Hi Chris, the photo you have just posted stirs some thoughts in my memory.Myself and a friend were the first explorers to enter the whim chamber since it was abandoned presumably some time after the first world war.
The date was Saturday the 7th of November 1992. Initially we thought the horse whim was in fact a waterwheel but by the next day we realised our mistake and correctly identified it as a horse gin, probablly the only original intact in the UK.
When we first entered this flat, the entrance shaft, you descended had its wooden top, from it propped against the wall. Unfortunately we did not photograph it for later it was used, we think by some other mine explorers to extricate themselves from the area where we placed the infamous oildrums.We found the remains of the trapdoor in this general area at a later date on Sunday the fourth of January 1993.
On this trip Roy F and his partner had joined us and in this area even with the first oil drum I and my friend were fortunate to get out of this area!
Incidentally the tool area, according to my diary contained a good clay pipe and a 2m poker complete with handle.
Happy exploration times!
Photograph:
🔗Scaleburn-Vein-Mine-Image-66406[linkphoto]Scaleburn-Vein-Mine-Image-66406[/linkphoto][/link]