digger down, or perhaps I should say you can’t keep a digger out!) and holes have been dug at the North and the South end with spoil piled up where possible. This has left little room to stand. The North and South ends now boast deep holes that must be 110 feet below field level. Admittedly the South end cheated and some of the hole there just ‘appeared’. An electron ladder has been attached to the bottom of the lowest ladder (that is now nowhere near reaching the floor!) and a few of us have ventured down into the depths of the South end. Space is limited here, and only two (opposite) walls are rock. Two are 12 to 16 inch wide vertical faces of loose rocks and mud and to be avoided at all costs! Although easier said than done, especially as the electron ladder lies against one of them. Apparently a visitor to the dig peered down this hole a week or so ago a bit too close and lost his glasses! We haven’t seen any trace of them. There are two dark holes, one heading south, the other north, but it is not large enough in the hole to be able to bend over and peer underneath.

Not to be deterred, Eric Dunford, master of all things clever, brought along suitable equipment to be able to lower a camera very carefully down the south hole and look on a monitor to see if caverns measureless to man appeared on his screen. Apparently not! He said he thinks it goes underneath about 3 or 4 feet, but only 6-8 inches high.

We are now back in business with the winch returned to its old drum and motor, and a new slightly longer cable installed. The skip has been mended and reinforced very well indeed, and now has an added flap at the back so that it can be filled from either side. It will become necessary to fill the skip from the other side before we are much lower as when the skip descends further, its normal filling side will be against the wall.

So, digging continues as always with no reduction in enthusiasm from the diggers, even on the foulest coldest nights. Temporary ladders have been tied onto the third platform to be able to get to the dig floor again, and as they say….. watch this space!

MINING ON SHUTE SHELVE HILL -

SHUTE SHELVE CAVERN – THE RIFT – THE QUARRY

Alan Gray

I have reviewed all of Marie Clarke’s notes that have been deposited with the Somerset Records Office and extracted all the interviews concerning mining on Shute Shelve Hill. The sites are the “Rose Wood Site” (now known as the area around Shute Shelve Cavern), The Rift and The Quarry.

Reference –

Somerset Record Office - Accession No: G/3233 Group Code: A/BIB
North Somerset Mining Papers And Research Notes Of Marie Clarke

Locations

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