nothing like a bit of low O2 to get the lungs working. Tin man have you got any stuff on white works?

nothing like a bit of low O2 to get the lungs working. Tin man have you got any stuff on white works?

It's a shame that unlike your lungs the same cannot be said for your brain !

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steady on dude some one else had the meter and i called the return as soon as i knew the reading

Wal.

From what I remember.

Kero Davy lamp, out at 15%
Meths lamp, out at 12.5%
Butane lighter, nothing at about 11.5% just spark. (does other things between about 14% and 11.5%)

From what I remember, things get very exciting in a nasty way below 11% and every fraction of a % counts.

A few of us accidentally wandered into MWelly 2 weeks ago and the O2 level hit 11.3 percent in the old workings. I recall 2 years ago we did the bic test and the lighter lit thus O2 at about 19 percent. What could account for such a huge change?

Must have been interesting for whoever laid those ground source heat pump pipes...

JamieC wrote -
Must have been interesting for whoever laid those ground source heat pump pipes..

The pipes are in the main shaft and well ventilated. The 'bad air' is in the workings west of Robinson's shaft.
light headedness and Tunnel vision is the order of the day in that section....best to stay out.

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Bad air is interesting and the effects vary considerably, probably due to how much CO2 you are producing at the time.

I have heard a legendary story where on local explorer (very very reputable chap) abseiled into very bad air and was almost unable to do a changeover, or operate a walkie talkie due to his brain being almost shut down.

I've heard of people complaining of headaches (non smokers) and I and my chum notoriously abseiled into very low oxygen without much of a problem, until we started "expending energy" thus producing lots and lots of CO2 which then makes your breathing go off the scale. Then you have the exciting combination of feeling woozy, yet panic breathing at the same time.

The back of Welly is a different "hit" again, as it is very low, but you will have been proceeding carefully and the effects sneak up on you....sweating, tunnel vision, feeling slightly drunk.

We had another similar one where we were in a large SE Cornwall adit (modern) and strutted off into the mine, by the time we realised there was no air, we were in a world of shize. As we had been strutting, we had the high blood CO2 and started puffing heavily, this in turn used even more oxygen and made it a close on. It wasn't nice.

You also have to remember that when a few of you go into somewhere with bad air, you are breathing what is left and contributing to the CO2 there (which in turn adds to your blood CO2). When you decide it is time to turn around, the air you have been in will be a nadge worse than the air you are stood in.

If you are dealing with air which is less than 15% (kero davy lamp goes out). It is very important you know exactly what you are doing as you are potentially in an area where you don't have all the time in the world before things get very exciting.

Having had 2 exceedingly close ones, I can vouch for there being no glory in a bad air related demise. The very close near drowning experience I had was a lot nicer.

There were old workings (I forget which of the old Consolidated Mines lodes these were on) which were intersected by the decline above adit level, which took a strong draught. Some of the stopes were only just passable for anyone of my size (& my ribs were more flexible in those days). I think we were taken as far as you could go without digging, but still following that draught. This was after the water had risen to CA level.

They probably boarded a load of them up, but there were several lodes, both stoped and backfilled cut by the decline (above adit). The one you are thinking of is West Virgin lode right by Noel's shaft.

Hi guys, probably not enough to effect larger open area but very common for enclosed spaces is the effect that rusting has on oxygen content. So any old rusting metal items left behind will rapidly deplete oxygen content.
Worth bearing in mind.

Right.

I have been very interested in this area for a while, I've been sidetracked by the earlier stuff for the last few years and this has got my attention back on the 20th century stuff.

I have made a semi-concerted effort to piece together some information about what was done in the area in the 30's and 40's and latterly in the Wheal Maid decline area.

My sources are as follows:-

1. Dines. -mentions the Mt Wellington company poking around Poldory and opening a few other shafts up. -also mentions the briefest description of Whiteworks.

2. Trounson "Cornish Mineral Industry" This was based on a set of reports he wrote for the mining magazine (seemingly off the top of his head, probably by visiting the sites firsthand). A section about whiteworks and it's validity as a small producer.

3. Mining Magazine 1939 volume. Interesting picture of Whiteworks, the only one I've seen outside the Carharrack book.

4. MRO plan whatever number it is. Section showing layout of Whiteworks.

5. Jane plan of decline and plan/sections of whiteworks and poldory. Detailed stuff about Whiteworks, nothing particular about Poldory or Teague'e openwork.

It is very clear, from reading what Trounson had to say, as well as what the wellington company did on the downs is that they saw the area as not totally worked out. Irritatingly, despite the abundance of plans and sections, there is very little actually written about what they did, what it was like, how the ground was, what the water was like, how the lodes behaved in depth, etc, etc, etc.

This is a great shame, as when you consider most other areas were considered in microscopic detail by Henwood, Collins, etc, etc.

I am keen on hearing from anyone who might be able to shed some light on the 20th century workings in this area.

When you look around at the ambidecked and concrete collared shafts all over consols and united, it is plain that there was major methodology at work and they clearly had a strategy and a goal which built on those before them.

Surely, somewhere someone knows more.

The record office catalogue shows no hits and the Cornwall Studies Library is blank, beyond the classic texts.

Over to you lot.

I am keen on hearing from anyone who might be able to shed some light on the 20th century workings in this area.

Stuey, ask GW if he can put you in touch with the CSM test mine captain, he'll know if the Jane people 'in the know' are still about