Steve Swales gives us a great report on his trip to the Halkyn lead mines in North Wales, I for one tend to forget that there is a big world beyond the Dales, Mendip and South Wales (I never go to Derbyshire) So it is great to read about somewhere a bit different, and a good read it is too...
A trip to Olwyn Goch
As a Wakefield resident, I’ve become conditioned to the idea that a day’s caving must mean a drive to the Dales or the Peak District and, typically, the drive to either venue takes me about an hour and a half. On Saturday, I discovered that there is somewhere quite interesting just 90 minutes drive away - the old lead mines under the Halkyn Mountains in North Wales.
Having arranged my invitation through the key holders, the Grosvenor Caving Club, our gang of four met the guide, Nick, and three of his colleagues in the car park of the Antelope at Rhydymwn and headed off to a nearby quarry to locate the locked entrance to the adit. Entry to the system was down a wide 440 foot shaft, on a series of 22 fixed ladders, each ladder running between fixed platforms, netted off from the main shaft. At the bottom were the old workshops, last used in the early 1980s, and the junction with the Milwr Tunnel, a ten mile long drainage sough leading out to the sea. Following the tunnel, we came across a lonely eel, somewhat surprised by the site of eight lamps focussing on his pool. If he was on his way back to the Sargasso Sea, he was very, very lost.
We headed downstream for about a mile to the turning for Powells Lode, mostly easy walking on the old tramways, but we were forced to shuffle along the rails when the ground had been washed away below us.
Nick emphasised one very important rule – always assume that wood will be rotten. There were some superb examples of the wet rot fungus, stretching 60 feet or more along the side of the tunnel as it searched for more of the railway sleepers to colonise.
Powells Lode Cavern is simply magnificent. It has a beautiful high roof, clearly showing the mineral veins that drew the early miners to this area but, most impressively, it also contains the “bottomless” lake of the most crystal clear water. You can call us simple if you like but we all derived loads of enjoyment from throwing stones and watching them sink deep into the water below. It was absolutely stunning.
From here, we backtracked to the Olwyn Goch shaft before heading off to Lode 621 to marvel at the extent of the mineral extraction and to go on a scramble through the old workings. In places the lode must have been almost 100 feet high and it’s obvious why the miners made such efforts to drain the system to get access to the lower reaches of the lode. Although there has been some ground movement, most of the system appeared to be stable and we didn’t have too many worries about the state of the roof. Nick then suggested that we should make our way into the lime workings. The route to these was up an incline but seemed remarkably effortless and we arrived at the workings very quickly.
The miners turned their hand to limestone extraction at times when lead prices dropped to uneconomic levels but the scale of the excavations has to be seen to be believed. The whole system gives the impression that the miners left when the whistle went on their final shift and the area is littered with equipment and artefacts (including detonator cord and the rotting remains of old sticks of gelignite). The literature refers to a series of lime hoppers but these turned out to be massive excavations in themselves, shaped to collect falling rock from the roof and deliver it to the rail heads. Once we’d been round the excavations, we set off along the side of the hoppers (a series of ladder climbs and then a scramble up the side of the hoppers, a total ascent of about 150 feet. A final ladder climb brought us to Piccadilly Circus which then lead along a drainage level to the Olwyn Goch shaft again, although, to our relief, only about 230 feet from the surface. Back onto the fixed ladders (thoughtfully numbered so you could keep track of your ever decreasing rate of climb) we eventually reached the top, the cars, and more importantly, the Antelope.
At 460 feet, Olwyn Goch shaft is one of the more user-friendly entrances to the system but there are several other, deeper shafts, most conveniently situated next to pubs.
The GCC guides were brilliant - informative without being bossy, and we were left with the impression that our 7 hour “tourist trip” was just a taster, and that we had barely scratched the surface of what was actually down there. There’s plenty more areas to investigate and it’s obvious why the GCC lads are so enthusiastic about their adventure playground. As part of their access agreement with United Utilities, GCC have to police access to the system quite rigorously and all visits have to be pre-booked and accompanied by a guide, and everyone has to provide proof of public liability insurance (or take on temporary membership of the GCC).
Two of my colleagues joined the GCC on the spot and I’m certainly keen to come back for another trip soon.
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