# Mines #44 - Too Orangey For Crows



## sYnc_below (Aug 20, 2011)

This one has been on the To-Do list for ages, so long in fact that someone else beat us too it, c'est la vie!, you win some, lose some...

The truth is we were elsewhere frying bigger fish and were beaten by worthy opponents I know only thru the Interweb. Sloppy Seconds is never ideal but it had to be done as it was still a neat trip to make. The 4Gas had a spazz before we had broken a sweat and had to be shut down as it was blatantly lying about the 02 content and making a hell of a racket. This was far from ideal as there was a bunch of noxious primordial ooze right down there amongst that "Just for me and my dog" orange gloop and I wouldn't be surprised if it was enough to get the h2s sensor squawking.

The trip involved walking through just over a mile of heavily flooded galleries and crosscuts, gingerly picking our way through a couple of truly unstable & massive roof collapses before we got to the payoff. Water was on average four feet deep with submerged roof collapses, random lumps of twisted, underwater, narrow gauge rail to negotiate and hidden sumps in the mine floor. Two of us had hilarious over wader moments, one resulting in blood loss and my waders sprang a leak within seconds of leaving the dry part of the mine. Other random weirdness was an anemic looking lizard 150ft from the surface amongst corn growing underground and being able to send SMS messages from the base of the shaft.


“Venimus, Vidimus, Vicimus”

*Next...!!!*

Usual rules apply...No names, no locations, just pictures of somewhere orange. Please don't ask for locations as refusal often offends


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## Winch It In (Aug 20, 2011)

Like to say a BIG thanks to Hal for organising an awesome insight in the deepest, darkest depths.

Wearing waders for the first time was a experience in it's self, to be honest I felt like a gimp....as the water got deeper
the more the Neoprene sucked in around my body, as times it wasn't that comfortable in places...
Though I found it easier to walk in the deeper sections of water as it was more stable even with the debris all on the floor.
Hal kept telling me to put my camera away in case I fell over, but I managed to stay upright. 

On with the pic's

























The objective





The air shaft















One of many roof collapses





A major collapse










The way out

Thanks for looking.
Barney​


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## sYnc_below (Aug 20, 2011)

*Oh look.....an overweight, soaked to the skin, pissed off old person*


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## night crawler (Aug 20, 2011)

Awesome work there guys and the place does look like like some one spillt orange squash in there but I don't think I could go down a place like that.


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## sYnc_below (Aug 20, 2011)

night crawler said:


> Awesome work there guys and the place does look like like some one spillt orange squash in there but I don't think I could go down a place like that.



It was quite nice....worth the payoff


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## PaulPowers (Aug 20, 2011)

Great site, would be worth heading down in a dingy but I wouldn't like to disturb the nastyness in that water


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## oldscrote (Aug 20, 2011)

That's bloody brilliant lads, some of you best ever underground shots.Does it ever get any dryer?I ask cos of all the rain we have had recently.


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## sYnc_below (Aug 20, 2011)

oldscrote said:


> Does it ever get any dryer?



Believe it or not that *IS* dry for this place, its normally a couple of feet deeper


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## oldscrote (Aug 20, 2011)

tocsin_bang said:


> Believe it or not that *IS* dry for this place, its normally a couple of feet deeper



Hells bells


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## Raggy (Aug 21, 2011)

Looks like a very colourful place to visit, I don't think I could go underground so a big thanks for allowing us armchair explorers a look


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## King Al (Aug 21, 2011)

Superb pics guys! looks great if a little damp


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## kevsy21 (Aug 21, 2011)

Good pics,looks a great explore.


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## sYnc_below (Aug 21, 2011)

oldscrote said:


> Hells bells



Check the tide marks on the walls


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## krela (Aug 21, 2011)

tocsin_bang said:


> Check the tide marks on the walls



Looks like it peaks at roughly neck hight...


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## Ubermutant (Aug 21, 2011)

All I can say with my civil engineering knowledge of underground spaces and the many and fun dangers they hold is.................

You guys are completly mental! 

Fantastic pictures, I don't know how you do it, that stuff looks like some kind of toxic sludge.


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## Priority 7 (Aug 22, 2011)

Nice shots guys I see you lowered the water level and raised the bar


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## Foxylady (Aug 22, 2011)

Fab shots as always, you two. Great mine.
What I want to know, Hal...is how did that lizard manage to send messages from the bottom of the shaft? Think about it!


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## sYnc_below (Aug 22, 2011)

Foxylady said:


> What I want to know, Hal...is how did that lizard manage to send messages from the bottom of the shaft?



That little fella was quite resourceful, he had three grown men fooled that he was dead so I'm sure he could bang off a text message 

Winch....post up a picture of him please


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## Winch It In (Aug 22, 2011)

Here he is Hal.


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## smiler (Aug 22, 2011)

Absolutely Fanbloodytastic, if I wasn’t so jealous and green with envy I say well done and Thanks.


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## Foxylady (Aug 22, 2011)

Oh he's lovely. Cheers, Winch.


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## Munchh (Aug 23, 2011)

tocsin_bang said:


> That little fella was quite resourceful, he had three grown men fooled that he was dead so I'm sure he could bang off a text message
> 
> Winch....post up a picture of him please



Whatt??......... there were three grown men down there with you? 

Nice mine guys, although Winch will probably get grounded by his mum for going home with wet socks. That'll be the cheap Lidl waders then, time to trade up to a wetsuit mate.


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## sYnc_below (Aug 23, 2011)

Munchh said:


> Winch will probably get grounded by his mum for going home with wet socks. That'll be the cheap Lidl waders then, time to trade up to a wetsuit mate.



