Hi, i am looking for some info on Kirkmabreck granite quarry near Creetown, S/W Scotland.
I was told that there was a drainage tunnel from the big quarry that you can walk along? We looked for this today but couldn,t see anything.
I know that the Galloway mtn rescue have dived it, and i cant imagine them abseiling down their with all their kit.

Pics!!



tunnel? Looks like it might be about 6ft high, if the ladder rungs are 1ft apart. Also it is at water height, which would make sense as the water level never rises much

Are you talking about the quarry at NX 47985 56527 or those higher up on Fell Hill ? If so, which corner of your quarry is the ladder ?

Interesting link on lead mines associated with the granite
http://dalbeattie.com/scotland-creetown/quarries/leadmine.html 

Hello!! The quarry i,m talking about is the big Fell one, up on the hill. The one by the A75 is Creetown quarry.

The ladder would be at the south side of the quarry, nearest the sea. This would make sense as this side would come out lower down hill, the quarry face is at its lowest above the ladder.

Dave

I'm wondering whether a drainage adit would go eastwards, 500' to the 150m contour. Nothing obvious either south or east on google maps.

Yea we walked around in a field below it, where i was told the tunnel was. But no sign of it.
:sneaky:

Looking on Google maps, the logical place to start searching would be the stream that outfalls into the sea just north of Carsluith.
If the adit allows water to escape from the quarry, the water has to go somewhere and I can't see any other likely options.
So follow the streambed up towards the quarry looking out for inflow perhaps? The stream seems to curve round and start to the south-east of the quarry.

Not sure how touchy landowners are up your way but the easy answer is dye tracing.

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/drain-tracing-dyes-8oz-227gm-0-9001 

IIRC correctly it can be used covertly at low concentrations by sampling likely resurgences with activated charcoal detectors, (or possibly direct with UV light).
If there's a good flow it could be done overnight at high concentrations.

Although harmless it's best not to be caught near a bright green stream with the dye on you. ;D

A simpler solution may be to take a compass bearing of the apparent heading of the tunnel, assume it's straight and wander along in the general direction.

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/drain-tracing-dyes-8oz-227gm-0-9001 
SNIP

£12 for 8 oz Fluorescein a bargain. Could turn the Thames bright green with that amount.

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Be careful with the dye a teaspoon full would turn the stream green for miles. You only require small amounts when using fluorescein.

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Hi folks,
Since I grew up in Creetown, I spent a great deal of time exploring the 3 quarries on the Fell.
The exit/entrance you are looking for is most definitely there since I managed to go in about 40-50 metres until my supply of matches for my candle run out. The fraught in the tunnel was clearly enough to extinguish it. This was as a young teenager some 45 years ago. The entrance more recently was gated so access would be forceful. The entrance is radially out from the centre of the quarry. Was an access tunnel for emergencies since the workers were all lifted n dropped via a cage from the old crane which has since been removed.
I plan to go back to Creetown over the next few months and get some drone video footage of the entrance which I will be happy to share if anyone is still interested.
I am wondering if the entrance has been covered by a rockfall since it was precariously positions at bottom of waste scree.
Please contact me if you wish further info.