at that place. If thelocal society (the followers) was strongenough, it would meet in a member’shouse rather than travel further afieldto worship, and as such would featureon the Plan to be served by the Circuit’spreachers.

Regarding Tankerville Chapel, I thinkI can provide a clue for Ivor on thisone. I didn’t take notes on it specifically,but I borrowed item PJ1 “The JointLordship and Tankerville Estates”from the Club Library recently, andvaguely remember a chapel atTankerville being one of the propertiesoffered at Auction in 1953.

Unfortunately this is only a brochurewith no maps, although plans arereferred to, but somebody around theremight be able to pinpoint this building.I suggest checking the brochure.

CorrectionA slight correction to my article aspublished in the Spring issue of‘Below’; in the References, all theSRRC reference numbers should be5982 in case anyone is interested inlooking up this collection. SRRC isShropshire Records & ResearchCentre; you might have guessed.Thanks

Andy Cuckson

Letters to theEditor

Gwydyr Mines AccessTwo years ago Adrian Pearce(representing NAMHO) and myselfattended a meeting with Mr. T.M.Owen,District manager for the ForestryCommission at Llanrwst.

During the meeting it was mooted thatsome kind of arrangements may bepossible in the form of an explorationlease, which would transfer the legalliability. I contacted Mr. Owen againrecently to suggest that I would bewilling, subject to agreement, and at myown expense, to set up a limited liabilitycompany for this purpose. Membersmight be interested in his response:

“ At our meeting in 1994, we raisedserious concerns over givingpermission to enter abandonedmines in Gwydyr Forest, althoughwe agreed in principle to considera lease. Mr Pearce’s attention wasparticularly focused on theAberllyn Mine.However, since our meeting adetailed bat survey wasundertaken at Aberllyn and thishas revealed several seriousunderground structural and safetyhazards. On this basis we are notprepared to consider a lease forthis mine. Other abandoned minesin Gwydyr Forest are also knownto have underground hazards.Therefore, we intend to persist withour clearly stated policy of notpermitting underground access forrecreation or education.”

Roy Fellows

Copper and Silver inShropshireIn 1394 James Mynour, fromDerbyshire, provided the Crown withinformation as to the existence of acopper and silver mine on the lands ofWenlock priory, or thereabouts, andoffered to work the mine to the king’sprofit.

The Sheriff of Shropshire, and oneHugh de Burnell, were commissionedto oversee the work. Burnell laterclaimed never to have received thecommission and there is, to myknowledge, no record of profitableworking in the exchequer accounts.(PRO Cal. Pat. R., Ric. II, Vol. 5, p. 444;

Cal. Close R., Ric. II, Vol. 6, p. 128.)

The documentary evidence I havefound to-date suggests that coppermining and smelting during themedieval period was generally in thehands of continental metallurgists whohad only limited success in workingthe English ores. Copper / silver oresin particular appear to have attractedcontinental expertise. For a Derbyshireminer to be involved in working copperwould appear unusual, particularly asit was linked to silver.

Was the mine of 1394 successful andwhere was it located ?

Peter Claughton,Blaenpant Morfil, Rosebush,

Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, DyfedSA66 7RE.

e-mail:P.F.Claughton@exeter.ac.uk

mining magnate (failed!).

Cheers

Adrian John SnelsonNew South Wales, Australia

E-mail: jsnelson@ozemail.com.au

Reply:The reference mentioned is on page 25of “Mining in Shropshire”, but theoriginal reference to Snelson was inJ.Plymly “General View of theAgriculture of Shropshire” 1803.

SnelsonI have been told that in your book“Mining in Shropshire”, in a sectionby Geoff Warrington, that there was amention of a certain Reverend Snelson,who evidently had been searching forcopper at Weston, to no avail.

I wonder whether you could tell me thesource of this reference? I ask, becauseI am managing a database of ‘Snelson’references - now taking 50 Mb of diskspace, and I would dearly like toconfirm the identity of this Snelson

“Below” 96.2 9

There are a couple of digs currently inprogress at Snailbeach and membersshould be aware of the potential dangersaround the digs - they may also beinterested in helping !

The most successful dig at the momentis the one to by-pass the “Ore-Chute”pitch down to the Forty Yard Level. Ithad been appreciated for sometimethat there was a probable connectionbetween what I call the Back-Stope*and the Forty Yard Level.

An evening trip on 27th March,involving Francis Turner, MikeWorsfold and myself, confirmed voicecontact and started the dig. Theconnection was pushed through byBen Shaw and myself on Sunday 30thMarch. There is currently a 12 to 15foot ‘tube’ through loose rubble whichwas sufficiently large for both Ben andmyself to get though but the dig needsstabilising before regular use.

The other current dig is at the“Intermediate Level”. The normalroute down is to turn left on theIntermediate Level as straight on thelevel was blocked. Alan Robinson,Mike Worsfold and myself have had acouple of evening trips digging thisblockage. It has proven to be vertical,on a slope, rather than a completelyvertical shaft or back-filled level.

We suspect that this is another ore-chute with the top probably being theback side of the ‘platform’ belowPerkin’s Level. At times material hascollapsed dramatically as we have beendigging and anyone visiting the digshould treat it with caution. However,the slope means that we have been ableto ‘tickle’ the lower material and inducecollapses from a reasonably safeposition.

Potentially the upper dig might allowus to establish a safer route down (the

top of the “Sand Slope” looksincreasingly less stable) and it mightconnect to the Back Stope.

The work for the immediate future isto stabilise the lower dig, carry on theupper dig and examine possibleconnections from the Back Stope. Thevarious pitches are being kept riggedand it is anticipated that much of thiswork will be carried out as eveningtrips.

* What I refer to as the “Back Stope”is the one below the now filled“Bipod Shaft” which has alwaysbeen accessible from the level atthe top of the Ore-Chute. I onlyreturned to this stope a few weeksago and was surprised to find thatcement from the fill had travelledall the way down from the surfacefill.

Steve Holding

1884 - A year of CatastropheGoing through old papers the full depthof despair suffered in the Shropshiremetalliferous mines in the year hasrecently come to light.

