# Little Iron Mine in the Forest of Dean - July 2010



## crickleymal (Jul 9, 2010)

This is a mine situated in the limestone overlying the coal measures in Bixlade above Cannop Ponds. It's unusual in that the limestone it's in is not the normal crease limestone found in the Forest which underlies the coal measures and is like a sponge in the way the cavities are arranged. This limestone is fairly solid and faults in straight lines so all the iron ore lies in straight lines at 90 degrees to each other underground. The mine was worked just before the first World War. At the present there is only about 100 yards accessible via the upper ventilation entrance. We are working on digging through the collapse which lies under the position of an old shaft marked on the geological survey. If we get though we should double the length of the mine. 

Some other people have obviously been into the mine since I was last there and they've left a few arrows pointing to the main passage. Quite why they felt this was necessary is anyone's guess as there are only two passages and they are both straight with a short connecting passage. It's totally impossible to get lost.

Apologies for the quality of the photos. I had no tripod so they're all hand held with a separate flash held in the other hand.

One of the possible shafts leading to the fall






The remains of a building just by the ventilation entrance










The way in





The original main entrance





Hanging death in the ventilation entrance





The main passage















The passage splits just before the collapse. It rejoins just after. Both ways are blocked





The fall


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## borntobemild (Jul 9, 2010)

Nice find Mal. Lots of potential there


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## swanseamale47 (Jul 9, 2010)

That looks a pretty serious fall, good luck with digging it out. Be great to see the full tunnel open.
Wayne


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## Foxylady (Jul 10, 2010)

I love seeing these Forest of Dean mines. Especially good to see the building remains too. Nice find and good work, Mal.


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## smiffy (Aug 11, 2010)

Good stuff mate....there's a stack of holes in the ground up through that little valley.. mainly old coal workings...an awful lot of the black stuff has been taken from that valley over the last 100 years or so..just a bit further up is the remains of Mapleford Colliery or Harveys Drift which was quite productive when I were a lad..the drifts are still there but are a bit ....ahem....'exciting'!....nothing to an adventurous fella like yerself though I'm guessing ! heheheh!...lots to see and do ! hey if you look at the Forest with the Wikimapia sat maps I've marked a load of mines/drifts etc on there for anyone interested..........


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## crickleymal (Aug 15, 2010)

smiffy said:


> Good stuff mate....there's a stack of holes in the ground up through that little valley.. mainly old coal workings...an awful lot of the black stuff has been taken from that valley over the last 100 years or so..just a bit further up is the remains of Mapleford Colliery or Harveys Drift which was quite productive when I were a lad..the drifts are still there but are a bit ....ahem....'exciting'!....nothing to an adventurous fella like yerself though I'm guessing ! heheheh!...



There's a lot of bad air in the coal mines in Bixlade. A mate of mine was going to abseil down a shaft and fortunately they lowered an oil lamp down first. It went out about 6 ft from the top. Plus there is no legal access to any coal mines in the Forest without the owner's/gaveller's permission. What anyone does of course is their own business, but I have to obey the rules as I'm on the committee of the Forest Caving Club.


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## spungletrumpet (Aug 15, 2010)

Nice one Mal..

Good to see some Forest digs.


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## smiffy (Aug 17, 2010)

yep ..know all about bad air........it does seem to have got a lot worse over the years too....possibly summat to do with the number of drifts/levels/shafts that have been filled/capped etc in recent times.....guessing here but ...it must have had an effect on the amount of fresh air circulating /entering the old workings?????? not a problem so much with the iron workings I guess......
and I know you gotta say what you said......but it's gotta be admitted...
there wouldn't be a lot on this forum if folk got too concerned with such things as 'legal access' or 'gaining the owners permission' .heheheh!


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