was in the lakes with the missus and we came across the above mine. Saw some landrovers driving about, and even saw one appear from a big hole in the ground, had a quick poke around and tried to find a way in but gave up is it possible to get in? Looks a big palce, have had a quick look on line and can find very little info.

You could try asking British Gypsum for a tour but you would have to be pretty persuasive.
Its a working mine and therefor pretty secure

They do do trips for organised groups.

thanks for the info brooks, i'll give them a call next week and see what they say.

Just come across this thread. I went on one of their tours in August 2008 with Cumbria Industrial History Society. It was absolutely first class. We were split in to two groups. One went undergound in the morning while the other toured the mill.

You are driven in landrovers down the incline into the mine and taken directly to the face of one of the "districts" which is well below 1000 feet undergound. You will see loading activities, how the gypsum is won, drilling the shot holes and how the charge is fired. You then follow the gypsum on its 2 mile conveyor journey to the mill.
The company provided a light lunch and then the parties swapped and we were taken on a tour of the mill to see the plaster and plasterboard being made. Very impressive.
Everyone from the receptionist to the shot firer to the mill hands was really helpful and intensely proud of their product.
Nice to see in this day and age.

The company also do a geological day when the company's geologist is present and this also includes a trip down the mine


Back then I was going to ask if anyone on Aditnow would be interested in an organised visit but as I had only been a member for a month or so, I decided against it.

Will will ask the question now. Is anyone interested?

I do know that the company monitor sites like aditnow so any comments or suggestions of ways to get in would be very unhelpful. It is after all a working mine that has to comply with all H & S and Mines and Quarries regs.

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Back then I was going to ask if anyone on Aditnow would be interested in an organised visit but as I had only been a member for a month or so, I decided against it.

Will will ask the question now. Is anyone interested?

Definitely 🙂 Think plenty of others would be too.

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I haven't been on an organised tour.

I have worked at Robertsbridge and Sherburn in the distant past, but I'm always interested

I'll mention here that if there are any other members who are members of professional institutes, trips like that can usually be listed under your CPD

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WCMS tried to arrange a visit to Brightling Mine for NAMHO 2005 but were advised that such visits were only arranged nowadays (2005) for British Gypsum clients. Whether this also applied to other sites, or has changed since then, I don't know.

I did enquire about a visit last year and the mines side of the business was quite amenable to a visit. :thumbup: They did ask which organisation would be posting the trip. I said Aditnow and they were ok with that but added that they had reservations about some sites.

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well, yes. I tend to find that although there is a considerable overlap between the membership, AN and ME are quite different in character.

If you told them 28DL you might as well not bother, I think

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Back then I was going to ask if anyone on Aditnow would be interested in an organised visit but as I had only been a member for a month or so, I decided against it.

Will will ask the question now. Is anyone interested?

Definitely 🙂 Think plenty of others would be too.

Yep, definately interested in a trip, ask away 🙂

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Yes I too would definately like a trip.

The ANMHS is probably the best "group" title to use for such a trip, if the company maybe a little unsure of our integrity.

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Just to put the record straight. When Aditnow was mentioned at Kirkby Thore there were favourable nods. The mines personnel seem quite au fait with who can be trusted and who should be kicked into touch in the mine exploration world.

One particular group were the subject of some very "blunt" remarks. :curse:

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i too would defo be interested in a trip if there is a spare place :flowers:

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Not sure if everyone knows, but I was in the pub a week or two ago with one of the miners from K.T. - they had just made much of the workforce redundant. I think they now only have a skeleton crew keeping the place going, so not sure how that would affect trips... He's still got a job, but one of very few...

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that's a general comment on gypsum mining. It's very dependent on he building trade, which of course is dead in the gutter at present.

production mining is the high-cost alternative to recycling, so when demand is low the mines are slowed down.

It was the same in the late 70s and again in the early 90s

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I believe a large amount of gypsum also comes by train from Drax power station as a byproduct of the combustion cleaning process.

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Brakeman is quite right about Drax material coming in by rail. I believe they also blend in a very pure form of gypsum from Spain. The beds that are mined in the Eden Valley contain a lot of clay impurities but these impurities actually make a better product for the building trade. Don't ask me how, I'm not technical.
And Skippy! Your spending too much time in pubs. Lst time I saw you (last night) you were, errr, again in a pub. :angel:

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Arrrr. By gum.. that zider be good stuff... Just the thing after a hard days shaft sinking...

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I've heard that plasterboard from Sussex is grey, from the Nottingham area (where is that exactly?) is pink and from the power stations is white. What colour would it be from Cumbria?