The official lists show its magnitude:

Tankerville Great Consols and

Bog MineStopped May 1884 - 129 jobs lost

Pennerley MineStopped May - 116 jobs

Tankerville MineStopped May - 98 jobs

SnailbeachUnderground work stopped Dec. 1884- 72 jobs lost, 76 remaining

East Roman Gravels was in

liquidation, as was Ladywell.

Roman Gravels Boundary was

closed and West Roman Gravelsabandoned July 1884.

Only the smaller mines and barytes

mines (Wotherton was the largestwith 31 men) remained, except for

Roman Gravels Mine itself,struggling on with 179 employees.

Some mines did restart for a while,

particularly Snailbeach but theemployment (over 900 in 1880-1883)was never to be reached again. It fell tothe 300’s - but did rise againtemporarily to the 500’s by the end ofthe decade.

A special Distress Fund was set-upand bread, butter and tea distributed -also rail fares to get the unemployed tomove elsewhere, even to take strikingmen’s jobs in other fields. The localpowers-that-be tried to put some of theblame for the losses on the minersthemselves!

See: Bulletin PDMHS Vol.12 No.51995, for the rest of the story.

Ivor Brown

Pleasley CollieryThis interesting mine site in NorthDerbyshire (NGR: SK 498644) is nowthe subject of a preservation schemebeing proposed by Pleasley & NewHoughton Action Group and otherinterested parties like local Councils,following the listing of the remainingstructures.

The site holds the last two headframesand engine houses in North Derbyshire.The headframes are now badlycorroded, but not considered in anydanger. It is thought that they were thefirst steel plate headframes to be madeby Stanton Steelworks - who laterbecame the owners of the pit.

The two engine houses still containtheir steam winders, both horizontalduplex winders: one built in 1902 buythe Lilleshall Co. (Oakengates) andthe other by Markham & Co.(Chesterfield) in 1924.

It is possible that the colliery site willbe converted into a country park orother similar amenity.

Digging Activities atSnailbeach

10 “Below” 96.2

to this ledge and abseil down the wholepot from the far side of the constriction.I returned to the Slit where I re-riggedagain for a pull through once moreafter some qualms of whether thedouble rope was long enough. It was.

FebruaryTwo trips in February to the Dalesshow the enthusiasm hasn’t waveredfor Vicky or myself, especially as NSGhad permits for County and Notts Pot.Both times the caves were ‘pirated’ byother groups during our time in thecave, showing that some clubs (HigherEducation especially) are willing torisk endangering present and futureaccess agreements. Notts Pot had someexcellent ice waterfalls in the shakehole entrance which made a set ofcrampons an ideal optional extra tostart this trips. Casteret’s ice Cavehere I come.

Alan Robinson

Lesser Spotted CaverJust when it was thought that the caverhad become extinct in Shropshire, afew were spotted coming out ofhibernation and migrating northwards.The first reliable sighting was inDecember, where a weekend trip toDerbyshire reminded us that it cansometimes be warmer below groundthan above.

Cara, Vicky, Ben and myself all metup at Moneyash for a wander intoHillocks Mine. Althoughpredominantly a mine, the miners didintercept a number of natural features.It has some excellent examples of‘coffin’ levels, with one or two squeezesjust to make it even more interesting.We timed our exit right just as SheffieldUni. were setting up for theirunderground Christmas party and thebar was open! Cara stayed for the partywhich was quite a success, whilst weretired to TSG’s hut (a disusedMethodist Chapel). Eventually drivenout by the cold we were forced to spendthe evening at a local hostelry, jealouslyguarding a roaring fire.

Suitably refreshed for the next day, ourparty was swelled by the arrival ofSteve Holding, Steve Pope and AndyHarris for a long overdue return toPeak Cavern. Peak is a great cave fornice streamway, muddy crawls and achance to get very wet.

After visiting the 4 sumps (reachedfrom the main streamway), we followedSteve H. through the confusing systemof interconnecting crawls of the ‘MainStream Inlet’ to come out once againinto the main stream. Our emergenceback into daylight was met by thebemused glances of the Christmastourists as we winded our way backthrough Castleton’s busy streets to thehut.

JanuaryJanuary saw us venture a little furthernorth still with a weekend in theYorkshire Dales. Steve H., Ben, Vickyand myself were joined by our friendsMartyn and April, part-time caverswho valiantly volunteered their

services to help prevent the totalextinction of the SCMC cavingcommunity. Saturday saw us on theside of Ingleborough looking for theentrance to Roaring Hole. On theprevious visit I hadn’t being payingattention to where the entrance was.Still, it turned out to be where theguide book said it should be.

This cave goes very deep, over 130mconsidering there are only a couple ofshort ladder pitches. In essence, it is aseries of vertical boulder chokesconnected by a few big chambers. Theboulder chokes can be very wet - andthe walk back to the car can be bloodyfreezing! Once again we found solaceat another fine northern inn, the‘Marton Arms’ where only theindecision of which of the wideselection of real Ales to try preventsover subscription.

The nice’n easy Sunday trip was to beKingsdale where we had decided to doSimpsons to Valley Entrance as theweather and water conditions seemedquite stable. Ben volunteered to bravethe duck at V.E. to rig a ladder andlifeline for our exit, whilst we trudgedup to the top of the hill.

This trip is a series of 7 or 8 pitches,abseiling down then pulling the ropedown. It does of course mean that afterthe first pitch is de-rigged you are fullycommitted. However we had two ropesand two SRT kits in case of a ropejamming or other problems. All wentquite smoothly until the final pitch -Slit Pot. As the name suggests the startof the pitch is tight - just a bit too tightfor Steve!

It consists of a vertical slot about 4-5metres high through which theprospective caver must extrude him(or her)self out over a 25 metre pitch -having first fitted their descender!

Steve and myself enjoyed theopportunity of exploring the alternativeroute from a ledge at the top of the slot.For me this turned out to be aninteresting chimney up the slot,partially protected by some in-situbolts. Steve was then able to prussik up

MCRO AGM ReportThe AGM of the Midlands Cave RescueOrganisation was held on Monday4th. March 1996. At this meeting, itwas agreed that Simon Amatt (Cave &Crag Club) be Chair and Treasurerand that Steve Holding (SCMC) beSecretary.

