been having a wander round by the Gunnislake area and came across a adit just off the river about 50 yds downstream from the bend in the river with the small island. i grabbed a tourch and took a good look to find it has a collapse after about 10 yds in.

the adit i found has 2 props supporting the wall about 10ft up, and as you go in there is some planking that was used to stop access. the other side of that is a small drain built out of wood that runs under the barrier about 5-10yds in after that is a collapse

just had a look at the map on here, its given bedford united close by. And the google gives me pics of the entrance marked as bedford as well but one show it gated and the other shows no gate, little confused by it and after some clarification on what adit it is.

If you contact Plymouth caving group, they are the access controlling body for most of the stuff around there; and there is quite a bit.
You could PM Alisdair Neill on this site or just ggogle PCG for contacts. You will find it well worth it. BUM has a large bat colony which needs to be respected and, as I say, PCG can advise you of protocols and such. There is one adit Bedford United Mine which if disturbed, throws large quantities of ochre into the Tamar.....Not Good 😮
They are a great bunch of guys with years of experience :thumbup:

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been having a wander round by the Gunnislake area and came across a adit just off the river about 50 yds downstream from the bend in the river with the small island. i grabbed a tourch and took a good look to find it has a collapse after about 10 yds in.

the adit i found has 2 props supporting the wall about 10ft up, and as you go in there is some planking that was used to stop access. the other side of that is a small drain built out of wood that runs under the barrier about 5-10yds in after that is a collapse

just had a look at the map on here, its given bedford united close by. And the google gives me pics of the entrance marked as bedford as well but one show it gated and the other shows no gate, little confused by it and after some clarification on what adit it is.

What you found was the Marquis Lode Deep Adit, which as you've worked out, is part of Bedford United.

The adit itself is blocked a few fathoms in. The gated entrance is further up the hillside.

At the request of the landowner the gate is kept locked and the key is held by the Plymouth Caving Group who control access. This is not as draconion as it sounds, keeping the gate locked prevents unitended access and maintains access for the mine exploring community.

The PCG are a very nice and approachable bunch of guys and gals who, if you contact them (try their website), are more than happy to welcome new people.

In purely technical terms you will need to be competent on rope to explote the Marquis; again this is something the PCG can help with.

There have been problems recently with an urbex group who broke the lock of and posted details of their trip online. Apart from the expense and hastle of replacing the lock it also jeopardises the relationship with the landowner which has been developed over many years.

With regard to bats - BUM has a nationally significant population of lesser horseshoe bats (I think - they all look the same to me). To protect their winter habitat access is limited to bat people between October and Easter.

Thanks for the heads up on this one i will be joining PCG as a matter of course,
The Marquis Lode Deep Adit must have had a new collapse then as this looked to be no more that 5-10 meters from the start and did look quite fresh.
Thinking about heading down again with the waders and having a look again at the adit by the bridge, quite liked that one last time. and the small adit close by the bedford united the one that has a load of standing water and 2 logs and the remains of barbed wire wrapped round em

The adit by the bridge on theCornish is bank is part of Old Gunnislake (Bonney lode)

The adit with standing water is Phillips Lode (Bedford United). there is flooded stope in there which is a tad dodgy if you get your footing wrong.

In 1975 or 1976 I went on a trip to Gunnislake organised by Ron Hooper, the then-Head of Surveying at CSM and innumerable other arcane positions as well.

I forget who else went, although John Watton was certainly there to take photos.

I remember entering a gated adit and walking a considerable distance, stopping to take photos of among other things, timber launders and bored elm pipes spanning floor sections.

We carried an inflatable dinghy which we paddled some distance along a flooded stope, shining our caplamps to try and get some idea of the back of the stope, far above us.

That's all I can remember, but someone might be able to identify the location?

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Sounds like Drakewalls rather than Gunnislake.

The adit itself is blocked a few fathoms in. The gated entrance is further up the hillside.

Off topic, but is it correct to express horizontal distances in Fathoms?

At sea depth is measured in Fathoms. In Cornwall, (but not really anywhere else?) shaft depths and mine working levels were traditionally measured in Fathoms. These are both vertical distances.

So should horizontal distances be expressed in yards?

Sounds like Drakewalls rather than Gunnislake.

I agree :thumbup:

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The adit itself is blocked a few fathoms in. The gated entrance is further up the hillside.

Off topic, but is it correct to express horizontal distances in Fathoms?

At sea depth is measured in Fathoms. In Cornwall, (but not really anywhere else?) shaft depths and mine working levels were traditionally measured in Fathoms. These are both vertical distances.

So should horizontal distances be expressed in yards?

On many old plans in the records office the horizontal scale is often expressed in fathoms per inch. 4 or 8 fathoms to the inch being a common scale.

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The adit itself is blocked a few fathoms in. The gated entrance is further up the hillside.

Off topic, but is it correct to express horizontal distances in Fathoms?

At sea depth is measured in Fathoms. In Cornwall, (but not really anywhere else?) shaft depths and mine working levels were traditionally measured in Fathoms. These are both vertical distances.

So should horizontal distances be expressed in yards?

On many old plans in the records office the horizontal scale is often expressed in fathoms per inch. 4 or 8 fathoms to the inch being a common scale.

That's interesting. Scales similar to 1:250 and 1:500 in round numbers.

Any evidence of chains, rods and links being used for linear measure?

Some of the historic plans at Coombe Down were marked in chains; I suspect this is because they were mainly derived from surface observations between the very numerous shafts and gateways.

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Fathoms was definately used as a horizontal distance measure in many of the mines in Cornwall (check out some of the plan uploads I did for Fowey Consols, 8 fathoms per inch I think) Fathoms was used at Crofty in the 70's I seem to remember but can't remember if it was for cubic or distance measure, could have been cubic for stope progress measurement.
All that said when I am doing any working out on old maps etc I convert everything to metric as the metric system is easier to work with.

Lozz.

Fathoms usually for depth (ie vertical), chains for horizontal, the markers on raiway lines and (I think) early motorways were chains (eight to the mile?).

GOD!!, I am getting old, and losing my mind! :confused: :confused:

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22yds to a chain.

Fathoms usually for depth (ie vertical), chains for horizontal, the markers on raiway lines and (I think) early motorways were chains (eight to the mile?).

GOD!!, I am getting old, and losing my mind! :confused: :confused:

Eight furlongs to the mile. One furlong is ten chains.

Correct about railways, all the bridge strike plates give location in miles and chains (from London?). Railways also state curve radius in chains.

Motorways now marked in kilometres.

Thanks for that Trewillan, like I said, Brain gone but memory almost there 🙂 🙂

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Thanks for that Trewillan, like I said, Brain gone but memory almost there 🙂 :)

I have a photographic memory but often forget to put the film in :lol:

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Thanks for that Trewillan, like I said, Brain gone but memory almost there 🙂 :)

Well, you remembered the factor of eight, along with 12, 3, 5.5, 22, 36, 220, 1760, and of course the vital figure of 7.92 inches. And that's before we get onto weights. Obvious why the kids of today can't do sums. Its all in tens and far too easy.

P.S. Hope I'm right there, I have been using fluid ounces tonight, in multiples of twenty.

Just another thought, which I should have mentioned long before now, is that horizontal progress was also measured in fathoms, certainly in Cornwall anyway. Miners would also bid for pitches at so much per fathom on setting day. Lodes were valued in pounds sterling per fathom too.
The only reason I can think of to keep the same unit of measurement in both vertical and horizontal planes, is simplicity. Confusion cannot arise if one unit is used......Maybe!

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