Hi all hope i can be helped

I couldnt find an entrance to the Charlestown Mine when i was there. I was pushed for time so i didnt get a good hunt around.

I see that the last photos of them on here were from 2014 which makes me think they might be closed off. Can anyone confirm this to save me the 3 bus journey down?

Cheers

I take it you mean the Limestone mine?

Most of the place is flooded, you can enter slightly but the water level was up to where the workings break out into the open.

Last time there I did not have a GPS, but from the map the location that you want seems to be about 306572,684175. Only the north and west extremity of the site is still accessible, the rest having been used for landfill. The limestone, and the workings, dip to the west and are indeed rather wet. I don't know how far they go, but assume that whatever drainage that was present when they were working, possibly an adit, is now blocked.

Last time I was there I was stung on the face by a wasp which I walked into. Most unpleasant. Should be safe in winter.

Damn 😞 If i find other abandoned places worth visiting in that area ill pop round for another look

Cheers for the help 🙂

Seems like there's quite a lot of limestone mining up that way. Only one I've visited is Middleton (on the other side of the firth) but it was quite interesting, if not very extensive, though I don't think I looked in every hole. There were a few more on my list while I was in the area but ran out of time due to the number of castles etc that I also wanted to see.

Yes, there are quite a few! Nothing west of Stirling, but in the Stirling area, Cambusbarron and the middle adit at Craigend Lime Works, also an adit at Murrayshall had become partly uncovered last time I was there.

Going south from there, it would be surprising if there were no workings at Fankerton, west of Denny, as the Murrayshall Limestone is known to outcrop in that region. Careful exploration may find some that we did not know about.

Going east, there is Bowden Hill, south of Linlithgow, various workings including Silver, coal and limestone in the Cairnpapple region, and extensive workings between Linlithgow and the Riccarton Hills. Going north you have the fireclay mine at Birkhill. East from there, I have heard that at least one oil shale mine may be accessible.

That is from memory, I think there are more, some that we know, and others awaiting rediscovery.

The Central Belt of Scotland is a great place to go for a looooooong holiday, if you are into the general purposes of this forum! I grew up there and never managed to see more than a small fraction of what is known to exist. No internet in the 1960s, alas!

North of the river you also have the small scale copper, cobalt, silver and calcite mines in the Ochils, and in Clackmannanshire some Limestone workings around Vicar's Bridge, then going east into Fife there are some impressive limestone mines.

If I had my way, me and my family would move to the region. So much to see and so much history, I'd never get bored.

The most readily accessible limestone mine in Fife is Cults in central Fife, quite a big mine with miles of galleries to explore. This is partly flooded also but only the deeper more recently worked areas, the older sections are dry.