This was at the top of the pitch at Moel Fferna this morning - looks like someone maybe liberating bits n bobs????

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I seem to remember Jagman said he came across someone helping himself to things from either here or Penarth a couple of years ago.

I really hope nobody is nicking stuff from Moel Fferna. On the one hand I can't see there's anything at all worth the effort of lugging to the surface, and on the other the few artifacts there are (which are largely worthless lumps of wood) are rather nice left where they are.

This looks like something used to tension a cable, I can't remember ever seeing anything like that in the mine - I wonder has it come from the surface?

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Looks like one of the links that hold the bridges up down there perhaps, as in this crop:

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Looks like one of the links that hold the bridges up down there perhaps, as in this

Oh bloody hell. If that's the case, the perpetrator deserves to be hung from the bridge.

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Oh, I forgot about the tensioners on the bridge...

Is the bridge still standing Morrisey? If somebody has been removing parts of it...

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I believe they are called 'Turnbuckles', should you catch the perpetrator I would recommend two trees, rope and a tommy bar to tension him. :devil:

Called a Spanish Windlass I believe. 😉

tell me that's not the bridge people still ocassionally cross-please

Is anyone in the area that could take a look at it and see how much damage has been done? If someone's on that bridge when it drops that's not going to be pretty.

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It does indeed look as if that tensioner is of the same type as the ones holding the bridge up, yes.

Having had a closer look at the one lying in the snow, it's a prefect match, down to the design of the socket on the centre rod where you'd attach a bar to turn it and alter the length.


The potential for damage to someone is horrific if some of the tensioners have been removed.

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If that's what has happened then I think we might need to look at taking the bridge down- which no, before anyone shouts at me i don't want to do- but i don't want anyone getting killed on it far more.

Can anyone get in there and have a look at it soon? You never know- the tensioner might have come from elsewhere? :flowers:

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If that's what has happened then I think we might need to look at taking the bridge down- which no, before anyone shouts at me i don't want to do- but i don't want anyone getting killed on it far more.

Can anyone get in there and have a look at it soon? You never know- the tensioner might have come from elsewhere? :flowers:

There's no reason to think that the bridge will stay there of its own accord if the tensioners are removed; or indeed that whoever is removing the tensioners isn't going to kill themselves in the process of doing so.

Whilst the latter might seem to be a useful outcome, it certainly wouldn't be any good for whoever got to clear up the mess; and a fatality could also jeopardise access to many other mines in the future.


I might stop short of removing the bridge entirely, but if one or two tensioners have been removed, it may be possible to put up warning signs and potentially rig a safety line - although if that were a wire rope, it may also go missing.

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it's also a problem for anyone walking underneath it as well- there's a fairly well walked path under it.

In the mean time- can someone flag this up on ME as well to make sure as many folks as possible know to either stay off the bridge - or at least to look very carefully before they go near it.

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Woahh!

We don't know that this is off the bridge so at this stage it's all conjecture; it might have been a spare from somewhere, it might have been used for tensioning a cable or similar. It might even be off a telegraph pole and some idiot was going to throw it down the shaft.

I also cannot understand why, if somebody is going to risk their life to remove about a quid's worth of scrap rusty iron, and then drag it up several levels and haul it up a 50' shaft why they'd abandon it on the surface.

As for taking the bridge down. OMG please no. It's one of only two bridges in slate mines outside of Blaenau Ffestioniog and absolutely needs preserving.

If it becomes unsafe to cross (I personally think it already is) then there needs to be another solution to ensuring it isn't crossed.

I certainly think people need to be warned that it may have become unsafe to cross; but it's not necessarily the automatic conculsion.

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If it was part of the bridge it would be weighted and presumably damn near impossible to remove?

I live close by so I will try and pop up wednesday/thursday if I get a chance and take a look.

If it was part of the bridge it would be weighted and presumably damn near impossible to remove?

I'm not sure- would it be when parts of the bridge have already come down?

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If it was part of the bridge it would be weighted and presumably damn near impossible to remove?

I doubt it would be impossible given the spongy state of the bridge. Bear in mind that if someone has removed some of the chains, they may have done so without regard for the state of the bridge, e.g. by hacksawing through the hook in the ceiling.

It would be an extremely foolish thing to try and do, though - lots of potential for taking a sudden drop.

I live close by so I will try and pop up wednesday/thursday if I get a chance and take a look.

Cheers! The bridge should have 7 chains supporting it...

It might also be worth removing any ladders from the shaft so that access and egress is only possible for people who are capable of doing SRT.

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Weighted and sloping outwards slightly - very hard to remove, and probably rusted solidly.

Maybe one fell off, maybe one has been removed or maybe it's from somewhere else.

Needs checking for sure.

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I will try my best to get up there this week. Will take some pictures if I do.