Ystrad Einion Copper mine, Ceridigion, March '12

[-Walsh-]

One thats been on the list for a while, visited with cunningcorgi. Very interesting mine, bit of a hair raising moment when we realised we were on a false floor in the upper level.

History


Although possibly of some antiquity the mine was certainly one of those worked by the Company of Mine Adventures about 1700 and slightly later by The Flintshire Mining Company. Nothing was done from 1760 until 1853 when the mine was restarted by a partnership of Charles Kirkpatrick and TA Readwin of gold mines fame. They abandoned it within a year but the mine was taken up by two brothers Thomas and Henry Jones who worked the mine until 1869.

In 1870 the mine passed into the hands of Mr Adam Mason who ran the mine throughout its longest working period and was responsible for installing the underground water wheel in a worked out stope.
The wheel is still there today but in a partially dismantled state due to scrap merchants removing its bearings about 1910.
The mine was worked up to about 1900, but was never profitable. The main ore produced was copper, although lead, zinc, and a little silver were also produced.

The mine has 4 levels accessible today, the highest the no 1 cuts an open stope. The next one down the no 2 contains the launder that fed the underground water wheel in the lower no 3 level.

Another level, the no 4 was driven from behind the dressing floors but the portal has long collapsed, however it is accessible by laddering up about 15 feet from the engine shaft reached from the no 3.

Records show that the engine shaft was sunk to a depth of 50 fathoms or 300 feet below adit, it is doubtful whether the blockage at adit level represents fill all the way to the bottom, a sobering thought


1 The main attraction



2



3 Some amazing colours in the mine



4 Kibble



5 Flooded



6 Bottom of the shaft, showing climb up to next level



7 The Bridge



8 Looking down off the bridge



9 Track remains




All in all, a great mine!

[fenrir]

Great pictures, some fantastic colours too!

[Clough]

Nice big wheel thing

[mistericeman]

Nice pictures mate ....

Hope you walked carefully over the "infill" in Engine shaft ...Did you spot the colony of frogs by the way ???
Interesting acoustics too as you head along the Adits where the water wheel is located AND some fairly funky "Shitatite" formations .... Ochre and iron oxide based brown on the outside and bright orange on the inner.
Worth being careful in there though as all the floor isn't as solid as it seems ....the thought of dropping through a false floor into a flooded winze and not coming back up in the hole you have just made could result in a mild case of death .

[NORT 11]

You managed to capture this one with some spectacular shots.

[-Walsh-]

Thanks all for the comments! Really enjoyed this mine. It's definitely worth a visit.

[-Walsh-]

Nice pictures mate ....

Hope you walked carefully over the "infill" in Engine shaft ...Did you spot the colony of frogs by the way ???
Interesting acoustics too as you head along the Adits where the water wheel is located AND some fairly funky "Shitatite" formations .... Ochre and iron oxide based brown on the outside and bright orange on the inner.
Worth being careful in there though as all the floor isn't as solid as it seems ....the thought of dropping through a false floor into a flooded winze and not coming back up in the hole you have just made could result in a mild case of death .

No frogs when we went, the only false floor that caught us out was the one after the climb up from the shaft, only realised when we were already on it! Quite a scary moment!

[mistericeman]

Were the planks i propped up over it still there ???
Sneaky false floor too as if your'e not the first one over it's easy to miss out on the envelope sized black patch of VERY deep water .

Very interesting place to wander round though ...Although apparently the whole place was a bit of a sham with a great deal of "window dressing" to attract investment promising huge amounts of ore with little return financially .

[mistericeman]

Here you go ....

Ystrad Froggage



I even managed a shot of the bottom of the rope up to the higher level above the blockage in engine shaft

[the kwan]

Fanbloody tastic..superb!