Trip to Parc Mine level 2 -- 27th Jun 2004

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Trip to Parc Mine level 2 -- 27th Jun 2004

Group: Dennis, Roger, Dave, (Gordon)

We had previously explored Parc Mine level 3 and a bit of earlier investigation showed that access to level 2 was possible although reports on the web indicated the floor and ladders could be in poor condition.

The trip took place on the Sunday after a piss up the night before, Gordon managing to outdrink everyone else which left him in poor shape next day. His contribution was to carry a bit of the gear to the adit and then try and sleep off the alcohol. The rest of the party negotiated the seemingly inpregnable adit barracade using a variety of contortions.

The technique was to either stick one leg over the barrier and then slide through sideways (Dave) or slide through head first, tumbling upside down and getting Dave to stop them hitting the floor head first. The passage is murky but fairly dry underfoot and the railway lines (and ever present compressed air pipes) were followed.

There were several small passages off to the left and right, but there were ignored for now as the state of the floors was not known.

So far the floor was solid rock, however, after a few hundred feet a T junction was reached where the centre of the floor was a collection of rotting wooden beams with a deep stope visible through the gaps. By keeping to the far RHS the dodgy looking bits were avoided and the branch to the right following the line of the principal lode was taken. The floor on the LHS was solid rock, but on the RHS the stopes from the lower levels have intruded in places and these probably reached down to Level 3. You really don't want to fall down these as it's a long way and it is unlikely you would survive! Some attempt has been made to cover up these holes with short lengths of timber, this probably dating from the 1950's. Quite a lot of this timber work has fallen into the stopes and the rest should not be relied on as a footway!

The passage continues more or less straight and passes numerous ore chutes, at one point there were the remains of a wagon (just the bogies and frame).

There are more side passages and an interesting steel bound pile of stones to shore up the roof at the junction of a side passage. In a quite a few places there is loose debris on the tracks, this has probably fallen from the upper stopes or from the ore chutes.

There is also a fair amount of timber baulks which probably were used in the stopes above. Quite a few of these are still in place, although it is unclear how well they are wedged. You really wouldn't want one to drop on you. After a while a large fallen block is encountered which is passed on the LHS. As you scramble over you can look up and see a necklace of large wedged blocks which are just waiting to drop on your head.

After this is a large pile of loose debris with a nice drop into the stope for the careless. Roger decided discretion was the better part of valour at this point and passed the time taking photos while Dennis and Dave carried on. A careful climb up the LHS of this reveals that the passage continues past more ore chutes, but the floor is about 10" deep in water. With care it is possible to keep your wellies dry. There are some nice straw stalls on the roof and some interesting coloured ones hanging from one of the ore chutes.

After about 100 yards there is a roof collapse and a bizzare sight: Some enterprising individuals have organised a dig and there is a well shuttered low passage for about 20'. There is a small note which reads:
"You don't have to be mad to mount a dig in Parc Lead Mine, but if you are it helps. RF 1996"

Clearly if someone was prepared to invest considerable effort in making the passage there must be something worth seeing. Dennis was keen to go on just as Dave's light started to die. Fortunately a backup light was available and after crawl though the dig and an awkward move over a slightly dodgy pile of floor timbers (not sure what the drop is - light not bright enough!) a vertical shaft was found. This has a slightly dubious ladder, a rope and a substantial pump shaft. Climbing up the ladders up led to a chamber with a huge balance bob.

This connected the vertical pump rod to a horizontal one leading off a side passage. There is also a big winch. It looked like it would be possible to squeeze long the side passage with the pump rod.

We have identified this chamber as the top of the New Shaft in the Llanrwst Mine. It looks like Parc Level 2 breaks into this just below the -14 fathom level and from here it may be possible to get into Endeans shaft.

At this point it was decided to head back in case the backup light failed and pick up Roger on route. Definately a level for further investigation. Total trip time about 2.5 hours