dolgellau mine exploration · AditNow Community

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muddy686
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

12 years ago

Myself and 3 caving mates are interested in gaining accesss to some mines around the mawddach estuary. Vigra, St Davids, cefn coch, gwynfynydd et al. This is purely to explore and nothing to do with gold extraction.
Does anyone know which are open and how to contact landowners for permission? I live in bedford so its a bit of a trek to see a sealed mine!

Oh and is there a place where I can get hold of surveys/mine maps?Caves have www.cavemaps.org, but there doesnt seem to be a mine exploring equivalent?

Thanks for putting up with my newbie daft questions!

My wife is like my caving torch. Bright, she works and I cant do much without her!

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Daggers
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

Mine maps are sometimes hard to get hold of, this site and some others do have limited copies of surveys for the more popular mines, but your best bet is to contact a local council (to the area) they will have an archives department and hopefully they will have an online digital catalog of documents, but they are not free and sometimes can be very expensive.

You can find surveys and maps via this method too, the National Coal Board keeps a complete archive of all abandoned metal and mineral mines in the UK by order of the government and these documents are to be made available for research to institutions, government bodies, schools and collages, and individuals who are carrying out studies into the histories and archaeology of mines.

Hope this helps, as for the mines you are talking about I was recently told that they have been bought by a new company and sealed up to prevent gold robbers.

Daggers

AR
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/nocomico/
However, modern mine surveys, which is what I assume you're after, if published are most likely in society journals, same as cave surveys.

Asking on here or Mine Explorer about access (if possible) and surveys (if there is one) is probably your best starting point for any specific mine.

Follow the horses, Johnny my laddie, follow the horses canny lad-oh!

Moorebooks
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

"muddy686" wrote:
Myself and 3 caving mates are interested in gaining accesss to some mines around the mawddach estuary. Vigra, St Davids, cefn coch, gwynfynydd et al. This is purely to explore and nothing to do with gold extraction.
Does anyone know which are open and how to contact landowners for permission? I live in bedford so its a bit of a trek to see a sealed mine!

Oh and is there a place where I can get hold of surveys/mine maps?Caves have www.cavemaps.org, but there doesnt seem to be a mine exploring equivalent?

George Halls Books on the Gold Mines of Merioneth are very helpful
http://www.moorebooks.co.uk/-USED-The-Gold-mines-of-Merioneth-7181.html

Some of the Gold Mines have very restricted access, St Davids in particular there are ways into Gwynfynydd and using gumption you will find them

Mike

Thanks for putting up with my newbie daft questions!

John Mason
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

The County Archive in Dolgellau has some stuff, but not an awful lot.

There are lots of workings dotted around the area, many of which were no more than unsuccessful trials. But be careful WRT Gwynfynydd - there is an ochre issue there - has been for years. So far as I know Clogau has seen odds and ends of work, amount unclear, so it might be regarded as private, but the notion that other mines have been blocked-off recently to stop people after gold is news to me. I doubt this to be the case. the Crown did fence-off lots of shafts and adits in the district - not just at the gold mines but also those that worked the manganese - more of a liability thing. Unless they were trying to stop people nicking manganese, too!

royfellows
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

"John Mason" wrote:
, but the notion that other mines have been blocked-off recently to stop people after gold is news to me. I doubt this to be the case. the Crown did fence-off lots of shafts and adits in the district - not just at the gold mines but also those that worked the manganese - more of a liability thing. Unless they were trying to stop people nicking manganese, too!

This sounds to me like the rumour factories distortion factor.....
More like Crown Estate v The Gold Panners.
Remember the furore

My avatar is a poor likeness.

davel
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

Many of the mines and trials on the north side of the Mawddach have been gated (by CCW I think) on the grounds of bat conservation.

New fences have been installed at Vigra and Foel Ispri in the last ten years.

Dave

John Mason
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

Crown Dave/Roy, from what I understand.

Wormster
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

"John Mason" wrote:
Crown Dave/Roy, from what I understand.

S'right, Lizze and Phil the Greek don't want the great unwashed getting our hands on the Welsh Gold! - whatever next, slate mining??

Better to regret something you have done - than to regret something you have not done.

John Mason
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#10

Ney. Mengenese, don'tcha knay!

Seriously, the Mn mines are likewise stockaded-off in many areas - Llyn Du Bach for starters, where there's f**k all to fall down!

davel
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#11

"John Mason" wrote:
Seriously, the Mn mines are likewise stockaded-off in many areas - Llyn Du Bach for starters, where there's f**k all to fall down!

