grahami
  • grahami
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie Topic Starter
9 years ago
I have now uploaded the first quarter (approximately) of a plan of the Oakeley Quarries Back Vein workings based on what was the last survey dated 1904-10 produced by Thomas Jones & Son. I have annotated the plan to show the extent of the workings at earlier dates - i.e. 1897, 1899 etc. As usual for an Oakeley survey, North is at the bottom (sorry I omitted the North Arrow.) This is perhaps the more interesting quarter to most people as it shows the relationship to Cwmorthin and the extent of the Oakeley workings around Cwmorthin when they were abandoned for WWI. Some Old vein workings are also shown where appropriate. Of particular note is the DE floor Back Vein level which was eventually to become Lefal ffrench.

Note the very large chambers towards the eastern side - a legacy of the Holland workings.

Virtually all the workings shown here are collapsed and inaccessible.

The other quarters will probably be of less interest except to historians to show the scale and full extent of the workings.

I'll add a bit more info here when I can.

Grahami
The map is the territory - especially in chain scale.
Vanoord
9 years ago
Ahhh, fascinating, thank you! :thumbup:

Might take a wee while to try and mentally match how it fits with the OV workings though!

Hello again darkness, my old friend...
dwarrowdelf
9 years ago
Many thanks Graham. Will look forward to looking at it later. :)Don't think I can open it at work
'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'

'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.
crickleymal
9 years ago
Whereabouts is the upload? I have searched the site and can't find it. Mind you searching the forum for Oakley back doesn't even find this thread.
Malc.
Rusted and ropey, Dog eared old copy
Vintage and classic or just plain Jurassic
All words to describe me.
NewStuff
9 years ago
http://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents//Whole1-25pc.pdf 

Uploads are listed in a bar on the right hand side of the main page when you scroll down.
Searching for the ever elusive Underground Titty Bar.

DDDWH CC
Vanoord
9 years ago
Oakley / Oakeley - you have to spell it the latter way in order to find it ;)


Either:

Homepage > scroll down, look on right hand side for "Latest Mining & Mine Exploration Documents" and it's (currently) the most recent document

Oakeley Slate Mine page > documents are on the right hand side



http://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents//Whole1-25pc.pdf 
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
dwarrowdelf
9 years ago
The “Lost World” section, (a rather small part of this plan, I may add) more or less matches the rough plan I made when I visited recently, and also provides many fascinating insights to what may now be lost forever. The plan seems to suggest that this area of workings actually seems to split into 3 sections rather than the 2 I originally identified. Firstly there is the section where one can proceed through 3 chambers (Z6, Z5 and Z4) in an eastward direction, and view a selection of artefacts. Notably chamber Z4 has a collection of big regular slate blocks scattered on the floor. The first collapse encountered in this direction, appears to be in chamber Z3 which is a shame,as the plan shows this chamber to be the first one to be worked up to the floors above. Miles's trip report mentions a run in level at the top of ( I think) chamber Z4, but this doesn't appear to be indicated. It looks now as if these series of chambers may be south of the drop fault. The cross cut is clearly marked and the rather isolated section of smaller workings, which we explored, and Miles also mentioned, are clearly shown, although I still can't work out if these are actually part of the back vein or not. There is collapse eastwards here too I think, but the plan indicates that there is not much beyond. Of particular interest is the extensive area of chambering in the “central section” also accessed at one time by the cross cut. Maybe these are the main back vein workings north of the fault. If so they were sadly inaccessible. I think I remember seeing yet another fall in the level possibly indicating the position of chamber Z4 in north of fault section. But the annotations “tops down, signs of pressure” isn't an encouraging sign, if that was the state of these workings even when the plan was drawn up.

I still wonder if beyond these collapses, there are entire sections which have managed to stay relatively intact. I was surprised that the “lost World” itself is in such reasonably good condition, considering that it is indicated as lying roughly below Llyn Bach and the cracks, as well as being split by the fault. So who knows?



Many thanks for uploading, Graham;D
'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'

'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.
crickleymal
9 years ago
:flowers:
"Vanoord" wrote:

Oakley / Oakeley - you have to spell it the latter way in order to find it ;)


Either:

Homepage > scroll down, look on right hand side for "Latest Mining & Mine Exploration Documents" and it's (currently) the most recent document

Oakeley Slate Mine page > documents are on the right hand side



http://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents//Whole1-25pc.pdf 



Ta muchly
Malc.
Rusted and ropey, Dog eared old copy
Vintage and classic or just plain Jurassic
All words to describe me.
grahami
  • grahami
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie Topic Starter
9 years ago
You will notice I have not indicated the Cwmorthin Drop Fault. It does appear in Oakeley plans but not this one! You may also have noticed that there appears to be an Oakeley floor missing - floor 4 - there seems to be a jump from 3 to 5. The reason is historical, the Old Vein equivalent plan has a floor 4 but not 5!

Originally Holland's quarry and Matthews quarry had separate numbering systems. Originally this did not matter, as the extreme western boundary of Matthews quarry (and the Welsh Slate Company below them) limited their extensions westward. Holland's lease allowed him to work downwards west of the other two companies extreme western boundary as much as he liked! Thus Holland sank two additional floors below his lowest "limit level" and part of them is shown on this plan - floors A and B - Hollands floor 1 was his lowest limit level and corresponded to the long tunnel driven from the open workings to his incline above Dinas (this is the tunnel which was used as a walk in underground experience by Gloddfa Ganol). OK so far ?

This meant that when the quarries amalgamated as Oakeley, the Middle quarry floors 3, 4 and 5 could not simply be extended westwards as the Holland deep floor workings A and B were in the way! The solution to this was to ignore Hollands deep floor levels and simply drive new tunnels at the correct levels and create embankments as necessary though the chambers. However the intervals between MQy floor 4, Upper Quarry floor 1 (renumbered 5) and MQy floor 5 meant that all three were not worth the effort of working separately - thus wherever convenient pairs of floors were merged - or simply renumbered. This makes interpreting the surveys somewhat confusing at times!

More later.

Grahami
The map is the territory - especially in chain scale.

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