Keith Edwards (Dudley CRT) agreedto co-ordinate the call-out list andAlan Robinson (SCMC) and DaveBowdley (DCRT) were put forward asTraining Officers (Alan in hisabsence!).

The AGM of the British Cave RescueCouncil is to be held on 21st. April1996 and I hope to attend. It is plannedthat some form of Rescue Practice beorganised in Shropshire probably inearly September 1996.

It was announced that Gloucester areplanning another major practice forlate 1996 but there were assurancesthat it would not be in Westbury BrookMine this time.

Steve Holding

SCMC Caving Round-UpDec. ‘95 - Feb. ‘96

“Below” 96.2 11

1. In response to the query on p17:Mr. William Eddowes, surgeon ofPontesbury, commenced hispractice 1835. He was appointedSurgeon to Snailbeach Mine “withthe consent of the men”. Initiallyhe was paid 8 shillngs per year byeach man, but in the 1860’s thiswas increased to 12 shillings tocover each man and his family (theaverage wage at the time was c£50per year). He visited miners up to 7miles from the mine.Prior to the 1860’s he also attendedmen at Gravels and Grit. When theGrit closed in the 1860’s Mr. JohnHughes became surgeon to theGravels.Eddowes thought that miners were“rather smarter fellows” thanagricultural labourers. He only everwent underground once, about1840.In the Kinaird Commission Report1863, Eddowes states that heattended about 500 miners per year.He had also seen cases of “minersasthma” (silicosis?), lead poisoningin miners, poisoning at smeltersetc..

2. In response to the query on p10.Presumably Adrian means “self-acting” gravity inclines*. Thesewere normally used where outputshad to go downhill, they could thuspull ‘empties’ up. Shropshire metalmines did not produce high outputsfrom mines up on hill sides. Some

smaller mines like Burgam couldhave used inclines but neverachieved high outputs. Gravityinclines were common featureselsewhere in Shropshire, inquarries (Clee Hill, Wenlock Edge),on Bridgnorth’s Funicular Railway(water was used) and of course inthe Coalbrookdale Coalfield. It isthought gravity inclines were firstused in Britain in the mid 17thCentury, ether in the North east orin Shropshire. early recordsdescribe them as Jigs, Wynds, orTylting Rails. There are severalplace names which may have beenacquired from their use - e.g. JiggersBank, The Wynd End, Link-onHill.Writers have recorded gravityinclines in the Ironbridge Gorgesince the 1650’s and the remains oftwo have been ‘listed’, the Jighouseat the top of the Crawstone MineIncline, and the brake-wheelsupports on Benthall Edge. Thereis an early picture of a gravityincline at Pattens Rock (19thC.)and several general ones inexistence.One of the most interestingsurvivals (which has recently beenaffected by modern house building)is the ‘Wynd’ which ran from theMeadow Pit down to the Lee DingleBridge, Coalport Road, Madeley -beside the ‘All Nations’. Thecottage at the top of the slope by thepub was once the drum/brake house.

* The other type of ‘gravity incline’was the direct acting form - wheregravity takes the load one way, butthey have to be hauled the othere.g.: empties pulling a rope behindthem as they enter a drift (as atShortwoods Adit). Then beingpulled out by haulage engine, orwhere empties are pushed up abank and then returned by gravity- this happened at Halesfield, whererailway wagons were pushed frombehind to the top of a hill andreturned under the respectiveloading screens by gravity. On longinclines the horse would ride downwith the wagons by gravity andthen have to haul the empties backup!

All types of gravity inclines werein use in Shropshire mines untilthe 1960’s. At Kemberton Pit atleast when IJB was there in the1950’s, all mine entrants weretaught to use self-acting inclinesunderground. IJB did his trainingon the South Vigers incline whichwas rather unusual in that the returnwheel was vertical (most arehorizontal, under the haulage way).

Direct acting inclines were in usein most ‘dips’ and crutts in TopCoal and Best & Randles seams atvarious times.

Ivor Brown

Coal Industry UpdateFurther to the report in the last issue of‘Below’, Coal investments are now£6.7million in debt and attempts arebeing made to sell off pits individually.Bids have been received for 4 includingStaffordshire’s Hem Heath andSilverdale, but no candidates yet with£50 million for project finance for theCoventry pit.

RJB Mining have also warned thatAsfordby colliery, which enteredproduction last year has hit seriousoperating difficulties.

The problems at Asfordby stem fromthe complex geology of the thick beds

of sandstone which lie above the DeepMain coal seam, which has not beenworked before. Fracturing of the roofis breaking the sandstone into largeblocks which are pushing the hydraulicface support equipment down into thesoft clay layer beneath.

RJB have also reorganised 4 Selby pitsand “combined” them to make twosingle pits (a “polite way” of closingtwo separate mines). The rest of theRJB pits seem ok for the moment.

On the ‘bright-side’, at current rates,RJB’s bank debt will be cleared duringthe second quarter of this year - leaving

just the £105 million deferred debtowing to the government.

In the year to end-December 1995,RJB’s revenue was some £1,440million from the sale of 41 Mt of coal.Production was 37 Mt, with 80% ofthis coming from RJB’s undergroundmines - where reserves rose during theyear from 350 Mt to 488 Mt (excludingAsfordby’s 52 Mt). Open cast coalreserves were a little changed at 20 Mt.The company’s net profit is expectedto rise from £170 million in 1995 toaround £200 million this year.

Ivor Brown & Mining Journal

Answers to Queries in‘Below’ Spring Issue 96.1

12 “Below” 96.2

Mining Characters No. 6: William and John Anstice (father & son),other Anstices and the Madeley Wood Company

As explained inthe last issue of

‘ B e l o w ’ ,William Anstice

(1781-1850) hadserved time as an

assistant to WilliamReynolds, and

following Reynold’sdeath in 1803 a share in

his estate passed to him.William Anstice in

partnership with Reynold’sstepbrother Joseph (1793-1858)continued the Ketley and MadeleyWood operations as ‘Reynolds &Anstice’.

