Where am I? DCC > ALDERLEY EDGE > CURRENT ACTIVITIES > EXPLORATION > ILLUSTRATION
EXPLORING THE MINES
MECHANISATION
Hough
Level entrance dig. At the northern end of the Hough Level, we were able to
dig a crawling way out fairly readily but enormous amounts of sand hand covered
the passage and it was far quicker to remove this with the digger. After
the work was completed by the digger, we returned to using handtools to excavate
the remainder of the passage although a railway was used to remove spoil.
(Left) Filling a tub at the ore chute. The ore chute below Bear Pit had disappeared completely but we reconstructed it using the sockets in the wall as a guide. The picture shows one of the tipper tubs which were adapted to work in the narrow Hough Level. The railway was 2 foot gauge and laid from the working face, which reached Ring Shaft right out to the surface. The steep slopes involved made pushing the empty tubs back up into hard work but the problem going out of the mine was controlling their speed on some of the bends near the entrance. The track was laid along the same route that the 19th century miners would have used although we think their tubs were lower and flatter.
Return
to previous page