bigchris
  • bigchris
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15 years ago
Does anyone know any mines around Dartmoor with interesting remains to look at, both above and below ground (nothing too severe in the latter case) please? I hope to explore the area over Christmas-New Year but do not know it well. I want places where there are no issues with access or landowners. Thanks.
JohnnearCfon
15 years ago
I would put Haytor Granite Tramway at top of the list. There some fascinating remains of the tramway and the various quarries it served. Information and photos on this site are here:-

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Haytor-Granite-Quarry/ 


There is an excellent website with maps etc about them I will try and find it and put a link up later.
carnkie
15 years ago
Someone e-mailedme this site recently. I don't whether it's the one your thinking of. http://www.9fairfield.eclipse.co.uk/haytor/haytorone.html 
The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.
JohnnearCfon
15 years ago
Ah yes that's the one! Thanks Carnkie.
Peter Burgess
15 years ago
If you need something to do on a day that is just too wild to go up onto the moors, take a walk down the Tavistock Canal from Tavistock towards Morwell Down. There might even be a nice warm teashop open when you get back to the car.
ICLOK
  • ICLOK
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15 years ago
Wheal Betsy engine house is nice on the Okehampton-Tavistock Rd, Excellent remains of water powered mining at Mary Tavy of Devon Utd Mine (Central & Southern sections), for underground suggest you talk to Ferret on here. Also if you get chance see if someone at KMPS will show you Kelly Mine, as for Haytor Tramway don't miss the section in Yarner wood which is excellent as it winds down the hillside.... :thumbup:
πŸ”—Haytor-Granite-Quarry-User-Album-Image-011[linkphoto]Haytor-Granite-Quarry-User-Album-Image-011[/linkphoto][/link]
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh Creeper!!!!!
neils
  • neils
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15 years ago
princetown, west of there is a disused railway that leads to two disused quarry's and king's tor, a nice circular walk, dry underfoot and impossible to get lost in thick fog/snow/rain/hale. south of princetown is a fairly clear path to more abandoned workings, and nuns cross, which has an intresting combined tunnel and mine. you might have to break the ice because it is waist deep water!. i think the templer way goes from teignmouth to haytor and this is a good walk and clearly signposted, which other people have mentioned. there is a very easy small mine at haytor which is locked. i am not sure who has the keys now but plymouth caving group are the people to talk about this, and mines on dartmoor in general. most dartmoor mines are small squallid affairs, especially in winter though. their are some big shafts , and even a slate mine, but access can be a problem. the area south west of the warren house inn is another place full of holes and a very nice pub, also the woods around buckfastleigh. there's also caves in those woods and a radioactive mine so be careful! in the west at tavistock theres a nice canal walk as someone mentioned, and do not forget morwellham quay if it is open.
ICLOK
  • ICLOK
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15 years ago
I know its a bit of a drive from Dartmoor but Devon Great Consols worth a look for its Calciners and arsenic Mill remains.

In fact a good reference book for a trip there would be Mines Of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913 by P.H.G Richardson (British Mining Vol.44).

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh Creeper!!!!!
stuey
  • stuey
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15 years ago
There are a few interesting mines in the area. However, access is often gated and the local caving group take a dim view of people hacking locks off/going into their mines.

There are some very interesting trips in the area, but sadly, bat season started last weekend and access will be restricted.

I can put you in touch with the local caving group chief and assuming you have BCA insurance, they will happily let you tag along.

There are a few holes you can wander into willy-nilly, but the good ones are gated/are bat roosts....

Tin Miner
15 years ago
Devon United Mine's access has been taken over by the Devon & Cornwall Underground Council (DCUC). I originally had the access agreement, but seeing I've left the underground scene I've arranged for the DCUC to take it on. Also Great Rock Mine, Haytor Iron Mine, & Mines on the Maristow Estate are all now run by the DCUC.