The direct management of the MadeleyWood operations went to WilliamAnstice then aged 21 and he proved tobe a very able manager with a scientificbent particularly in chemistry andgeology. He spent some time with hisfriend (later Sir) Humphrey Davy (ofthe Safety Lamp) at the laboratories ofa Dr. Beddows in Shifnal and workedon the composition of ironstones inparticular. Many of the pictures in theclassic Prestwich paper of 1840 weredrawings of specimens in Anstice’scollection. He also helped Murchisonand eventually became a Fellow of theGeological Society in 1836.

During his time in management themines at Madeley wood and the Lloydswere running out of reserves of mineralso he started the movement eastwardsto Hills Lane Pits and then the OldHalesfield Pits. Both were developedbefore the 1830s. Similarly he beganto move the Blast Furnace operationsfrom Bedlam to Blists Hill during the1830s and 1840s.

In 1840 the Commission on theEmployment of Children visitedMadeley Wood. John Anstice (1810-67), William’s son came forward togive evidence. He told theCommissioners that he was 30 years ofage and had lived “about the works”all his life. He was now a partner in theCompany of which his father wasmanager. The Anstices welcomed theCommissioners to inspect all theiroperations and stated that if the

John was also called to give evidenceabout 1842 to the Midland MiningCommission investigating the causesof much unrest among the miningcommunity in the West Midlands atthat time. He pointed out to them thathe would not allow Chartermasters toalso be publicans and that he had noknowledge of ‘tommy shops’ inoperation. Anstice admitted howeverthat this was an ‘evil system’ thatmight be covertly going on without hisknowledge. It is almost certain that itwas, for even within 100 yards of hisold home, Beldam Hall, part of an oldhalf-timbered building near the “Birdin Hand”, was in use as a ‘lobby shop’,the Shropshire equivalent.

In 1850, when the Company stillemployed 800 in Madeley, WilliamAnstice died and John becameManager of the Madeley Wood worksand mines. In 1858, the partner JosephReynolds also died leaving his sharesto John. John gave some of the sharesto his solicitor brother WilliamReynolds Anstice, but retained fullmanagement to himself - he was then48 years of age and his health was notgood. The only major changes thatJohn Anstice made were modernisationof the Hales Pits (later called Halesfield)plus the important new easternmostdevelopment of the Company,Kemberton Pit, in the 1860s. John

Commissioners found anything amissthe Company would immediatelycorrect it. Much of Anstice’s personalcontribution to the proceedings seemedto concern the hours of work and agesof his workforce. He explained thatthey had to employ workers on 24 hourshifts on Sundays so that the normal12 hour shift-turns could changewithout the furnaces having to becooled, however, the men were allowedto take an 8 hour break in rotationduring that 24 hour shift which enabledsome to go to church.

The Commissioners were also toldthat only boys aged 10-15 years oldwere allowed to work on haulage, butAnstice was embarrassed when theCommissioners visiting Hills Lane Pitfound a 4 years old boy underground.To this it was explained that fatherscould take down their sons from thatage to help them by doing errandsunderground, fetching candles andoperating doors.

At this time the Company employed1000, up to 700 at the mines and 300at blast furnaces, brickworks etc. TheCommissioners were very impressedoverall and after pointing to thewelcome they had received noted thatin Shropshire “the very best feelingsexist between all ranks” from owner,chartermaster to workmen.

1

N0 ½ mile 1 mile1 mile

1

3

2

7

8

4

5

6

10

11

9

12

13

14

15

1

1

11

2

21

2

3

TheLloyds

MadeleyWoodIronbridge

Linc

oln

Hill

ToShrewsburyShrewsbury

Pre 1800

ToCoalport

MadeleyTo

Bridgnorth

Post1850 To

Shifnal

Pit Lane

Pit Lane

Madeley Wood Co.

Nos 1-17Pits

MadeleyCourt Co.

Aqueduct

Limesto

ne Fault

ToWellington

Mines (Principal only)1. Lincoln Hill2. Lane3. Lodge4. Lloyds5. Lloyds Engine6. Tar Tunnel7. Stone or Styches8. Brickkiln Leasow9. Meadow10. New Hill11. Blists Hill12. Shawfield13. Hills Lane14. Halesfield15. Kemberton

BrickworksBedlamBlists Hill

IronworksBedlamBlists Hill

HousesBedlamMadeley WoodTuckies

2

2

23

Reynolds/Anstice DevelopmentsMadeley Wood, Pre 1800, 19th C, Post 1850Ivor J.Brown

“Below” 96.2 13

Anstice, however, made one greatimpact on his workers and that was inhuman kindness.

Unlike the other major industrialistsof the 17th/18th centuries in theCoalbrookdale Coalfield the Ansticeswere not Quakers but of the establishedchurch with very strong leaningstowards Methodism. (WilliamAnstice’s brother 1808-1836, was bornat Madeley Wood, became a professorof classical literature at Kings College,London, and was a great hymn writer.A book of 52 of these was publishedjust after his death and one of thehymns still appeared in the recentlysuperseded Methodist hymn book.)

The Anstices provided a school andmission room at the Lloyds, Ironbridge,in 1852 and by 1860 John Anstice isshown as its manager. The ladies ofthe Anstices did voluntary work in thisschool for about 50 years. The schoolclosed about 1920 shortly after theAnstices had left the area.

John died in 1867 having left theCompany in the hands of his brotherW.R.Anstice and his own 5 sons.Randall wrote of John in the 1880s inglowing terms “in bad times he kepthis men employed whether others didor not, he knew them by their namesand generally had a joke, a kind wordor a cheerful recognition for each; hespared no expense to secure the safetyof life and limb in his works and if bysome unforeseen circumstances, orsome act of carelessness on their part,accidents did occur his grief knew nobounds and he would often weep like achild with the bereaved; he dedicatedhis energies less to the service of hispeers than to those in a condition torequire them”.

John’s death did not pass un-noticed,thousands lined the streets for hisfuneral and his burial was in the familyvault (with iron covers) in MadeleyChurchyard. A fund was set up tobuild a memorial to him and thisresulted in the construction of theAnstice Memorial Hall and WorkingMen’s Institute at Madeley in 1869. Itis a fine building and from its openingprovided much that the ‘Working Man’

remained; Kemberton (357 men),halesfield (113 men), and Meadow(63 men) with the small combinedBlists Hill/Shaws Clay Pits (11 men).

