LeeW
  • LeeW
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14 years ago
Trying to sort out some of my photos from last weeks' visit down to Cornwall and to start could with some help with putting this engine house to a site?

It's in the woods to the north of the eastern edge of the raceway at United Downs NGR: SW751416

Also is the (Stamps?) engine house a few hundred metres to the west part of United Downs

[photo]Personal-Album-176-Image-64801[/photo]
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
Roy Morton
14 years ago
The picture doesn't seem to be appearing on the post, so I went to your album where I could get a decent look at it.
I think it's Garland's Shaft on United Downs (United Mines) 🙂
"You Chinese think of everything!"
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LeeW
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14 years ago
Thanks Roy, I'm not sure why the photo doesn't show, I get a little icon which allows me to open it up in another window

[mod]Fixed - if you just copy and paste one of the two lines of code below the picture into a comment it should work ok in future. 🙂 [/mod]
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
stuey
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14 years ago
Garlands.... Shame that it was cut down a bit IMO.

In Ordish's photos, there are some classics before the trees were planted. It shows the engine house being a lot more complete.

Plus, Hockings 85" was just inside the tip gates, pretty complete. Not sure what happened there.

United/Consols is probably my favourite mining area in Cornwall, if you poke around, there is all sorts to see. Wonderful place.

Did you find the "oil pool" behind the racetrack?
LeeW
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14 years ago
I will definately be doing another few trips down to the area and I've still got a few more things to check out in the United / Consols area.

Yes went around the 'oil pool' to get to Grylls shaft
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
stuey
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14 years ago
Hawkes Shaft. Grylls is to the S by a nadge.

Give me a shout when you're down. I'm just down from the burger van.

Andrew's Shaft on consols is capped in the same manner. Not sure if it was to do with the original Wellington explorations. The later explorations have ambideck on them.
Roy Morton
14 years ago
These shafts were all explored when the Wheal Maid decline (Western Decline) project was being planned. A portable headframe was touted around from site to site and shafts cleared and surveyed. This all took place after the RTZ takeover of Wheal Jane and Mount Wellington. The idea was to use the decline as an access point for forward development whilst a drive was to be put out from Jane, through Wellington to link with the decline and workings beyond. Ore was eventually to have been trammed underground all the way back to Jane's mill.
This project would have been truly epic if the Tin market had not collapsed. Suitable shafts were to be earmarked for ventilation and emergency egress. Whiteworks number 1 was one such shaft. This was laddered out to the bottom and then a raise was put in from the decline to intersect the ladderway. The raise was furnished with a steep staircase and handrail; we knew it as the 139 steps.... for obvious reasons. (They were bloody big steps too, each one 12 inches high. I certainly wouldn't like to have had to gallop up that little lot in a hurry and then do 150 feet of ladders and stages) The raise was started from a side chamber off the main decline (west side) and this also served as a light service area for the scooptrams.

Proposed Decline plan and survey
🔗Personal-Album-342-Image-009[linkphoto]Personal-Album-342-Image-009[/linkphoto][/link]

Scooptram at portal
🔗Personal-Album-342-Image-006[linkphoto]Personal-Album-342-Image-006[/linkphoto][/link]

The ‘139 steps’
🔗WHITEWORKS-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-005[linkphoto]WHITEWORKS-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-005[/linkphoto][/link]

The laddered shaft
🔗WHITEWORKS-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-004[linkphoto]WHITEWORKS-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-004[/linkphoto][/link]

I could write a lot more........but I might save it for a book. :smartass:


"You Chinese think of everything!"
"But I''m not Chinese!"
"Then you must have forgotten something!"
LeeW
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14 years ago
I plotted out Grylls shaft to be east of the pit lane of the race course and west of the black pool area, with Hawkes shaft (I didn't find it though) to the north half way to Garlands Shaft.

I've still got a few more photos to sort out; mainly for Consolidated area and Poldice Area
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
stuey
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14 years ago
Fascinating stuff.

Andrews (consols) and Hawkes (ale and cakes)shafts are slabbed over in the same manner.

The stuff which I gather was messed about with by that lot in the 80's appears to be Collins/Richards (consols) were plugged as they were bins and Francis, Pearce's Whim (consols) as well as Todd's (Wheal Brittania) Taylor's (ale and cakes) one I can't figure out on the NW side of the dump (Poldory) all with nice collars and ambideck. Plus Water Shaft and Coad's shaft footways to Consols adit.

I didn't get to see Whiteworks. One of the shafts appears to be buried under drew's yard and the other smaller shaft buried under the glass place. Interesting how you can just occupy a piece of land, obliterate the emergency egress and have nothing done about it. There must be the gypo equivalent of the freemasons operating in the council, I reckon.

[photo]Personal-Album-205-Image-64840[/photo]

The above diagram shows the shafts taken from an overlay of the plan. (not shown is the one by the road)

Edit again:- I've looked for all of these shafts and not a trace of them remains, apart from Taylors, Hawke's Slab, the one by the pine tree (open) and the cone by the road. Who knows how the others are capped 😃 I've had a good poke around the tip site and there are a few relics but not near the entrance, where there may be a few things open (Sampson's Shaft- Investigated by Jane in the 80s may be something to do with the landfill gas gubbins). Oddly enough, chums have been in Wheal Squire, Britannia and chucked a gas meter down a Poldory one and there wasn't too much out of place. Surprise really.
LeeW
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14 years ago
The map is the same as what I had plotted out.
I assume Pearce's Whim is the capped shaft in the bike tracks to the north of Pearce's shaft which appeared to be a large void (overgrown).

I will hopefully add the shafts around Consols later this evening and I should have some co-ords of the shafts I've photographed and possibly some overlays which I might put in my personal files.

I've changed the errors made around Unity Woods
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
stuey
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14 years ago
Pearce's Engine shaft is open and the Whim has ambideck over it. I climbed over the fallen down chain link fence to have a look at the grille and noticed a patch where there was no cotoneaster in front of me. I thought "I'll chuck a rock in there". Good job, it was a hole about 80m to water.

Give me a shout when you're up there next and I'll bring my maps along.
LeeW
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14 years ago
Good job I stopped at the fence line!

I'm trying to sort out my next visit down that way, probably gonna be in Sept / Oct for a few days - I will give you a pm when I've got the dates sorted.

I've added a few more to Consols, still got a handful of shafts to add to the database but not sure where they need going. They include the shafts to the north of Cusvey and I think are: Bawdens Engine/Sump, Chapples, West Engine Shaft/Sump and Mitchells. Are these part of Consols or separate?



I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks

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