All around us are the signs of Old Industry in the past. The most obvious are the mines that abound around here. Many are known by only a few people, which is the best thing. If some of the old shafts were to become too well known then the Coal Board would come along and fill them in.
This would be a crime. Fine the Coal Board are legally responsible for safety of the shafts, but many do not truly pose much of a safety issue. Instead they are wonderful to see, with nature softening the old scars that they once were.
This old air shaft is quite a way from us and is situated at the top of the woodland. The whole thing is surrounded by old earth embankment that must have been made when the shaft was dug.
A number of years back one of our dogs fell down this shaft, which is now only about 10 feet deep. I had to run back for a ladder to get her out.
Bottom of the air shaft.
This is the Mineshaft itself. Completely filled with water. The mine goes back into the hill about 15 feet, but at the back is the square opening of the shaft itself in the floor, completely under water.
The water seepage runs even in the driest Summers and is full of Iron Oxide.
The old mineshaft is fairly well hidden, only now when leaves are not on the trees can anything be seen. The black area just under the centre branch of the tree in the photo is the shaft.
This whole area is quite waterlogged and Willow trees grow lush around it, a quiet and beautiful spot that once must have been noisy and dirty.
The mines in this area closed in the early 20th century. A hundred years of nature at work gradually heals the scars.
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