In 1905 J.Cadman had becomeManager, he soon closed down manyof the ancillary operations, such asBlists Hill Ironworks, to concentrateon coal production from the combinedKemberton-Halesfield Pits togetherwith the smaller Meadow Pit. InFebruary 1918 the enterprise became aLimited Company, the Madeley WoodC. Ltd., (the last Anstice directorswere Sir Arthur Anstice, SirR.H.Anstice and Mr. R.E.Anstice).Shortly afterwards the Anstices werebought out by the Cadmans for about£42,000. In the 1920s the Ansticefamily sold all their remaining interestsand lands in the coalfield.

The Anstice’s original home ‘BedlamHall’ was damaged by landslip earlylast century and was eventuallydestroyed by further landslips. TheAnstice’s new home at Madeley WoodHall was demolished after they left inthe 1920s.

Kemberton Pit grew to employ nearly1000 men after nationalisation in 1947,but closed in 1967. The writer’s fatherwho had worked there for 51 years hadthe job of selling up the small surfaceitems, he was the last workman andhis ancestors had been among the firstto be taken on by the company nearlytwo hundred years before. Like so manyin Madeley the family livelihood wasintimately bound up with the fortunesof the company and its owner managersthe Reynolds, Anstices, and latterlythe Cadmans. The Reynolds/Anstice‘Beldam Furnaces’, the Blists HillFurnace and Mine site and the TarTunnel are now museums.

No published history of any of theReynolds, Anstice or cadmans has beenfound, the principal references appearto be those appended to the previousarticle on the Reynolds family. A largenumber of scattered records existawaiting collation.

Ivor Brown

might aspire to; games, concerts,lectures, library, even banking servicesand a restaurant although at first , nopolitical or religious meetings wereallowed.

The Hall has served the Madeleycommunity up to the present day butits position has been spoiled bycrowding it in with a 1960s shoppingcomplex. The Hall has seen manychanges, it was even severely damagedby fire within 4 years of its opening. Itwas rebuilt and all the wood-turningnecessary was done by ‘Stumpy’Brown, the writer’s ancestor who losthis arms when he accidentally blew upthe Madeley Wood Company’s officesin the 1820s. The Anstices forgavehim and he lived a long an fruitful lifedespite his handicaps (another storyfor later).

Anstices’ SuccessorsDuring the 1870s the Anstices’successors tried hard to keep the firmin business, boom times had passed,and they attempted to sink new andbigger shafts at Kemberton Pit so thatthey could concentrate more on coalrather than clay and ironstoneproduction. By 1880 the business wasbeing carried on by W.R.Anstice, asolicitor, and John Anstice’s two sonsCaptain J.A.Anstice and Lieutenant(later Colonel) E.Anstice but the day-to-day management was in the handsof non-family ‘Managers’. In 1891they were down to 8 producing mines;Kemberton, Old Hales, New Hales,Hills Lane, Meadow, Shaws, Styches,Stone Pit and Blists Hill Clay Pit andby 1908 only 3 reasonably sized pits

1mm

actu

al le

ngth

= 3

0m

m (~

1.2

in)

Fossil: Curculioides ansticii Buckland1837. Rough sketch based on a paperby P.A.Seldoen, Trans. Royal Soc. ofEdinburgh; Earth Sciences 83, 1992

William and John Anstice, & the Madeley Wood CompanyContinued

14 “Below” 96.2

Secret Sandworkings at Blakeshall,Kinver Edge

Situated six miles south-east of HighleyMine, few, except the locals seem tohave known much (until recently) aboutthe extensive range of undergroundtunnels beneath 150ft. of sandstone atBlakeshall Common near Wolverley(between Kingsford Country Park andKinver Edge).

This ‘mine’ now off the official secretslist seems to have been one of 4extensive underground factory/administration complexes built in theearly 1940’s.

Start of MiningMining of sandstone began in 1941with construction workers lodged in ahostel on site, although others werebussed in from Cleobury Mortimerand Ludlow in Shropshire. There werefour main adits and mineral wasbrought out on a conveyor and usedmainly for “levelling surroundingfields” although there is still onerecognisable waste heap.

Blasting seems to have been a majorcause of accidents, it is also believedthat in total up to 12 lives were lost inthe mine.

Excavation was completed in 1943and the ‘factory’ was ready for use thefollowing year. Total area covered bythe mine was 53.34 acres. The fourmain tunnels were each 16ft. wide and18ft high and up to 300 yards long.

The underground complex had (stillhas?) all the facilities required of afactory employing up to 1000 andincluding offices, several bars,canteens, games area, medical roomand a concert hall.

It was never used to full capacity, butdid some manufacturing from 1943 tothe 1950’s when it became mainly astorage area.

From about 1960 it became part of aRegional Seat of Government nuclearshelter to control Shropshire,Staffordshire, Herefordshire, WestMidlands etc. and had offices for about350 persons and a wide range of

emergency equipment including BBCradio stations.

Some re-equipment took place in theearly 1980’s and many of the derelictsurface buildings were removed, it isbelieved to make it less conspicuousfrom the air. About 1990 interest inthe site was waning and in 1994 it wasput up for sale - but on one occasionwas opened for charity, about 900people paid over £4,000 to view theunderground area.

New BookA 30 page book on the site:

‘Drakelow Unearthed’

by Paul Stokes has recently beenpublished (1996), price £4.50.

Copies available from Mike Moore.

Ivor Brown

Drakelow ‘Mine’

approx 100 yd.

“Below” 96.2 15

Members Present:Andy Harris; Steve Holding; AlanMoseley; Steve Powell; John Priest;Neal Rushton; Francis Turner; AndyYapp and Mike Cousins (Guest).

After the long walk up Snowden, thewhole party abseilled down the openstope to Level 5. On Level 5, one areaof flooring was judged to havedeteriorated and was life-lined. Thedescent to Level 4 was uneventful, thebelay rope from an earlier trip beingre-used. The ropes available not beensufficient to double the approx. 100foot pitch, two separate ropes wereused, with a knot against the krabapproach to allow descent on a singlerope.

