Show on mapA drift runs 1770 feet from moorland to the south of the Whinstone Dyke.
The remains of a mine building stand adjacent to the entrance.
The drift entrance is dated 1940 whereas the mine building is 1899, this is most likely due to the large bomb crater next to them both which most likely destroyed the original drift entrance.
If not blocked, the drift would lead to the base of the mine working within the Whinstone Dyke, left was “Tinkers End” and right was “Sillars” both approximately 150 feet below the surface of the quarry.
This mine was actually accessible until the 1980s, and also subject to a rejected application for receational purposes in the 1970s. Internal photos can be seen on Mine Explorer
I was last in this mine in the early 1990’s it is one heck of a mine and when you get to the end of the drift tunnel you can just see the tiny speck which is the entrance. i have spent hours in this mine and still feel there is more to see. There is even supossed to be an old oil lamp left in there by the last person to leave the working mine.
If anyone is going back in pls email me as i would love to go back in.
The entrance to this mine is now stoved in about 5m after the gate. I don’t know if this is intentional or if it is just a natural collapse, however the mine is not accessible. There was a top entrance in the Whinstone dyke however this is also filled in now.
I used to explore this with my friends. We found the top entrance in the Whinstone Dyke or “the scar” as we used to call it.
Our favourite trip was to go down this and go back through the mine to the drift entrance.
I went back a few years ago with my young sone but the drift entrance was walled up and the “scar” entrance couldn’t be found
After the initial drift tunnel, the stone lines part, it opened up into what seemed like 4 big tunnels, 2 on top and 2 undernethe but had seemingly collapsed in several sections.
We went all the way to the end
There were 2 tunnels we never dared to exlore.
First one was at the end of the drift tunnel on the left, blocked off with wooden boards and a big pool of water behind it
Second was at the bottom of the steep descent of the “scar” entrance, more lie a hole in the floor and with running water (clear) in it
I suppose it wasn’t the safest place to explore with a pair of wellies and a cheap torch but it was fascinating