pit pony
  • pit pony
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16 years ago
Hi if my memory is correct this mine started out life as a railway tunnel which collapsed and was abandoned but was later used as the base for constucting a drift mine, is thid correct or do i have the wrong mine in mind?

regards

pitpony
JR
  • JR
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16 years ago
Hello pitpony and welcome to AN. I can't answer your question directly but Amber Valley is in the database http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Amber-Valley-Coal-Mine/  here. I suspect that ICLOK (the author of the entry) will have a better answer. I'm sure he'll be online later and assist if he can.

🙂
sleep is a caffeine deficiency.
ICLOK
  • ICLOK
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16 years ago
Hi there pit pony,

Thanks jr48.... I've never actually heard that tale re Amber Valley as it was qiuite a recent working by the Hartshorns of Crich.... the owner never mentioned anything like this to me but I think I can find out.... so will get back to you.
There was a branch line off the "Amber Valley" Main rly Line (Derby to Claycross) that went to Shirland colliery via a nasty corner into a cutting and then under Rykneld St in a tunnel.

May be that started as a mine! The embakment on the West side of ridge is in tact but the east side and colliery bitself is landscaped as part of Shirland golf course!

Regards ICLOK
:thumbsup:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh Creeper!!!!!
bconfined
16 years ago
hi folks, I hope you dont mind me jumoing in. I have a feeling that the railway tunnel mine was actually Draycott in the Moors railway and colliery, have a look at this link for information

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/d/draycott_cross_colliery/index2.shtml 

[tweak]Link made clickable[/tweak]

tiger99
16 years ago
Fascinating story on the link from the subbrit site. Looking on Google Earth confirms that much of the track on the later diversion route is still in place. I think the Foxfield Railway people may have picked the wrong branch, they could have had the Cheadle branch, with possible interchange with National Rail at Cresswell, if someone paid for a station, and so have some commuter traffic. Of course it would not be as interesting as the steep gradients and colliery which they have....

But Google Earth confirms that the tunnel and mine will no longer be accessible. It looks like some opencast workings have done a good job of obliterating the north end, and may explain why the tunnel collapsed in the middle. I wonder what these workings were for. It looks rather like sand, and the OS map says gravel pit, with some incredibly messy industrial sites to the north.

But there is an interesting feature at SJ993423, or more precisely on Google Earth at 52°58'41.67"N 2° 0'41.98"W 2° 0'41.98"W, which is circular. Probably not above the railway tunnel, but would it be an air shaft for the coal mine?
snap
  • snap
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16 years ago
The top level of Draycott Cross Colliery can still be accessed via the railway tunnel. There is sand in some parts, particularly in the emergency incline. I have photos from a visit of my own, but nothing that Subbrit hasn't covered (except theirs were 1991 rather than 2009!!).

Can I just ask why this mine isn't visible in the aditnow database?
simonrl
  • simonrl
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16 years ago
"snap" wrote:

The top level of Draycott Cross Colliery can still be accessed via the railway tunnel. There is sand in some parts, particularly in the emergency incline. I have photos from a visit of my own, but nothing that Subbrit hasn't covered (except theirs were 1991 rather than 2009!!).

Can I just ask why this mine isn't visible in the aditnow database?



This one (Amber Valley - as per thread)? http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Amber-Valley-Coal-Mine/  or Draycott?
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
snap
  • snap
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16 years ago
Sorry - I was referring to Draycott.
simonrl
  • simonrl
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16 years ago
No problem. It doesn't appear to have been added to the database. Nothing suspicious, just nobody has added it yet 😉
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
ICLOK
  • ICLOK
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16 years ago
Amber Valley still def in Amber Valley, Derbys... now bulldozed flat as of lasty summer...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh Creeper!!!!!

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