Thanks for confirmation AR.
I have ordered those two books and hopefully I should have them in next few days.

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I've got the books and a quick flick through indicates that I'll be busy reading for a while and then busy for a long time going out and looking for some of them.

I didn't realise that they were so many soughs in the area.

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The shalegate soughs were as much about picking up where the veins were at the shale/limestone boundary as drainage - once they hit the big Hucklow edge veins they were used as pumpways though. The exceptions are Stoke and Magclough soughs, which always were deep drainage levels.

Enjoy Jim's books, and look out for part three!

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That'll be the one of the reasons why they are more than what I would of expected.

I'm not sure what the structure is in Old Grove Sough album, the tail on the maps is a bit to the northeast and from memory there was a ponded area where the tail is plotted, although for some reason I didn't take a photo of it

I've put myself on the list of new releases so I can get the book when it is released.

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Went back past this site and a quick look while passing and it was nice to see more of the site had been revealed and it still looked like there was some more excavation to do. I've added the newer pics in to the mine site album although there are no descriptions but you can see the differences
http://www.aditnow.co.uk/album/Silence-Lead-Mine-User-Album/ 

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We're finished with excavation on the site, just some more repointing and consolidation next spring, the only remaining area with possible undisturbed remains is under the path! The stone "horseshoe" at the end of the drainage channel is newly build to protect the v-shaped stones within it, which is an original feature (it diverted outflow through ninety degrees).

We're working at Maury sough tail over winter clearing around the coes, but will finish Silence off next year as we can't put lime mortar in while there's a chance of frost.

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The site looks good, and looks like a fair chunk of work has gone in to the site.
I was courious about the horseshoe shaped thing.
Is the drain/channel above the area of the rocker pit in-situ or a 'new' addition

Yes, I had noticed that there appeared to be a few more stones to be oncovered adjacent the horseshoe and the path.

Is the group responsible for all the notice boards around the area?

When is work starting at Maury?

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I missed the last working day at Silence in November so I'm not sure about the drain you're referring to - I know the last excavation was looking for any surviving walls to the left of the rocker pit as we know from old plans there should have been a jigger shed there, and the drain may have been put in by the team or the local conservation volunteers to stop rainfall coming down the track from getting to the rocker pit area. I think the conservation group did the signs, though once we're done we'll be sorting out proper information boards.

Work began at Maury this month, we're next on site on 9 January (we're usually out on the first Saturday but with the bank holiday weekend we moved it back one). Also,for anyone at a loose end on the 3rd I'm leading a PDMHS walk around Whale Sough and Hubberdale - meeting time/place on the websitehttp://www.pdmhs.com/MeetsList.asp , all welcome and I don't know where that bit about donations has come from, I had no intention of passing my hat round!

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Unfortunately most of my weekends are taken.

Is the plan just to excavate Maury Sough or any other parts of Maury Mine etc? It's not one I've been to see, but the part in the Lead Legacy report shows there may be a good deal of remains at Maury.

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We're only working on the sough tail and buildings. There are two other parts to the Maury/Moorhigh complex, there are tips and a run-in level just above the railway line then there's a good gin circle and engine shaft at the dale top, along with various other features.

The sough is accessible from a small air shaft not far from the tail but the collapsed tail backs the water up inside and it's sumped most of the year. If you can see water in the entrance shaft, you go elsewhere! The workings you can get to when it is low enough, as happened in October aren't massively extensive but are quite interesting and well-preserved, although the hanging death in the stoped areas that hasn't already dropped is a bit off-putting. 😮

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