The shaft at Aysdalegate was sunk some time around 1868, with the mine operating until 1880. A branch of the railway ran in front of the buildings to allow loading.

The mine buildings have since been converted into residental houses, although the small central window in the last house shows this was once a winding house.

 

A capped shaft acts as roundabout in front of the winding house.

 

 

Despite being on the same level as Cat Beck trial and only about 500m away getting to this one is a real challenge, it opens out below the edge of the cliffs, a climb down would be very risky and the climb from below is challenging and covered in brambles already, later in the year gardening gloves and very thick trousers would be in order.

The difficulty of access is reflected in there being only empty beercan in the drift (regulars of this sort of thing will know you cannot usually move for them)
The drift goes into the cliff before reaching a T-junction perhaps 25m in.

To the right there is fair bit of collapsed roof which quickly leads to what looks like a purposefully filled face, the abandonment plan for this mine show the major continuation of the mine back towards the inland shaft to be in this direction

Turning around and going back to the left at the T-junction there is a much longer section of drift, which has a slight dog-leg

It continues for about the same distance again after the dog-leg at which point there are some pretty large roof-falls after which the tunnel looks to come to an end (although I didn’t fancy climbing over as there were large cracks in the ceiling)
 

Here are a couple of photos from the entrance.

The entrance to the Cat Beck trial drift can be seen from the Cleveland Way.

Upon entering the drifts are flooded to above wellington height.

Heading to the North West is a small drift less than 10m long

Another drift of a similar length runs off West

A much more sizeable drift perhaps 40m runs off to the South West, although we were unable to explore due to the depth of water

The loading ramp for the Huntcliffe mine borders the railway line which still runs to Boulby Potash mine. 

 

Just to the south of the ramp are the foundation of an engine house used for haulage.

 

The fanhouse itself is on the opposite side of the railway.

 

In the field on the landward side is a small area of collapsed tunnel which allows access to the base of the shaft inside the building.

 

  

Heres the same shaft seen from inside

 

A large void remains in the middle of the structure where the fan was once located.

 

In the bottom of the pit is a doorway and a view up the chimney.

  

However much time you spend here, its hard to escape the prying eyes.

 

The dirft is easy to located due to the large amount of spoil spilling down the hillside of Cold Moor.

The drift entrance gives excellent views back towards Cringle Moor

The drift as a whole is fairly dry with only a small amount of standing water at the end, there are a few sizeable boulders that have fallen from the roof.

Towards the rear the drift ends with a rock face rather than a collapse

Looking back towards daylight.

The drift entrance in clearly visible from the course of an old tramway which runs back towards the other remains at West Beck.

There are few inches of water in the bottom of drift, but it can easily be explored.

After roughly 20m the drift ends at a clean rockface rather than at any sort of collapse, suggesting this was just a trial drift.

The mine entrances are easy to locate adjacent to a waterfall (which is falling over the ironstone deposit)

A large area has been carved out in front of the pair of drifts, although it is extremely clogged with water and debris.

Heres the most southerly drift nearest to the waterfall.

The northerly drift is just as water logged.

A number of the mines in this area were buried by a huge landslip in 1864, its is still very apparent today and covers the tramway by the riverside too, I located one drift below a small outcrop, although its difficult to reach.

The drift has wellington height water in the bottom, so on my first visit I was unable to go further than the entrance.

However on my return visit I was able to explore around the corner, although unfortunately it doesn’t continue very far. The tunnel ends with a neatly cut face rather than a collapse suggesting it was some sort of trial rather than a worked area.

The actual mine was located on the eastern bank of West Beck, but there are more remains on the western bank, the base of a bridge which one carried a tramway still remains. Tramways converged here from mines in Coombs Wood, Hollins Wood and Carr Wood then crossing the river to the calcining field.

Adjacent to the bridge base is a waterwheel pit clogged with mud and debris, and the remains of a building.

Sherriffs Drift was originally a trial that only worked a couple of year around 1857. After the sinking of the shaft at Sheriffs Pit in 1875 it was connected to the drift to provide access for men and horses.

I was unable to spot the actual drift entrance, although the cutting of a tramway into the hillside was still visible.