Various items of interest were notedon Level 4 including part of a “NobelExplosives” cardboard box and theremains of a Black Powder Barrel.

Existing belay aids were also used forthe descent from Level 4 to Level 3which was uneventful, except in that

the rope would not pull through andSteve Powell had to prussik back up torelease it.

The delay on Level 3 had twoconsequences - some members starteddigging their way out (the level wasopen until two or three years ago) andNeal was likely to be late getting home(again) - a spare rope was used to allowNeal and Andy Yapp to carry on down.

Alan Moseley and Steve Powell carriedon digging their way out of Level 3,which was much appreciated by AndyHarris who was suffering from a badback and was reluctant to continuedescending. Meanwhile, Neal andAndy carried on down to Level 1,pulling the rope behind them to life-line the ‘bridge’ in that level.

At one point, there was a danger thatthe four on Level 2 were going to bestranded, the rope down have beingpulled down with Neal and Andy whilethe three on Level 3 seemed inclined topull the ropes back up and exit via

Level 3 portal which they hadsuccessfully re-opened. EventuallyAndy H. and Alan exited this waywhile Steve P carried on down. A 110foot rope pass released down to Level2, which proved to be about 20 footshort of doubling the pitch; thedifference was made up with tapes, along tackle bag and Mike Cousinsbeing appropriately tall.

On Level 1, the ‘bridge’ was found tohave clearly deteriorated and life-liningis now clearly required.

On exiting Level 1, it was found to bea nice sunny day and Steve P andFrancis had sufficient energy to goback up to re-enter Level 3 to see theresults of their earlier digging efforts.

Andy Y had returned to above Level 5to de-tackle and we reckoned that Nealjust about got away in time (assumingthat speed limits were pushed).

Steve Holding

Trip to Britannia Mine20th. April 1996

Snailbeach Project Updateby Nick Southwick

2 December 1995Members Present: Colin & LizArmfield, Eileen Bowen, John Davies,Mike Moore, Adrian Pearce, JuliePearce, Nick Southwick, and StuartTomlins.

Contractors fence around main Minebuilding site removed and stored inminers dry. Part removal of rubblefrom floor of Mine Manager’s officesto expose cast iron range and woodenfloor.

6 January 1996Members Present: Colin & LizArmfield, Eileen Bowen, Mike Moore,Adrian Pearce, Nick Southwick, andMike Worsfold.

Ivy removed from Lordshill EngineBoiler House, more excavation of MineManager’s House and clearing out ofLoco Shed.

3 February 1996Members Present: Eileen Bowen,Adrian Pearce, Nick Southwick, StuartTomlins, Mike Worsfold, and AndyYapp.

Loco Shed cleared of junk and artefactssorted.

2 March 1996Members Present: Colin & LizArmfield, Eileen Bowen, John Davies,Adrian Pearce, Nick Southwick, StuartTomlins, and Mike Worsfold.

Boiler house flues of Lordshillinvestigated and surveyed.

More artefacts moved fromBlacksmith’s shop to loco shed andsorted.

Recent rises in the price of tin to some$7,000 per mt with a projection thatprices might top $10,000 per mt by theyear 2000 have made the future ofSouth Crofty secure (at least for a fewyears).

New investment is being made in themine, with plans to deepen the RoskearShaft to provide access to higher gradeores on the 445 and 470 fathom levels.

The mill is also due to move fromWheal Jane to South Crofty,eliminating the need for transportingore to Wheal Jane and allowing thetailings to be disposed of undergroundat South Crofty.

NAMHO ChangeAdrian Pearce has resigned as secretaryof NAMHO. The position has nowbeen taken over by Wes Taylor, 18Station Lane, Walton-on-Trent,Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE12 8NA

South CroftyFuture

16 “Below” 96.2

The most substantial and imposingbuilding at collieries operating in theearly 20th century was often its PowerHouse, This large building usuallyincorporated the principal ‘engines’at the mine, the compressor, electricgenerator and, sometimes, the mainwinding engines too, as well asassociated controls and storage areafor spares. The power house atKemberton Pit was no exception but itdid have a slightly longer history thanmost having been a conversion of anearlier building. It was the heart of themine.

The main part of the building seems tohave started its life as a house for a pairof very large steam engines in the1870s. The first shafts had been sunknearby in 1864-68 almost as a ‘trial’ inan area suggested as being a possibleeastern extension of the Coalfield bylocal geologists. The shafts were small,only 8ft. dia. but the hunch paid offand good seams of coal were found atabout 300 yards depth.

This success led to the decision inabout 1872 to put down a pair of biggershafts nearly twice the size of theearlier ones and about 50 yds away.The new twin-horizontal cylindersteam engines were ordered from JohnG. Stevenson & Co. of Preston,

Lancashire and a large engine housewas built. This building had manysimilarities to the Anstice MemorialHall (built 1869) then recentlycompleted and also the blowingengine house with steam engines(also by Stevenson 1973) at BlistsHill Blast Furnaces. Were they alldesigned by the same architect orperhaps constructed by the samebuilder?

It is certain that the bricks were allthe same, variously coloured but withthe Madeley Wood Companyimprint. Furthermore at the openingof the Memorial Hall in 1870 therewas on display a model of “the doubleaction steam engine” used at theKemberton Pit. Was this in fact amodel of the engine then proposedfor Kemberton Pit?

After about 40 yards had been sunktrouble occurred when, it is said thesinking met running sand and workwas brought to a halt. In 1877 theCompany took advice on whetherthey could get out of the contract forthe new engines which had not yetbeen delivered but the order does notseem to have been cancelled. Itappears that the engines wereinstalled and some further work wasdone in the shafts. Shortly after,

however, with a collapsing local ironeconomy (ironstone was a majorproduct of the pit) the project wasabandoned. The engines remained inthe large new house, almost unused,from 1877 until about 1895 when theyseem to have been sold. They had beenkept in good condition and on EdmundAnstice’s instruction “given a run everySunday” until sold, it is said, to anorthern colliery, perhaps nearChesterfield.Efforts to trace their purchaser havenot been successful although it isknown that most of the very fewStevenson Winding Engines were inuse at Haydock Collieries, Lancashirein the 1890s.