As Stuey stated if you hold BCA insurance you'll be able to obtain a key (PM me for DCUC Access Officer's details) to visit the mines. Also, we're now in the 'Bat season' which Stuey pointed out so some of these mines are out of bounds due to an agreement with Natural England.

Dartmoor has many abandoned tin mines and copper mines on its periphery. If there’s any particular mine/s that you wish to visit I'll be able to assist you with information. I know landowner's contact numbers, and where is permitted to explore etc.

For surface exploration there are a number of tin mines with surface remains that can be seen along with many wheelpits etc. Again, if you require any info contact me off-line.

Kindest regards Tin Miner
bigchris
  • bigchris
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15 years ago
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I am now spoiled for choice!
plodger
15 years ago
I'm presently surveying the remains of the old engine house and workings of the Druid Mine near Ashburton with the blessings of the owner. It's a very unusual site with the enginehouse probably the most complete one in South Devon - roofless and ivy-covered but largely still there, as well as remains of boilerhouses, shafts and whim engine house. I'll p.m. you with my contact details if you'd like to get in touch.
Ian H.
Nicho
  • Nicho
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6 years ago
Druids: In c1996 the remains of the pump rod were still visible leaning and poking up out of the water-filled shaft. Pity someone couldn't have rescued the top section for preservation! Too much for little me!!!
Tin Miner
6 years ago
"Nicho" wrote:

Druids: In c1996 the remains of the pump rod were still visible leaning and poking up out of the water-filled shaft. Pity someone couldn't have rescued the top section for preservation! Too much for little me!!!



What you see are the remains of the bracing and strapping plates as the timber has totally rotted away now... have some photos of it somewhere...

Regards Tin Miner
Chalcocite
6 years ago
You're lucky to be able to get onto druids workings. I've heard the owner is a right miserable ******!

The speleologists get a bit funny too when you go in poking around their VERY own private caves. There's a few of them around ashburton πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚




Tin Miner
6 years ago
Chalcocite wrote - "You're lucky to be able to get onto druids workings. I've heard the owner is a right miserable ******!

The speleologists get a bit funny too when you go in poking around their VERY own private caves. There's a few of them around ashburton"

I was lucky in relation to Druid Mine as helped as a volunteer assistant to English Heritage when they conducted a survey of the area on the private land. Full report available from English Heritage offices at Swindon.

Regarding the caves around Ashburton/Buckfastleigh contact the William Pengelly Trust, Devon & Cornwall Underground Council, or the Plymouth Caving Group who'll help you acquire permission to visit as long as you're a member of an organised club/group that holds BCA Insurance.

Kind regards Tin Miner
Peter Burgess
6 years ago
"Chalcocite" wrote:

You're lucky to be able to get onto druids workings. I've heard the owner is a right miserable ******!

The speleologists get a bit funny too when you go in poking around their VERY own private caves. There's a few of them around ashburton πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚




I'm not surprised they get very twitchy considering the theft of some exceptional prehistoric animal remains from one cave a year or two back.
Red78
  • Red78
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6 years ago
Hi BC,
If the weather holds and the mists don't come in, and you don't get eaten by the black hound of Dartmoor! Then there are a few nice surface remains at Cherry Brook Gun Powder Works.. but watch out for the swamp.
Whiteworks Tin Mine south of Princetown are extensive humps and bumps with multiple flooded shafts.
I visited both of these last Sept and was pretty impressed.

If the mist does roll in on Dartmoor, why not head over the Tamar to the strange land that is a Duchy (not a County apparently) and wander around the engine houses at Minions. :thumbup:

Geology:
the study of rocks & similar substances (minerals n such) that make up the Earth''s surface.
Minerals:
are the building blocks of rocks. They are a naturally occuring,inorganic, solid, crystalline substance which has a fixed structure. (and some of them are really pretty)
Chalcocite
6 years ago
Well they can stay there. I'm not remotely interested in old animal bones. πŸ™‚

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