DYLIFE lead mines – a grand day out [ the official " true " < cough > report ]
Attending : andy-j , tony , Vikki , Richard T
Dylife is a long way from the real world – so an early start was required for the O9:30
And despite part of the M6 being shut [ jn 27 ~ 26 was just shut – no diversion signs - ` you are on your own ` - find Jn 25 by yourself ]
Despite Additional fuckwits and further road closures – I did manage to arrive – eventually at " the middle of nowhere " – at 09:25 .
A text from tony told us they were running 5 minutes late [ take note tom howard ]
With glorious sunshine – no one wanted to run around all day in bulky gear – so we dressed minimally and abandoned SRT gear -
We stated with the neatest marked adits – one of which richard had already recced while he waited our arrival
The first : Esgairgaled Dylife Deep Adit
Was quite obvious above a tip – entering through knee deep water – we found A winze in the floor to the left , Using tony and richard as an anchor – I hand-lined 3m down a slope to a ledge from where I could see that the winze dropped another 10m - With a rock test – revealing that the bottom was dry
The level ended at a stope with a false floor above – which offered no way up
A short scramble over rubble led to a stope – with a very precariously stacked deads held back by a timbered platform – that was supported by a mere match-stick at its pivot
Underneath – a short section went to a collapse with an axle and sheave for a haulage way . Pics were taken and we exited
Constituting in the same valley – we quickly encountered
Esgairgaled Dylife adit 2
The anti sheep tangle of scrap fencing was pulled aside – and in we went
Here it gets fuzzy – as I cannot remember anything about this section – appologies
HELP guys – fill in the blanks ??? – was I drugged and raped – who knows – but I cannot remember a thing
The next thing I remember is putting the plug of wire fencing back in the hole
With that ` leg ` of the area complete , We went back across the road to start our explore of the nest valley – that held the main workings – dylife had been mined for lead for centuries with the most productive period being the 19th century – when industrialisation permitted economic pumping and blasting with high explosives – creating a mine and production complex that employed > 1000 men at its peak
But sadly – low ore values and cheap imports doomed dylife – and by the 20th century – only sporadic re-workings of the spoil heaps was left – all U/G activities abandoned
Starting with " river adit " – which , where I come from this is called a culvert - But it was dark and damp so we had a look – and found a large diameter cast iron water pipe – which we assume would have at one time fed the now cleared works on a flat area do
Heading back upstream , we found the remains of a car – allowing Vikki a " Penelope pitstop moment ` - and pictures
Moving on - I had a look at the waterwheel pit – once it was reportedly the largest waterwheel in Europe – with a rubbish filled shaft beside it
Richard found the airshaft – on the other side of the streamway – which required a flat out crawl to gain a flooded shaft head
We all had a gander at the " pump shaft " – a now flooded shaft what still has the pump rods and pipe in situ – all 105 fathoms of them – that's 630 feet / 210m for the " fathom challenged "
The incursion into the imaginatively named dylife large adit [ it is very large ] was short and disappointing as a collapse / run in was encountered after a short distance
It may be diggable – but that's a job for someone else or another day
Undeterred , we fired up the garmin – and headed for the next hole : Dylife open adit : yes it was open – but it was also full of neck deep water with little head room in places
After only 20m it opened to a small stope – with one obvious and I possible way on – but the floor vanished too – it was a " swim it " job – but as no one else would join me – I came back out [ wetsuits would be better ]
And that was the completion of that section so We climbed up the hill to a stope [ stope # 1 ] which is not on the map / surveys
But it was impressive , with a rock bridge separating the main drop from a small cutting with a ledge that looked down under a rock arch
It offered an SRT insertion into "somewhere " – but no anchors were evident – an omission that a return visit could easily fix
we then hiked over the hill via boundary shaft – a VERY impressive hole in a fenced enclosure
It was DEEP - and dry – but rigging it would be a nightmare due to loose edges
Following the ridgeline – the next offering " unnamed shaft " which was sadly filled with farm rubbish – so we took a bearing to the nearest adit of the workings in Clywedog Gorge . From surface remains on the old dressing floor – it was obvious where the adit was – so we picked our way down the gorge to :
Dyfngwm Adit 1
Ducking under some woodwork – it immediately entered chest deep water – nice , but there was plenty of headroom – and easy walking
- fortunately the drive saw designed to be self draining – with a grip running alongside the tramway – so after 200m dry passage was reached – then a chamber with a shaft above and shafts stopes below
and false floors all round
as I was on my own – I went back to the entrance [ a perfectly straight passage – the light from the portal was visible all the way down ]
Richard and tony manned up – while Vikki sunbathed . So in we went with tonys camera in a drybag – from the terminal chamber , The branch to the left had an ore chute from above – and a winze in a small niche – which dropped aprox 15m [ guesstimate – by rock ] to a dry level below – and a stope which barred the way on horizontally [ a handline could be rigged to allow progress to the obvious workings beyond