Winch managed to stay dry all day, it was me who got soaked, not due to wader failure, more of a balance issue 

Alas neither my drysuit or wetsuit fit me any more these days due to a 'waistband interface' malfunction...


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## Munchh (Aug 23, 2011)

tocsin_bang said:


> Winch managed to stay dry all day, it was me who got soaked, not due to wader failure, more of a balance issue
> 
> Alas neither my drysuit or wetsuit fit me any more these days due to a 'waistband interface' malfunction...



 middle age spread

better not get caught in any tightspots then.


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## Madaxe (Aug 23, 2011)

Amazing. Well done guys.


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## Urban-Warrior (Aug 23, 2011)

excellent shots there guys a great looking place


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## godzilla73 (Aug 23, 2011)

Awesome stuff - we all adore-a , Kia-ora. (Just for you Hal!)
Godzy


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## Pincheck (Aug 23, 2011)

interesting stuff and nice photos


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 24, 2011)

I'm with Smiler on this one !!! I hate your bloody reports cos whenever i'm feeling warm n cosy with my explores to date you post an absolute stonker of a report which puts me back as a little farty !!! Seriously good stuff again you pair of B'stards !!!!


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## chalcides (Aug 24, 2011)

*He's a newt - but not as p****d as one*

Super photos.
Thanks especially for adding the one of this little chap. He looks like a common newt (Triturus vulgaris for the zoologists out there). They are native amphibians well suited to cold, dark, damp places. It's amazing what life can be found in such an unpromising environment. There is clearly enough light for the plants to be green and though the deep water looks unpleasant, that seeping down the walls is probably quite pure. I'd guess there are enough insects or other creepy-crawlies for him to feed on.
He's paler than normal, so could well have been down there all his life. If you revisit, look out for more! They are shy, but often come in sizeable colonies.
There are many newt/salamander species world-wide that are adapted to living in caves - often they are colourless and blind.
Whatever we do to our planet, some form of life fights back!


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## Foxylady (Aug 24, 2011)

godzilla73 said:


> ...we all adore-a , Kia-ora...


As long as it's not Kool-Aide!


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## sYnc_below (Aug 24, 2011)

godzilla73 said:


> Awesome stuff - we all adore-a , Kia-ora. (Just for you Hal!)
> Godzy



Glad someone got the thread title


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## sYnc_below (Aug 24, 2011)

Foxylady said:


> As long as it's not Kool-Aide!



Especially Electric Kool-Aid


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## sYnc_below (Aug 24, 2011)

chalcides said:


> Super photos.
> Thanks especially for adding the one of this little chap. He looks like a common newt (Triturus vulgaris for the zoologists out there). They are native amphibians well suited to cold, dark, damp places. It's amazing what life can be found in such an unpromising environment. There is clearly enough light for the plants to be green and though the deep water looks unpleasant, that seeping down the walls is probably quite pure. I'd guess there are enough insects or other creepy-crawlies for him to feed on.
> He's paler than normal, so could well have been down there all his life. If you revisit, look out for more! They are shy, but often come in sizeable colonies.
> There are many newt/salamander species world-wide that are adapted to living in caves - often they are colourless and blind.
> Whatever we do to our planet, some form of life fights back!




This is excellent info.....could he have gotten in by walking down a 125 foot airshaft? I ask because getting in by another method would be almost impossible. We regularly come across countless dead animals that have wandered in and been unable to find the way out and he was sitting half a mile in at the end of a maze of possible routes. There were bugs in there too....some quite big beetles and I could hear what sounded like wasps.


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## chalcides (Aug 24, 2011)

*The wandering newt*



tocsin_bang said:


> This is excellent info.....could he have gotten in by walking down a 125 foot airshaft? I ask because getting in by another method would be almost impossible. We regularly come across countless dead animals that have wandered in and been unable to find the way out and he was sitting half a mile in at the end of a maze of possible routes. There were bugs in there too....some quite big beetles and I could hear what sounded like wasps.



I guess you're right - getting in the way you did seems very unlikely and, whilst being lightweight he could survive a longer drop than we could, 125 feet is a bit far. They do climb well over stones; we dismantled a bit of dry-stone wall this spring and found a colony of a dozen or so hibernating in the gaps. So I would bet he did climb down the airshaft (after half way, he probably found it easier to keep going than to climb back up!)
Like all amphibians, they return to ponds in the spring to breed - laying eggs which hatch into tadpoles which morph into newts. The rest of the year they are largely ground-dwelling, but stay where they can remain damp (they breathe mainly through the skin, so mustn't dry out).
My son, who is the herpetologist in the family, can't find any references to newts in deep UK mines etc. He would be fascinated to know of any more - here or elsewhere - and evidence of a breeding group in such an environment would be amazing.
Keep looking!
John


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## sYnc_below (Aug 25, 2011)

chalcides said:


> My son, who is the herpetologist in the family, can't find any references to newts in deep UK mines etc. He would be fascinated to know of any more - here or elsewhere - and evidence of a breeding group in such an environment would be amazing.
> Keep looking!
> John



Fascinating info again chalcides 
Don't hold your breath though....apart from the odd bat and once a very lost pheasant all we ever see are skeletons of various sorts.


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## Bluedragon (Sep 4, 2011)

Awesome pics guys! Id love to find something like that!


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## Alie2012 (Oct 24, 2011)

*Mine*

U got some great shots there mate, sod doin it though, would be my luck i would drop my camera


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## sYnc_below (Oct 24, 2011)

Alie2012 said:


> U got some great shots there mate, sod doin it though, would be my luck i would drop my camera



Been lucky so far, only a matter of time though...


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