Author | Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this. |
Andyreno205 Joined: 07/09/2011 View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 27/03/2012 22:33:03 Reply | Quote Hi, I am currently havinig problems with a potential slate mine shaft that has appeared while digging the foundations for my new house. I have uploaded a survey from 1974 onto the website in the hope that one of the learned members from this site can shed a bit of light on the subject. Does anybody have any ideas as to the methods employed, how deep could this shaft go etc etc. I am having a desktop survey carried out by a company in Cornwall, but they had informed me that the likelyhood of them finding precise evidence of any shafts, let alone any kind of mapped network of workings is extremely unlikely. Anyway I have a geo-tech engineer on site shortly to assist, along with a structural engineer....the list goes on. Can anybody give me some advice......anything!!!!!!! ![]() What i have discovered is that mining started in around 1860, and went on until around 1911. Thanks Andy IP: 81.155.215.41 |
viewer Joined: 04/09/2007 Location: New rules mean it's a secret View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 27/03/2012 23:07:34 Reply | Quote have you seen this website? http://homepage.mac.com/andyletcher/My%20Website/page14/page14.html some good pictures of a shaft -- 'Learning the ropes' IP: 188.28.8.190 |
ChrisJC![]() Joined: 13/10/2007 Location: Northants View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 07:59:19 Reply | Quote Can you get into the shaft that has opened up? It seems you would want to get in if you could to see exactly what is underneath! You need some crack explorers to take a look. Got any pictures? Chris. IP: 90.152.39.96 |
staffordshirechina![]() Joined: 15/11/2009 Location: North Staffordshire View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 08:30:53 Reply | Quote If you need professional mining advice and/or a mining contractor who specialises in this type of remedial work, contact me. IP: 95.148.25.52 |
rufenig![]() Joined: 18/03/2008 Location: Shropshire Hills View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 08:44:33 Reply | Quote There is a book but it's expensive. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stonesfield-Slate-M-Aston/dp/090103603X IP: 87.115.118.211 |
rufenig![]() Joined: 18/03/2008 Location: Shropshire Hills View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 08:46:29 Reply | Quote Also a web site http://oliverfamilyhistory.activeboard.com/t40182588/stonesfield-slate-and-other-stonesfield-books/?r=208270 IP: 87.115.118.211 |
Wormster![]() Joined: 15/08/2006 Location: Top of the Mendip Hills View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 11:08:37 Reply | Quote viewer wrote: have you seen this website? http://homepage.mac.com/andyletcher/My%20Website/page14/page14.html some good pictures of a shaft GOOOD GRIEF! - now there's a thing, that's an old mate of mine from years back - fancy him popping up here. Walrus and "J" over on darkplaces are the blokes to contact about the history of the quarries over in Stonesfield. -- Better to regret something you have done - than to regret something you have not done. IP: 79.66.222.254 |
Dr J Joined: 26/09/2006 Location: Bromsgrove View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 17:27:43 Reply | Quote Hi Andy Slate mining in Stonesfield was small-scale, family-run from what I can tell, that map you have uploaded shows only the position of known shafts-i.e. plotted on historical maps, or physically accessed... Method of working in the large part was via shafts like the one you've encountered...think the depth of the one I've been down on the outskirts of the village was 8 metres? From the base you can expect v narrow and low tunnels-i.e. proper stooping/crawling height. IIRC from the shaft Walrus and I visited, maximum length of a tunnel was 20 metres? In the large part the workings consisted of multiple passages radiating outward from shaft base, but they were irregular, all v ad-hoc working tbh Will pm in just a mo J -- The road to success is closed for re-surfacing, please follow diversion! IP: 134.225.81.75 |
Andyreno205 Joined: 07/09/2011 View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 28/03/2012 22:54:55 Reply | Quote Hi j Thanks for your info, v interesting. Thanks also for the contact details for the guy in Reading. I take the point that mines may not have been recorded, and thus will not appear on a map such as the one I uploaded. I checked the earliest map I could find, 1880 and the shafts are present on that one. Do you think that they dug test pits, could I have one of those? And not that's the reason it's not present...clutching at straws here a bit....!!! I'd Rather I didn't have a shaft descending who know's how far, under my house. ![]() |
Andyreno205 Joined: 07/09/2011 View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 29/03/2012 15:43:20 Reply | Quote Hi Chris, No we haven't been down it, currently only 3.5M deep. excavation carries on tomorrow. I do have a pic, which I will upload. IP: 78.25.240.50 |
Andyreno205 Joined: 07/09/2011 View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 29/03/2012 15:57:30 Reply | Quote Pic uploaded to my album IP: 78.25.240.50 |
Wormster![]() Joined: 15/08/2006 Location: Top of the Mendip Hills View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 29/03/2012 16:11:52 Reply | Quote Andyreno205 wrote: I'd Rather I didn't have a shaft descending who know's how far, under my house. ![]() Mind you there are those of us that would be very happy with such an occurance!! (BTW: tell Andy Letcher that BillC says "Ello" next time you see the old 'shroom! -- Better to regret something you have done - than to regret something you have not done. IP: 79.66.222.254 Edited: 29/03/2012 16:12:23 by Wormster |
staffordshirechina![]() Joined: 15/11/2009 Location: North Staffordshire View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 29/03/2012 16:34:29 Reply | Quote Andy, your mate really didn't ought to be down in a 3.5m deep unsupported hole that may or may not be a partially filled shaft. There are several factors there that could go wrong, some obvious, some not so. At the moment, we have high pressure on the barometer. It is currently falling. If that is a shaft and it connects to old workings, they may be chock bang full of blackdamp, just waiting for the pressure to drop so it can expand out and kill someone in a low place. IP: 95.148.25.52 |
Andyreno205 Joined: 07/09/2011 View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 29/03/2012 16:45:17 Reply | Quote Yeah fair comment, I have actually told him that he shouldn't go down anymore. Is that a poison thing you refer to? IP: 78.25.240.50 |
staffordshirechina![]() Joined: 15/11/2009 Location: North Staffordshire View Profile View Posts View Personal Album View Personal Files View all Photos Send Private Message |
Stonesfield Slate Mine...advice..does anybody know anything abou this.
Posted: 29/03/2012 16:59:38 Reply | Quote Blackdamp is a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It is a gas that is heavier than air that concentrates in old workings, especially ones that have been blocked off for years. It would suffocate you. Same problem that can happen if you jump down into deep manholes that have been closed off for a while. IP: 95.148.25.52 |