BertyBasset
14 years ago
I was having a bit of a trundle on the Eilio ridge last night in what was very clear weather conditions. The Clogwyn Coch cliffs looked particularly impressive in the lighting conditions. This is a site I've often thought about visiting, but have been put off by the approach march.

Has anyone actually been there and been underground. Bick mentions 5 levels, and another thread on this forum mentioned large icicle filled stopes, and suggested easiest means of access was an abseil from above. And there's the intriguing rumour in Bick about it being linked to Britannia Mine.

Robin
ChrisJC
14 years ago
CATMHS had a couple of meets there recently. There is an open way in, followed by an abseil down to the lowest non-flooded level. There are flooded stopes in the floor.
There's also a surprising amount to see on the surface.

The way in is stoped up and down, and I think there might be stuff worth seeing higher up, but you'd have to abseil down from somewhere higher up the cliff.....

JonK keeps detailed records.

Chris.
BertyBasset
14 years ago
Cheers Chris.

Should have gone for a look yesterday. Weather's a bit grim for the rest of the week.

Robin
rufenig
14 years ago
Never saw any way through when we did the Snowdon (Britania) as a pull through.
But we were more interested in navigating down through the stopes and ore passes!
BertyBasset
14 years ago
Unlikely that there is given the distance between them, but both mines are at a similar altitude...
simonrl
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14 years ago
Years back I was told of a rumour of some kids who went into "a copper mine" and came out on the other side of the hill at Clogwyn having been lost for several days. From the description it sounded like Llanberis Copper mine they went into, which would clearly be bonkers because they're not linked.

I'm popping round my parents house tonight so will ask them about it - can't remember who told my mum about it but I'm sure she'll remember.

Substitute Llanberis Copper Mine for Snowdon Britannia (bearing mind mind it didn't come from a mining person) and there's another thread for the rumour.

my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
dave1964
14 years ago
I've heard that story aswell and it was snowdon thruough to clogwyn they were in there for three days i think.
simonrl
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14 years ago
Just asked my mum about it, and apparently it's a bit of local (Llanberis) folklore about a group of kids who went in Snowdon one side and came out the other having been missing for a few days.

Joe Brown and a group (a name any climbers will know) had a go at retracing it some time very late 50s early 60s. I don't know how they got on - but assume it was a wet day so they weren't climbing :lol:

Joe's account also might just be written up in The Hard Years.

I'll see if I can find out any more.
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
simonrl
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14 years ago
Nothing mentioned in The Hard Years... although the Alderley Edge mines get a mention as well as a few caves.
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
RJV
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14 years ago
"simonrl" wrote:

Nothing mentioned in The Hard Years... although the Alderley Edge mines get a mention as well as a few caves.



His tale of riding down Snowdon on bits of rock is something I've always fancied replicating!
simonrl
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14 years ago
Aye, just read that bit :thumbsup:
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
BertyBasset
14 years ago
You've got to wonder though if the lodes are the same. Don't have Bick to hand at the moment to check.

Simon, maybe you should promote a 'Mine of the Week' thread feature, to highlight possibly obscure sites just to see what comes up.
Phil Ford
14 years ago
A group of us explored both mines in 1968. Most of the Britannia levels where open then. Clogwyn was interesting, we went into a few levels but they where disapointing exept for some big wide stopes. Two of the lads climbed up to some high workings they found a few stopes and a small level that went nowhere. There are some good surface features lower down from the cliff base. We found no sighn of a way through from either side.
One problem there are the supprising number of people that wander of the Snowdon path alond the Clogwyn path and need help. We had one woman in a short skirt and high heels come out of the mist looking for the Penygwryd Hotel she was helped to Llanberis.
BertyBasset
14 years ago
Alasdair Neill
14 years ago
The surviving plans of Britannia (at UCNW) from the last working show the workings stopping way short of any possibility of a connection. However that shouldn't get in the way of a good story.
BertyBasset
14 years ago
Quote:

However that shouldn't get in the way of a good story.



Agreed!

I heard about a similar rumour (not in the Bick book, so possibly Harold Morris) about Pant y Wrach workers emerging through the hillside near the FR. Might be more realistic at a few hundred feet.

Robin
Alasdair Neill
14 years ago
There was a documented event of a child of a family staying at the Victoria in Llanberis wandering off not far up the Snowdon path. Assheton Smith who was also staying at the hotel organised a major search using his quarrymen, with no success. Eventually the child wandered into the smithy of a copper mine on the Beddgelert side (not sure which one), the miners eventually returned the child to Llanberis & were well rewarded by assheton smith.
this story could easily have become emelished into the child wandering through the mine.
Alasdair Neill
14 years ago
Did CATMHS do any sort of a survey? Had done everything easy to get into many years ago & was aiming to extend this possibly in the very near future.
fjällvandring
12 years ago
Sorry to re-activate this thread here but I just thought I should add something about these rumours:

I think the idea of two mines linking up is quite a well traveled idea, it's the fascination with the underground and the 'underworld' that makes people want to connect such places. For example in Cumbria on the Coniston Old Man, Scald Kop slate mine (from 1600s so very early) was rumoured to link with Cove slate mine on the other side of the mountain, in reality this is highly unlikely and without purpose.
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BertyBasset
8 years ago
Been looking at some sites using the Google 3D thing, and that top stope of Clogwyn Coch looks quite dramatic.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.0794146,-4.0852611,183a,35y,118.5h,55.67t/data= !3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1?hl=en

For some reason (probably the @) clicking the above link opens an email client on my machine, so you may have to paste the url into your browser.

(Ctrl+Mouse to rotate)

There are two adits above as well. It looks like you could possibly get up the gulley underneath??? - although it's difficult to get a sense of how exposed or not it is.

That must have been the way the miners got up so there would have been some sort of fixed aid at some point.

Robin
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