Apologies for reopening an old thread, but I am attempting to gather and collate into a paper all of the available information on the Polberro adit system.
I have reopened this thread as it contains some very relevant postings.
I have various pieces of historical information, some from the 1970s, plus my own write up and a piece from the now defunct West Cumbria Mine Research group. It appears that the stopes at the far end of the Polberro branch were collapsing over the years and therefore over a period explorers would meet a different scenario. Up to the 1970s the adit, which was mostly in timber down there were it passed under the stopes, was subject to caving in. I have had sight of an account by quite intrepd explorers in the 1970s, who at some personal risk, got to the far end of the workings. My own explorations and those of West Cumbria found a far different scenario.
What I am after is any odd tit bits of information of memories that can add to the picture, or more accurately, jigsaw.
I think that its very important to record everything otherwise it will become lost.
I have uploaded a couple of photographs that I have of that time, please read the descriptions.
To start the ball rolling, this is the last explorations that I have, early 1990s up to when the adit collapsed in April 1993.
West Cumbria Mine Research Group. Journal written June 1991
Within 7M of entering the adit, we were on our hands and knees, crawling through water with
only 0.5 M of head room. The next Interesting object to greet us was 3-4 M of incredibly deteriorated wooden setts holding up tons of deads.
What I have noticed with interest In Cornwall is the fact that the old miners quite often used rock
wedges as stemples to hold up deads and keep rock faces apart “stulls” as the Cornish corrected me.
At the third cross-cut we passed a winze on our left, and turned left. After approximately 30M I saw a large flooded shaft, some 6M In diameter. Noticing all the floating debris I assumed it was still open to surface. We turned our maintenance free lamps off and saw daylight filtering down. The "pool' was again a gorgeous bluegreen and very clear. Later I learned that this was the Turnavore Shaft, God knows how much further it went down the level we were on.
(Wrong, Primrose Shaft)
Moving further Into the mine we came to another large shaft (but no daylight could be seen this time). This I presumed to be the second engine house shaft.
At this point we decided to turn back and take the right fork knowing there to be some large sloping. Doing so, we moved along this level some 170 M In a low, narrow adit. We eventually came to either a left or right turn, we chose right. The rest of the trip underground was spent exploring some of the largest stopes I have ever seen. Comparable In size with some of the closeheads at Honister.
Again, there was absolutely no sign of any tin, but copper secondaries abounded. We obtained two lovely pieces of rock with enysite coatings 4mm thick, solid and almost crystalline. The only item that could be termed as an artefact was an old chain ladder. Its weight was the obvious reason why no one had taken it. I won't go into any detail about these stopes except to say, they have to be seen to be believed.
Towards the end of the stoping I discovered a small, stone-lined shaft, similar to those seen at Smallcleugh (beyond Bogg). I belayed a 30ft ladder and descended, closely followed by Karen. The way outbye was fallen in, but Inbye was another warren of places to go. We explored for another hour or so, but had to give in to time.
Given the time this could prove to be an extremely interesting mine to explore but when
My own write up
My first visit was in 1988 and it was somewhat regular until 1993. I had been in there over the Easter but returning on the May holiday I was dismayed to find that the level was blocked by a substantial fall about 70 metres in. So this was in April 1993.
My greatest regret is that I never photographed the place to death, I understand that there are some who know a way in, requiring some advanced SRT skills, but I will attempt a description based on my memories.
Inside the portal there was a wet low roof section, but could be easily passed on ones knees with just bottom wet gear. At about 70 metres was a timbered section, mainly supporting muddy ground on the left and utilising cross beams at roof height and also floor height which had to be stepped over. This was the scene of the big run in of 1993.
Further in, the level divided at a Y junction. Left takes one past a series of branch workings, the second on the left having a fairly recent ‘ore dressing’ plant consisting of a fish basket and filters etc, story of this unknown. And then a place where the level passes a shaft on the right where daylight enters, this was the other side of a sort of ‘wall’ and was of course flooded having a lot of floating debris. I understand this to be Primrose Shaft. The main level eventually ends at a fall, which I had started digging through. Before this, it passed a branch to a flooded shaft, which I had attempted to cross in a rubber boat which managed to capsize with me in it! A second attempt was done in a full wet suit with a buoyancy aid. I was intrigued by the continuation of the level which was obviously on a vein, being a high drivage with timbering in the roof. Gaining the level I was disappointed to find that it didn’t go far, but cannot remember whether it was blocked by a fall or just reached a forehead. I think the latter. I did manage a photograph looking outbye towards the shaft. On later visits someone had put a plank over it.
Back at the Y junction , right hand passage eventually reached a stope, , I think is the stope pictured in Dickie Birds photograph from the 1970s, but the remains of shaft timbering had now completely fallen. On the left hand side looking inbye it was possible to squeeze into ascending workings with a lot of packwork. This was up dip of the lode which in this area was very flat, and dipping to the north. I managed to get up to quite a height here and must have been close to surface. These working were a veritable maze of flat stope workings with the roof being the hanging wall and supported by a lot of packwall pillars with various routes between them. Back down in the stope the continuation of the adit level was blocked by a fall. However, climbing the rubble slope at the end of the stope one could gain a chamber with a circular stone lined orepass, similar to as seen in the north Pennines. About 1992 I carried in a scaffold tube and bridged the top to form a belay. The winze was descended, about 20 feet, to the continuation of the adit. This could be explored for a short distance, to a point where I was crawling flat-out under loose timber and rock, and further exploration became really too dangerous. Just before this, there was a climb up on the left, which gave me a fine view across a huge (very loose) stope, with three tiers of working platforms soaring above beyond the range of my then Oldham bulb caplamp. My ‘hole’ was overhung with rocks and boulders, and forward of the point down in the adit where I turned back, timbers were hanging from the roof and material had poured down from the holes created partially blocking the level. I had decided that if I continued further it would very likely be the end of me, it was really that bad.
From the above it can be seen that either there was a dramatic deterioation between the two visits, or the west Cumbria writer was somewhat confused with the workings inbye and outbye of the orepass.
Any comment appreciated.
My avatar is a poor likeness.