# Dinas Upper Mine



## godzilla73 (Dec 18, 2014)

So this is the bigger of the two silica mines at Dinas, and is in many ways a lot more interesting than the middle one. Both were part of a huge complex of mines that straddle Dinas Rock and several of them are almost completely flooded. This one, because it is relatively high up, has some substantial galleries that are dry, though you can see a number of launching points which the cave divers use to access the flooded galleries. The water purity is extraordinary; the day we went there had clearly been no-one in there for some time (divers or otherwise) and the standing water was like cut glass. We were down there for about 3 hours, and we could have spent longer, but I was suffering from flu and the air quality was a bit troublesome TBH. 

The entrance - there's still a lot of ironwork in the ceiling especially hooks, presumably for running electrical cable. 


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I think this is a tub wagon - there was a tramway that ran all the way around the mine complex, both above and below ground:


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There's still a lot of remnants of the tramway around and about


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A lot of the supports are traditional "pillar and stall" , including this one, which was obviously partially bricked up to stop it collapsing:


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And in other places, there are timber piles doing the same job


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Like, I said the water quality down there is amazing. In the first one of the these two, it's really hard to convince yourself that the floor of the mine isn't just sloping away, rather than just a reflection in the water. The second one is, apparently, a point that a lot of divers use to explore the lower, flooded galleries.


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Lots of stuff still in here, some of it very old.....


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Some beautiful colouration in the rock as well.....


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All in all, a really good explore. The only problem (other than my incipient influenza) was the condensation. I end up with at least fifty gash photos because of the dust and moisture - which I guess is just the price you pay for doing photography in old mines - but it was a shame to miss out on some good photos of the side vents which come out in the rock face further up (Fluff might have a few of these).
Enjoy!
GDZ


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## The Wombat (Dec 19, 2014)

Another interesting mine report from you
good work


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## krela (Dec 19, 2014)

Damp cold air and flu don't mix very well, you did really well. I see what you mean about the water, if it wasn't for the reflections of the wall on the left hand side I wouldn't have guessed there was any water there.


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## night crawler (Dec 19, 2014)

Amazing, you did well. I'm not sure I'd wantto go inthere


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## Snips86x (Dec 19, 2014)

That looks like a great find. Did you take these with natural light or torch light?


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## Urbexbandoned (Dec 19, 2014)

Looks impressive!


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## godzilla73 (Dec 19, 2014)

Snips86x said:


> That looks like a great find. Did you take these with natural light or torch light?



Most of it was torch light. Uncle Fluff has some monster LED torches that could, frankly, do a good job of illuminating the seafront at Blackpool, so he must take some of the credit. I also like to use a detachable flash gun and do "intermittent flooding" because then you can direct it and get a good contrast between light and shadow. There are a couple here with natural light; the entrance ones obviously, but also some of those ones with the timber stalls where there was some natural light from vents in the rock face.
Then a little tweaking in Photoshop (not too much mind) and hey presto.


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## godzilla73 (Dec 19, 2014)

night crawler said:


> Amazing, you did well. I'm not sure I'd wantto go inthere



It's actually a lot easier than it probably looks. The biggest ballsache is the climb up Dinas Rock - in the rain- to get there.


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## Newage (Dec 19, 2014)

Mate
I first saw these on FlickR and mate they are fantastic the colours are epic.
Looks a lot of fun, Me and Fluffy did some Wales goodness back in October but I think the 3 of us need
to go back again.

Cheers Newage


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## cunningcorgi (Dec 21, 2014)

Did you not get as far as the incline and haulage engine in situ ?

You weren't that far from it in pic 9...


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## godzilla73 (Dec 22, 2014)

cunningcorgi said:


> Did you not get as far as the incline and haulage engine in situ ?
> 
> You weren't that far from it in pic 9...



No- right at that point I was feeling decidedly yuk, and I made Fluff jack it in!
We'll make sure we get to it next time!


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