In 1902 the Madeley Wood Companywas the first colliery owner inShropshire to apply for Special Rulesto use electricity for undergroundequipment and the electricity generatorwas placed in the engine housealongside an air compressor. Thebuilding was now the “power-house”for the mine and with some extensionsit became a much larger rectangularbuilding with a basement containingthe foundation blocks of the old engine,the new engine house on a raised floorand a large new storage area. Theelectricity produced was used in earlytrials in mechanised coalcutting andin haulage underground as well as forlighting and pumping.

By the early 1900s Kemberton Pit wasoperated alongside the older HalesfieldPit with the same management and acommon coal preparation plantsituated midway between them.Halesfield Pit was supplied with electricpower for use underground fromKemberton. During 1911 Halesfieldrecorded its first electrical fatality whenC.E.Griffiths, who operated both theunderground haulage and the electricpumps, was electrocuted due to“damaged insulation”. At this timethe power was 425 volts direct currentbut in 1924 much larger powerequipment was installed.

Direct current continued to be used formost plant at the mine until the SecondWorld War and one of the writer’s first

The Power House atKemberton Pit

Shafts 1860’s

Chimney &boilers

Shafts 1870’s

Water Shaft

Steam Winding EnginesSteam Winding Engines(1860’s)

Steam Winder(1912)

Electric Winder(1930)

1960’s Extension1960’s Extension

1900’s Extension

Power House(1870’s Engine house)(1870’s Engine house)

Old Colliery Offices

A(Scale about 50m)

Sketch plan Kemberton Colliery c1930based on 1:2500 OS (enlarged)Ivor J. Brown

N

“Below” 96.2 17

jobs in the 1950s was to assist in thescrapping of this equipment. In 1937the colliery was connected to thecountry’s Grid System and generationof electricity ceased. In the 1940sduring the period of transition thewriter well remembers being takeninto the power house as a treat to seethe “flames dancing on a lake ofmercury”, the mercury-arc rectifiersin use.

The power or engine house played itspart after in the tragic pit disaster inDecember 1910 in which 7 men and 2boys lost their lives when the cage inwhich they were travelling crasheddown the shaft. According to pressreports the “engine house” was usedfor laying out the dismembered bodiesof the victims. To commemorate thisthe window overlooking the shafts waspartly replaced, a clock fitted and amemorial to the dead miners installedin the window arch. This was still inplace at the time the colliery closed in1967.

From the 1950s the building wasconverted to various other uses butstill looked much the same from theoutside. In the basement a series ofpassages around the old enginefoundations was used as the collieryfire station and for a while the rescueequipment store. The raised floor waschiefly used as stores with some offices,the high stores building adjoiningcontinued as the main colliery stores.This had a chain operated crane on acarriage, also powered by hand usinga chain, running on rails in the roof.

The writer remembers clearly one eventin 1952 when, being one of the smallestlads at the mine, he had to hang ontoone of the lift-chains while otherspulled on the other chain to raise himto the carriage above. Here he had toreplace the carriage chain on its pulleyafter a mishap. He then returned toground level by hanging on the chainagain while being lowered down withaching arms.

Being a substantial and useful buildingthe power house was left intact whenthe other pithead buildings weredemolished and it survived in variousindustrial uses another 20 years. It wasgenerally thought to have beenscheduled for preservation just like itssister buildings, the Anstice MemorialHall and the Blists Hill engine housebut on a visit in the late 1980s thewriter was amazed to find it had beendemolished.

All that could be salvaged of this finebuilding, and a memorial not only tothe early Stevenson engines, the firstcolliery use of electricity in Shropshire,the owners, the workers and thosetragically killed in 1910 in thecountry’s multi-fatality pit disaster,were some of the roof beams (removedto the Ironbridge Gorge Museum) anda few coloured bricks now in privatehands. The heart of the old collieryand the Kemberton colliers had gone.

No photograph or plans of this buildinghave been found except for views ofthe top of its roof standing proud aboveall the other buildings. If any exist the

The Power House atKemberton Pit

Parys MountainAnglesey County Council are trying toget Parys Mountain copper mine to begiven World Heritage Site status. Thereis evidence for Bronze Age mining,although the majority of the miningactivity was in the eighteenth centurywhen the mine cornered the coppermarket. There are also plans to makeParys Mountain the focus of anindustrial heritage trail, which wouldinclude the copper port of Amlwch.

Castle-an-Dinas HelpThe Castle-an-Dinas Mine near St.Columb, Cornwall was worked forWolfram from 1917 to 1957, TonyBrooks is currently researching thehistory of the operation and would begrateful to hear from anybody who hasany information, photographs,personal experience, notes, etc. of themine. If you can help then contact himat: Polstrong Cottage, Polstrong,Cambourne, Cornwall, TR14 0QA.

NCA On-lineThe National Caving Association withthe help of UK Online has now joinedthe internet and have their own e-mailaddress: jenny.potts@ukonline.co.ukThey also have a web site:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/nca

1960’sStores

(Extension)

Stores

Old Offices

The Power House

View of Kemberton Colliery in 1960’sFrom South West (A on the 1930’s plan)Ivor J.Brown

writer and Museum would appreciatea copy. Now only one other ‘Powerhouse’ remains in Shropshire, this isnear Hanwood and it has beenconverted into a house.

Ivor Brown

18 “Below” 96.2

ReminderNAHMO ConferenceJust a little reminder that audiorecordings of the lectures and seminarsmade at the 1995 NAMHO Conferenceat Lilleshall are still available.

Running to 9 x C90 tape, they can beordered individually.

For more details contact Kelvin, orPeter Eggleston.

Our other web pages held on JoepOrbons ‘International Souterrains’ sitewhich provide a background to theClub, it’s research and publications isstill resident on: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jorbons/scmc.html

This last site is not just worth a visit forour pages, but there are details aboutClub’s and sites around the world,plus an interesting lexicon of miningand related terms (in severallanguages). Start from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jorbons/home.html

Kelvin

Due to plans by the providers of Club’sActivities Web site to abolish their‘Metropolis’ Accounts and switchholders of these accounts to chargeaccounts costing $14.95 per month(which is too expensive!), I have hadto move the web pages.

