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#Post#: 42536--------------------------------------------------
Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: Dave
Date: November 15, 2012, 2:52 pm
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This was originally posted on the old forum and, as the minex
group have done almost nowt this year, and we've got lots of
newbies since these pics were posted, I thought I'd repost to
remind folks of the wonders of trespassing. :smilewide:
A bit of history (nicked from elsewhere on the interwebz)
--- Quote ---
> Middleton Mine is located 4 miles south-west of the small town
of Matlock. The mine works the Hopton-Wood Limestone which
occurs underneath Middleton Moor. Middleton Moor is on the
southern margin of an area of the Peak District known as the The
White Peak, a block of carboniferous limestone stretching 50
kilometres north to south and 20 kilometres west to east.
>
> It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when Hopton-wood limestone
was first extracted on the site now occupied by Middleton Mine.
Certainly by the 1900's there was a well established dimension
stone operation at the site. It was a surface operation and was
cut where the Hopton-wood outcrops on the eastern flank of
Middleton Moor in the middle of the village of
Middleton-by-Wirksworth.
>
> Dimension stone operations continued until the 1950's when due
to the rapid development of concrete technology the demand for
natural stone products fell. Derbyshire Stone, the then
operators and owners of the site, had pre-empted this fall in
demand by developing a small processing plant to crush the
limestone to supply the steel and sugar industry.
>
> Towards the end of the decade the situation with the surface
operations reached a point where it became increasingly
uneconomic to keep stripping the overburden (which was
increasing in depth as a quarry cut into the moor) to gain
access to the high purity Hopton-wood beds. The Company was
reluctant to lose the customer base it had built up with the
processed products, so the decision to commence underground
operations was taken.
>
> The company at that time were operating a lead mine in Matlock
and moved two of the personnel to Middleton. Work on a drift
access was started on February the 4th 1959 and to date
approximately 16 million tonnes of high grade limestone have
been extracted for the underground workings.
>
> At present Middleton Mine consists of 35 kilometres of
workings covering an area of 1400 metres west to east and 800 m
north to south. Middleton Mine is divided into five main
production areas by normal faults.
>
> In 1968 Derbyshire Stone was absorbed into the Tarmac Group
who ultimately put the mine up for sale towards the end of 1990
along with two other units located in Derbyshire which formed
it's Industrial Product Division The three Units were purchased
by Croxton and Garry Limited who were owned equally by
Pluess-Staufer and Blue Circle at the time of the purchase.
Pluess-Staufer are now the sole owners of Omya Croxton and
Garry.
--- End Quote ---
That's the science bit but in fact it's an epic mine, so big you
could drive a truck in it! It's a fairly modern mine and hasn't
been closed all that long.
The first attempt to get in here was thwarted by some of the
party, nay, all except yours truly, wimping out when they saw
CCTV cameras n that. At the time it was supposedly sealed but,
like all good explorers, we found another way in the next time
around... Explored in May 2010, with mistericeman and anther...
My pics:
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT059.jpg[/img]
Oh really? ;D
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT006.jpg[/img]
No way in there. :confused:
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT041.jpg[/img]
...and we're in!
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT039.jpg[/img]
Fuck off big ventilation fans.
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT038.jpg[/img]
Some serious candlepower is needed in this place.
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT033.jpg[/img]
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT016.jpg[/img]
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT017.jpg[/img]
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT036.jpg[/img]
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT024.jpg[/img]
Portakabin office, a few hundred feet underground.
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT026.jpg[/img]
A vindaloo with chapatties and two beef Madras and poppadoms,
please...
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/MT019.jpg[/img]
So there you go; a glimpse into the world of the stupidity of
illegal exploration n that.
Now I have a plan* to get into a mine that's normally accessed
by a shaft (don't ask) but as we A) don't have permission and B)
don't have a winch and can't do SRT n that, I plan on accessing
it via a sough (a mile long walk in waist-deep water). The
usual suspects know where to find the details but are there any
other takers for this madness ? ???
*It's still just an idea in the early stages of research.
#Post#: 42538--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: steifbear
Date: November 15, 2012, 3:07 pm
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Yes.
Pete Stevens-with-a-V
#Post#: 42541--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: Lucy
Date: November 15, 2012, 3:18 pm
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could possibly maybe help on the SRT front, but only a maybe
#Post#: 42543--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: Dave
Date: November 15, 2012, 3:26 pm
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Not poss, Luce. We wouldn't have acccess to the shaft. That's
why it's a walk-in job.
#Post#: 42560--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: espacekiller
Date: November 15, 2012, 5:39 pm
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Possibly interested, Might depend on location date etc but would
like some more detail, not in to long or very tight crawls
though the claustraphobia kicks in.
#Post#: 42570--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: chippers
Date: November 16, 2012, 2:09 am
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Why not. Sounds wet and fun.
#Post#: 42688--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: kev
Date: November 16, 2012, 3:56 pm
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Sorry, you won't catch me doing stuff like that, it looks
dangerous and is probably illegal. wagfinger
#Post#: 42705--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: Dave
Date: November 16, 2012, 6:20 pm
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--- Quote from: kev link ---
>
> Sorry, you won't catch me doing stuff like that, it looks
dangerous and is probably illegal. wagfinger
>
--- End Quote ---
Of course you wouldn't. A pillar of the community such as
yourself would never do anything that daft.
[IMG]
HTML http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/xplore002.jpg[/img][IMG]http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/xplore005.jpg[/img]
#Post#: 42712--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: Redwinch
Date: November 17, 2012, 3:31 am
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--- Quote from: Dave link ---
>
> [quote author=kev link=topic=3887.msg42688#msg42688
date=1353103009]
> Sorry, you won't catch me doing stuff like that, it looks
dangerous and is probably illegal. wagfinger
>
--- End Quote ---
Of course you wouldn't. A pillar of the community such as
yourself would never do anything that daft.
[IMG]
HTML http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/xplore002.jpg[/img][IMG]http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/xplore005.jpg[/img]
[/quote]
Dont know what you mean Mr X or was it Mr Y ? rofl
[IMG]
HTML http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/rustynail2009/Nent2012-090.jpg[/img]
This foolishness has to stop, ho hum
#Post#: 42740--------------------------------------------------
Re: Minex - Middleton stone mine
DIR By: kev
Date: November 17, 2012, 1:08 pm
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O.K., -sussed.
But don't even TRY to pin this one on me. :smilewide:
[IMG]
HTML http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g241/kevlandy/P7040063-1.jpg[/img]
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