Just to fill in a bit more info from Vanoord's post and photos, as we sadly lost him for part of the day, he got so engrossed in photographing the 3-6 incline head.
In attendance; barney, nwminer, vanoord and myself.
Started the day with the walk up from Tanygrisiau to Rhosydd and then onto the Western Twll and a quick look at the shaft (marked as shaft C on the plan) from floor 2 to floor 4. This presumably floods the section of floor 4 blocked by a dam to ceiling height; it looked that way anyhow.
We then moved onto the Eastern Twll to see if access could be gained to any of the chambers. Ch F3 E is accessible, and quite a nice chamber, as were couple of others; that is to say a couple of others were accessible (after a fashion) rather than nice. However most are full of collapse with no chance of any further exploration.
The only chamber of any note was E5 E. This is a very large chamber, in a poor state right in the middle of the area that the Rhosydd book describes as being
impossibly dangerous. Intriguingly the book says don't go there either via the Eastern Twll or Ch 9E E which seems to imply you can.
Looking down Ch E5 E🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-017[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-017[/linkphoto][/link]
Looking down Ch E5 E🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-019[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-019[/linkphoto][/link]
At the bottom of Ch EPerhaps floor 7 or 8 beyond blocked, photo massively lightened as the original was a poor dark photo.
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-014[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-014[/linkphoto][/link]
Or perhaps not?What look like stones are car sized boulders, out of sight of the shot and through this pile of boulders was what looked like a crawl. However it would have taken considerably more nerve than I have and would probably not get you anywhere. It would however be nice to know exactly what floor this is and how close to Floor 9 I was.
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-013[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-013[/linkphoto][/link]
As an aside, if anybody fancies an hour or two digging in this chamber I dropped my Fenix in there :lol: It's under a pile of rocks somewhere at the bottom right!
Anyhow, at that point escaped to daylight.
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-016[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-016[/linkphoto][/link]
Vanoord lowering a rope to drag camera and tripod out:🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-020[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-020[/linkphoto][/link]
We then went underground via the Western Twll in via D3W. Had a look at the Rhosydd end of the CRTT for those who hadn't seen the link, and then onto the 3-6 incline and the chambers on 3 to 6 on the western side of the incline. All of these have clearly been explored by countless people, being easily accessible and in the most part in reasonable (compared to the E side!) condition.
A few photos from around the 3-6 incline:The landing of the 3-6 incline on floor 6:
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-031[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-031[/linkphoto][/link]
The 3-6 incline counterbalance
mochyn:
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-030[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-030[/linkphoto][/link]
Interesting to compare it now to how it was in 1989 prior to a collapse and when it was still on the rails and the cable under tension (photo by hymac580c):
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-007[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-007[/linkphoto][/link]
3-6 incline staging at floor 4:
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-028[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-028[/linkphoto][/link]
3-6 incline head and sheave wheels on floor 6:
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-027[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-027[/linkphoto][/link]
A few photos from around the 5-9 inclineLanding of the 5-9 incline on floor 9:
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-032[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-032[/linkphoto][/link]
Gear wheel from the 5-9 incline:
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-034[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-034[/linkphoto][/link]
Sheave at Picadilly Circus, for haulage along the 9 adit.
A special type of wagon called a megryn was used here, with a gripper to grip the haulage cable, a train of around 12 regular wagons would be topped and tailed by a megryn.
🔗Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-037[linkphoto]Rhosydd-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-037[/linkphoto][/link]
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by