Don't know if anybody has already posted this or not, but I received this in my email inbox from the DCA the other day.

WARNING!
Collapse and severe instability in
Odin Mine -
‘first hand line climb’, ‘stempled
passage’ and ‘cartgate’

DCA, in agreement with cavers that discovered the
collapse, strongly recommend that no one enters Odin
Mine until stabilisation works have been completed.
A collapse has occurred at the base of the first hand line climb,
approximately 50 metres into the mine: The entire floor has disappeared
into a crater approximately 2.5m X 1.5m in size, leaving a ragged drop of
approximately ten metres straight down. The walls of this hole are a very
unstable and continually falling in.
The material has all landed right in front of the stempled passage that links
to the Cartgate, and has also taken out the first two stone stemples, which
are now somewhere in the pile. The passage itself is intact, but the heap of
large deads, gravel and mud that now partially blocks it is very, very
unstable, and is still moving.
Therefore, the stempled passage and, by implication the Cartgate and
beyond) are currently inaccessible and very dangerous.
For further information please contact Martyn Grayson, DCA projects officer
on 0797 695 3089.
Reported: 18th Feb 2011by Derbyshire Caving Association
The following have been notified:-
National Trust
English Heritage
Natural England
Peak District National Park
Peak District Mines Historical Society

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The alert has been posted, but on the Derbyshire SRT weekend thread as the orignal intention was to do Odin one of the two days.

I'm dealing with this in my capacity as PDMHS conservation officer, but I can say that since the orignal warning went out, comparison of a photo taken at the time of discovery with one taken by Paul Deakin a few years back has proved that although some of the deads above the stemples have been brought down, all of the stone stemples have stayed in place (t'owd man knew his job well!). Also, the person handling matters for the National Trust is a caver himself and so has a full understanding of potential risks and liabilities involved, and has arranged for an inspection by a mining professional to assess the stability of the area around the new hole.

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I went to the DCA AGM this morning at Monyash, and Odin was discussed at length and the photos of the collapse passed around - obviously the long-term future of the mine is in everyone's interests, and it was gratifying to see so much concern over the stability of the site.

I was also told at the meeting that Mam Tor had a bit of a lurch last week, and some landslip occurred, so that may have put extra strain on the flanks of Odin and maybe warped it enough to open the passage slightly, thus dropping out the backfill. Incidentally, the Peak guide to Odin describes this part as 'a muddy pool with an uncertain floor', so there you go...

The survival of the stempled section is a great relief to everyone, even if currrently inaccessible, and from what I saw personally, the spoil has mostly landed on one of the few solid-rock sections of that level, so hopefully it's not going to progress any further downwards, and should just sit where it is for now.

I've no idea what the assessment will show, but fingers crossed it's no more than a stabilisation - one thing's for sure, the mine is permanently changed now, and for the first time in decades, all the experts are looking at it at the same time, which has to be a good thing 😉

Interesting about the landslip - although the mine's in the limestone, I wonder if the shock of the slip gave enough of a jolt to cause the fill to drop, and I also wonder if anything's moved in the lower levels. The one thing that does give me a slight chill is remembering Paul Chandler stood on that very spot giving me a leg up to retrieve the handline some years ago, the thought of what would have happened if the fill had given way then doesn't bear thinking about....

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There as now been an update to the original message, the latest info is from the National Trust.

WARNING!
Collapse and severe instability in
Odin Mine -
‘first hand line climb’, ‘stempled
passage’ and ‘cartgate’

The National Trust requests that no-one enters the mine until
further notice.
A collapse has occurred at the base of the first hand line climb, approximately 50
metres into the mine: The entire floor has disappeared into a crater approximately
2.5m X 1.5m in size, leaving a ragged drop of approximately ten metres straight down.
The walls of this hole are a very unstable and continually falling in.
The material has all landed right in front of the stempled passage that links to the
Cartgate. The passage itself is intact, but the heap of large deads, gravel and mud that
now partially blocks it is very, very unstable, and is still moving.
Therefore, the stempled passage and, by implication the Cartgate and beyond are
currently inaccessible and very dangerous.
For further information please contact Paul Mortimer, National Trust Projects Officer on
01335 352261
Reported: 18th Feb 2011 by Derbyshire Caving Association
The following have been notified:-
English Heritage
Natural England
Peak District National Park Authority
Peak District Mines Historical Society

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