A wander around Cwmorthin· Page 3

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Spark
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Newbie

15 years ago

#41

"Vanoord" wrote:
The steps are going to have a very nasty incident when the slab detaches from the wall - at a guess the main impact will be beyond them and they may only take an indirect impact, but they're certainly under some threat.

"Vanoord" wrote:
There may be a slightly better angle if you were to look from the side, but we don't appear to have a photo of it - and I'm not convinced I want to go back to get one!

There is no apparent movement from the picture, but I didn't get too close.
What is apparent is that the warning notices need replacing due to being inkjet printed and the damp atmosphere. I couldn't read the one at the top, but most of the one at the bottom is still legible.

dwarrowdelf
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14 years ago

#42

Anyone looked round Cwmorthin recently?
I am planning a trip for a months time and am wondering what the situation is like with the water levels at the moment. When I was last there in October 2010, there was the usual water at the bottom of the BVI. Is this liable to change significantly?

'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'

'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.

simonrl
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Administration

14 years ago

#43

It barely changes down there - you're going to get your legs wet whatever the weather :)

my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by

Strangely Brown
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14 years ago

#44

Anyone know why the water coming out of the reservoir in chamber 1 east (near the truck wedges against the incline ceiling) has suddenly reduced? It doesn't look like the valve on the outlet has been moved so either the water running in has diverted, a crack has formed in the chamber or the pipe has partialy blocked. Any thoughts?

Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

dwarrowdelf
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14 years ago

#45

Did a trip to Cwmorthin recently (May) which took in the BVI and the floor B dam. All I can say is that there was still some water issuing from the rusted pipe, which was enough to make quite an audible trickle. We got a close up shot of the pipe at its junction with the dam bulkhead. There appears to be calcified deposits at this point. Maybe this is graudually blocking the outlet?

[photo]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62737[/photo]

'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'

'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.

Strangely Brown
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14 years ago

#46

Yep, this is the valve. It was quite a dramatic change, I know because we were recording the sound, I guess it was flowing at about 1/2 gallon a second then 3 weeks later down to the trickle it is now. Any one know if there is a way into this chamber to have a look?
Weather doesn't seem to have any bearing on the rate of flow.

Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

Vanoord
54.4% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

14 years ago

#47

You should be able to get into the chamber by continuing along Lake Level in the Back Vein - there's a surprising amount along there.

Not quite sure where you can head down, but it should be possible somewhere. Not sure if someone hasn't seen the dam from the other side in the last couple of years?

Hello again darkness, my old friend...

steve turbo
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Newbie

14 years ago

#48

there does not appear to be a way to back of that dam,i looked before but not found a way in ??? anybody know ..

Vanoord
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14 years ago

#49

There is - you go along lake level and head downwards!

Hello again darkness, my old friend...

steve turbo
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14 years ago

#50

thanks vanoord,i not found that yet .and i been all over that lake level ::)

simonrl
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14 years ago

#51

Is my memory playing tricks or is there a dam on A floor as well? If there is I'm sure I've seen the back of that one.

my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by

Vanoord
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Newbie Topic Starter

14 years ago

#52

"simonrl" wrote:
Is my memory playing tricks or is there a dam on A floor as well? If there is I'm sure I've seen the back of that one.

Ahhhhhhhh, it was you that found the back of a dam!

I believe there are dams on A Floor and B Floor. Built in 1935 noless - it's amazing what can be found in Graham's book ;)

Presumably if you can get down to the A Floor dam, it should be possible to get to the B Floor dam - might make for an afternoon out sometime in the near future?

Hello again darkness, my old friend...

simonrl
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Administration

14 years ago

#53

"Vanoord" wrote:

"simonrl" wrote:
Is my memory playing tricks or is there a dam on A floor as well? If there is I'm sure I've seen the back of that one.

Ahhhhhhhh, it was you that found the back of a dam!

I believe there are dams on A Floor and B Floor. Built in 1935 noless - it's amazing what can be found in Graham's book ;)

Presumably if you can get down to the A Floor dam, it should be possible to get to the B Floor dam - might make for an afternoon out sometime in the near future?

Could do ;)

IIRC the A floor dam (if there is such thing) was reached by scrambling down the tip of sawn ends from the saw table area on lake level.

I have no idea about the B floor dam I'm afraid. It may not be accessible because (from the map) it looks like it's only accessible from above (blocked IIRC) or from further inby along B floor. That said there's a bit of B floor there that's possibly never been looked at.

I'll have a dig through the photos and see if I can find anything. The only thing I remember about that day was I was playing with an old lens and had problems focussing so might not have uploaded anything.

my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by

simonrl
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Administration

14 years ago

#54

Found them:

The A floor dam I think:

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-002[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-002[/linkphoto][/link]

The furthest you can reach along A floor in the E direction. I suspect this was collapsed around chamber 2E:

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-001[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-001[/linkphoto][/link]

my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by

steve turbo
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Newbie

14 years ago

#55

"simonrl" wrote:
Found them:

The A floor dam I think:

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-002[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-002[/linkphoto][/link]

The furthest you can reach along A floor in the E direction. I suspect this was collapsed around chamber 2E:

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-001[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-18-11-2006-Image-001[/linkphoto][/link]

yes thats a floor dam,chamber is full of deads ,sawn ends,only way to b floor is to dig throu here...i think ??? 😞

simonrl
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Administration

14 years ago

#56

Ay, that's what I thought. The far end of A floor is a bit creepy isn't it? Under that leaning stack of dead 😮

I'll have a better look at the map tonight and see if it looks likely there's any other way to reach B...

my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by

dwarrowdelf
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Newbie

14 years ago

#57

Below is a photo of the floor A dam. This can be seen directly off the BVI
Very interested in getting to see the other side of these dams as well

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62672[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62672[/linkphoto][/link]

'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'

'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.

grahami
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14 years ago

#58

The effect of dams in both A and B floors was to impound water to the South of the drop fault in the Back vein - note there are no lower floors in this section - C D and E Back Vein are North of the drop fault.

Grahami

The map is the territory - especially in chain scale.

dwarrowdelf
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14 years ago

#59

Floor B dam photographed from the usual BVI side for comparison

🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62714[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62714[/linkphoto][/link]

'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'

'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.

Vanoord
54.4% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

14 years ago

#60

"simonrl" wrote:
Ay, that's what I thought. The far end of A floor is a bit creepy isn't it? Under that leaning stack of dead 😮

I'll have a better look at the map tonight and see if it looks likely there's any other way to reach B...

Doesn't particularly look like it.

It looks as if most of the chambers were backfilled from A - there are perhaps 6 chambers on B floor along there (not to be confused with the other chambers on 😎.

I've been trying to figure out the 1899 survey, but flicking back and forwards to Graham's survey isn't entirely easy as they're the opposite ways up!

The survey is a bit vague on what happens to B Floor after the first five or six chambers, so there's an outside chance that there may be a connection further on, but I'm not hopeful.

Hello again darkness, my old friend...