To the right – a drain channel carried excess water out the passage – which continued 150m to a series of collapses in a stope – the passage ended – with a floor level mouse hole evident – but too dangerous to access due to loose debris above it
After a quick look around the very sparse surface features
We made our way up the gorge to the :
Dyfngwm Roman adit – a short drive perched up a loose scree slope
A mangled pump rod sat in the rubble at the entrance – with no indication how it was powered
Only 20m long – it ended in a chamber with 2 shafts at the bottom – one with pump gear still evident – but curiously they appeared to be flooded to differing depths which is weird
Setting off up the gorge on a defined track some 40m above the river level , we Came across a second feature that wasn't on the surveys - A bloody big stope – bisecting the track – rocks were thrown – and notions of jumping across the hole abandoned quickly
A cutting some 15m below us that was promptly investigated , Ducking under a very small waterfall – Richard and I gained access to a small working with tight passages – all dry – with a small rubble filled shaft and terminating in a pocket after 100m
Though there was no access to the stope just meters away [ a job for another day with ropes ]
At this point Vikki abandoned us to back track to investigate a portal visible higher up the slope – that wasn't apparent till we passed it
After another hike , The ` end of the line ` in gorge was "Dyfngwm blue lagoon adit " a partially flooded adit next to a nice waterfall with a rock arch above it
Until I sploshed about – the water was crystal clear – and several tools could be seen on the floor – but only a small stope was found before the passage ended at virgin rock after only 75m or so
All done – we climbed out of the gorge to re-locate Vikki and discover what she had found
"Vikki`s gaping hole " – her descriptor not mine – despite its impressive appearance was not very extensive – but had a small dry chamber – and a back door of considerably reduced dimensions " vikki`s tight hole "
All done we headed back to boundary shaft – and the track which led to our next targets
On the way , Richard and I chanced on a cutting – that was clearly " un-natural " and sure enough a salt-lick bucked hid a tiny entrance to a part flooded level
It would need excavation just to gain entry – so we jammed the bucket back in the gap and took a GPS fix
Before we caught up with tony and Vikki - a further unsurveyed shaft was discovered as we headed back to the farm track / bridleway that would return us to the cars via a few more features
but sadly – it was filled with rubbish – and the smell / cloud of flies caused Richard and I to wonder " how many dead sheep can you fit in a 1 ton builders bag "
due to the garmins annoying habit of abbreviating place mark labels – the next point – a derelict crushing plant was not appreciated for what it was – we found a shaft in an enclosure – again filled with farmer debris – so moved on
the track took us all the way to the head of a small valley – from where we could see the pub [ the useless shut pub with no beer ]
so we cut Down to dylife adit # 1 – a squalid little hole – full of silt , frogspawn and vegetation - braving the flat-out slide into the murk , I Emerged into a very nice little coffin level – with just enough room for my head and arms above chest deep water
That continued further than I could see – but after 10m the deep silt on the floor was outgassing profusely with every step I took – the pungent aroma confirmed hydrogen sulphide – with the liberation of gas getting worse with every step – I retreated fast – while I could still smell the gas [ prolonged exposure at any concentration a anesthetises the olfactory receptors – and 800 ppm is lethal – an easy concentration to develop with lots of crap and very little airspace ] – rudimentary digging at the entrance to dewater the adit would improve the situation
Heading down the valley – dylife # 2 – had either heard us coming and escaped – or been filled in – the next set of workings was a long hike – and it was getting on a bit So we slogged back to the cars to change and find a pub – as the star inn @ dylife is useless and had no beer
Tony and Vikki had family commitments and stuff to organise – so left – Richard ad I went looking for a pub , even back in " civilisation " or what passes for it in Powys – Richards phone didn't work – so I lent him mine to cancel his callout - we ended up in the red lion in Llanidloes , where they were showing " live and let die " possibly the worst bond film ever – on a big screen - so we sat outside
Thus suitably lubricated – we went home – the end
There is definite potential for a return trip – with an entire section still to explore – and opportunities for vertical adventure too . I will write up a more serious piece for the knowledge bank with map references and illustrations
Another excellent report :P
It was a great day out in fantastic weather B)
You may recognise some of this then ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XFov-8JCpo
@ ian - indeed I do - but you and Weston [ I have watched all your vids with any relevant titles / tags ] seem to spend a lot of time waddling around on the surface - and don't actually go in the entrances you find
You haven't noticed that in the "picture" of the video he is actually in the mine entrance then ? :whistle:
The land lady in the Wynnstay Arms, Llanbrynmair seems to know a lot about the workings in this area, and has a pretty good (and recent-ish) book about them too - worth a squint. Can't remember the title: but the author has been in quite a few (and SRT'd as well)