The new home is now with a serviceprovider ‘DataRealm InternetServices’. One advantage of this site isthat the address is simpler! So if youwant to visit the Activities pages havea look at: http://www.serve.com/scmc

On the Move

Above: The ‘exposed’ New Crusher house at Snailbeach

Right: Inside the ‘tramway’ tunnelnear the top of the ‘Wynd’, CherryTree Hill, Coalbrookdale (lookingin the direction of the top of theincline).

Above: “There's nae netties doontha pit”, or so they say, but MikeMoore managed to find one on arecent trip to Derbyshire.

Activity Photos

“Below” 96.2 19

Snailbeach, £14.95

The rise and fall of Snailbeach, oncerenowned as the “richest per acre ofground in Europe”, is traced in thisproduction through the use of historicphotographs, animated plans andsections, and unique undergroundvideo footage.

Collections from the ArchivesThe following tapes contain almost allthe footage recorded at the given mine,and are intended as a resource base,not a finished production:

C.15:Dudley Tunnel ’88 to ’89, £14.10C.18:Donisthorpe Colliery, £11.75C.20a:Snailbeach - Final Frontier,

£9.87C.23: Bagworth Colliery, £11.75C.28: Morse’s Level, £9.87C.29: SCMC in Cornwall, £16.45

If you are interested in doing a bit ofarmchair mine exploration thefollowing videos, produced byI.A.Recordings with help from Clubmembers, may be of interest to you.

A Tour of Clive Copper Mine£14.95A comprehensive guided tour of Clive,with Edwin Thorpe acting the‘experienced’ expert and Kelvin Lakethe ‘novice’. The tour covers both theupper and lower levels, plus theNorthern stope (the access to which isnow a bit dodgey).

Clive Rescue Practice, £9.95

An action packed ‘head banging’record of a Club rescue practice,featuring the ‘infamous’ maypolewinze traverse!

Books, Videos, Places & Events

“Methane, carbon dioxide andoilseeps from natural sources andmining areas, characteristics, extentand relevance to development”published by BGS 1996 including plan,83 pages + 2 large maps (includesdetails of Shropshire “oils”). Price £71.

“Geology of Telford and theCoalbrookdale Coalfield” byR.J.O.Hamblin & B.C.Coppack, BGS1995, 170 pages.

This account of the geology of Telfordand the surrounding area is intendedto be a description of the published1:25000 scale geological map. Thedistrict described in this memoir isdominated by Telford new town andthe Coalbrookdale Coalfield, andextends from Sheinton in the south-west, to Lilleshall in the north-east.

Telford new town continues to develop,and the surrounding district continuesto be exploited for a range of mineralproducts, including opencast coal, andaggregates for the constructionindustry.

Up-to-date geological information isvital for planners faced with conflictingdemands for land use, as well as forthose involved in the construction andmineral extraction industries. Thememoir is intended to satisfy this needand to indicate where more detailedinformation is available in the Survey’sextensive database.

The memoir concentrates largely onthe Coal Measures because of theproblems induced by earliergenerations of underground andopencast mining. The area was chosenfor new town development because ofits high proportion of derelict land.

ISBN: 0 11 884516 0. Price £50.

The fieldwork for this survey wascarried out 1971-75 - twenty years atthe printers; is this a record?

Ivor Brown

Advance Notice

1996 Annual Dinner

to be held at:

Snailbeach Village Hall

5 October 1996

Accomodation has been reserved for those that booked.If you wish to stay near the venue contact Mike Moore a.s.a.p for details of

local B.& B’s etc.

Menus and other details will be sent out at a later date

* *

Sygun Copper MineOpen all year round. The fascinationof history and the wonders of modern-day technology combine to create anunforgettable experience at this Princeof Wales award-winning familyattraction, set in the heart of thestunning Snowdonia National Park.

You can now visit the mine in ‘virtual reality’ if you have a web browser:http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SnowdoniaMine

Bookings/inquiries to:Sygun Copper Mine,Beddgelert,Caernarfon,Gwynedd, LL55 4NETelephone: 076686 58524 Hour infoline: 076686 564

Mining Videos(available from the Club)

For more video details contact: I.A.Recordings,PO Box 476, Telford, TF8 7RH e-mail: info@iarecordings.org

http://www.iarecordings.org

20 “Below” 96.2

For organised Club trips please referto Adrian’s Monthly Meets lists.

Club Officers Diary Dates ’96

Catch us on the World Wide Web. Club activities & the labyrinth: http://www.shropshirecmc.org.uk/

11 August: Shropshire GeologicalSociety Extravaganza, Oswestry.Contact: Adrian Pearce.

13-15 September: National CavingConference & Exhibition “HiddenEarth”, Hallam University, Sheffield.

27-29 September: NAMHO FieldMeet. Based at the “Plume of Feathers”,Princetown, Dartmoor. Hosted byPlymouth Caving Group. SteveHolding is co-ordinating accomodationfor Club Members. Anyone interestedshould contact him.

5 October: Annual Dinner, SnailbeachVillage Hall. Speaker: Roy Starkey(Mineralogist). Booking formswill besent out by Mike Moore in August.

7 October: Talk; Lincoln HillLimestone Mines - Recent work” byIvor Brown. Black Country GeologicalSoc., Ward Arms Hotel, Dudley,7.30pm.

199714-17 July: NAMHO Conference ’97,Darley Dale, Matlock. Hosts: PeakDistrict Mines Historical Society.

Dye Testing the Connection …

OH NO, I've lost the flourescine !!Pitters Pot Entrance ...

Err !!

No worries, back in a tick ...

Are you sure this'll work?

Yeah, of course ... it's only re-cycled grass!

President: Alan Taylor

Chairman: Neal Rushton

Vice Chair: Malcolm Newton

Secretary: Adrian Pearcescmc.secretary@factree.org.uk

Treasurer: Bob Taylor

Membership Services:Mike Moore

Tackle & Rescue Officer:Steve Holding

Training Officer:Alan Robinson

Conservation Officer:Nick Southwick

Bat Officer: Mike Worsfold

NAMHO Rep:Colin Armfield

CCC/CNCC Rep: Ben Shaw

‘Below’ Editor: Kelvin Lakee-mail: scmc@factree.org.uk