Warning: topic drift ... :offtopic:

Oh dear, I knew they had done that in some places such as above Llanaber and Cilcwchwyn, but I've not been to the Llyn Du Bach area for some time so I didn't know about that.

Dave

muddy686
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

12 years ago

#12

Thanks gents for the replies, food for thought certainly! I think I'll head up there on a recconnaisance trip before dragging my mates up to Snowdonia!

On a related note to sealed mines: there's a band of "rogue" cavers who go about "liberating" sealed caves! They argue the landowner owns the land and access but not what lies beneath. Im not sure of the legality of that, and dont (want to be seen to) condone such activity, but the idea of a bunch of middle aged blokes in warmbacs and wellies with an angle grinder at dead of night in the middle of nowhere amuses me!

My wife is like my caving torch. Bright, she works and I cant do much without her!

Wormster
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#13

"muddy686" wrote:

On a related note to sealed mines: there's a band of "rogue" cavers who go about "liberating" sealed caves! They argue the landowner owns the land and access but not what lies beneath. Im not sure of the legality of that, and dont (want to be seen to) condone such activity, but the idea of a bunch of middle aged blokes in warmbacs and wellies with an angle grinder at dead of night in the middle of nowhere amuses me!

AHHHH you heard about DarkPlaces then, we've all "growed up" now - we use the key rather than the gasaxe!

Better to regret something you have done - than to regret something you have not done.

Manicminer
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#14

A company has an Option Agreement with the Crown over most of the area from Barmouth up to Trawsfynydd. They are doing some works at Clogau and the lower 3 entrances are locked.
The North Wales Bat Group along with the FC and maybe the CCW have placed gates on the Prince of Wales/ lower Foel Isbri mines where they are on FC land.
The Crown have replaced the steel door at Gwynfynydd's No.6 level with a steel gate and beefed up the fences further up the hillside and removed a ladder from the manway to surface from No.2 level. They have also replaced the gate and lock on the drainage adit at Prince Edward.
The National Grid are doing some works on the Pylons that pass Prince Edward and have upgraded the road and have security on site.
Everything else is the same.

Gold is where you find it

Moorebooks
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#15

"Wormster" wrote:

"muddy686" wrote:

quote]

AHHHH you heard about DarkPlaces then, we've all "growed up" now - we use the key rather than the gasaxe!

You mean 28 days later :curse:

Wormster
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#16

"Moorebooks" wrote:
You mean 28 days later :curse:

Even they've growed a brane over the last few years!!

Better to regret something you have done - than to regret something you have not done.

JohnnearCfon
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#17

"Manicminer" wrote:
A company has an Option Agreement with the Crown over most of the area from Barmouth up to Trawsfynydd. They are doing some works at Clogau and the lower 3 entrances are locked.
The North Wales Bat Group along with the FC and maybe the CCW have placed gates on the Prince of Wales/ lower Foel Isbri mines where they are on FC land.
The Crown have replaced the steel door at Gwynfynydd's No.6 level with a steel gate and beefed up the fences further up the hillside and removed a ladder from the manway to surface from No.2 level. They have also replaced the gate and lock on the drainage adit at Prince Edward.
The National Grid are doing some works on the Pylons that pass Prince Edward and have upgraded the road and have security on site.
Everything else is the same.

They (NG) seem to be digging a trench near the route of the pylons and laying 1 foot (?) diameter flexible pipes in it with frequent manholes at least some of which have smaller flexible pipes going off to the side.

Morlock
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#18

"JohnnearCfon" wrote:
They (NG) seem to be digging a trench near the route of the pylons and laying 1 foot (?) diameter flexible pipes in it with frequent manholes at least some of which have smaller flexible pipes going off to the side.

Wind farm preparation?

jabbz
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#19

Hi I live in llanelltyd just outside of dolgellau under foel ispri.
I know at the moment all the mines you wish to look at are under the control of gold mines of wales based in dogellau.
And they are not happy about people going in as they are all under examination by different geologist's and other mine survayers. I say if you are going to do it go at night or risk getting cought. That is what i would do and plan to with some of the many I have not yet been down like Cefn coch. But I would not go near Clogau as that is asking for trouble. You could always ask gold mines of wales but I know what the answer will be. Sorry if this is no help but I know one of the people who work for them and they tell me not to go down as the boss is not very nice and would do all he could to prossecute.