Earlier in this thread mention was made of the Holland workings in the Oakeley upper quarry, which I know very little about and I have a couple or more of questions: -
Are there any old plans which show the chambering and veins worked in the part of the upper quarry known as Hollands? The chambers here are reputed to have been wide by Oakeley/Cwmorthin standards, suggesting good rock, as has been mentioned previously.
I've heard something about these chambers being flooded. does anyone know if this is correct? Slightly surprised by this as I thought it was much too far up in the workings unless chambers/levels have been blocked or dammed. Maybe I'm wrong on this one.
Also while I'm on the topic of plans and history etc, have often wondered why chambering wasn't significantlyy developed off Leval Ffrench, as I thought part of it at least ran through the back vein. Was the slate at this point not considered of sufficient quality to be worth extracting? Was it too hard, or was there an intrusion of another rock type entirely in this area? The chamber (11E) where level Ffrench reaches Cwmorthin, appears quite well developed, although it. looks as if this chamber could have yielded a lot more: The slate slab (where the stone footholds have recently been installed) is very impressive, Wonder if it is actually as good as it looks to my untrained eye!
'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'
'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.