# Brewers Yard Nov 2009



## Evilgenius (Nov 22, 2009)

Brewers Yard is a bit tight in places and awkward to get into with a path of mud rock and broken glass, once in it opens out quite high in places. It is on two levels and does have two shafts, one blocked and one that does drop quite far down, would need srt gear to get down there.


Quote- Stolen from here... http://www.hamfist.co.uk/Stone/Brewers.htm
_This is a very unusual mine in that it comprises of two levels connected with a stone staircase and a vertical shaft. The shaft was obviously used to haul stone from both levels up to the surface. It is now capped with corrugated iron. Access is gained by a steep narrow slope shaft which requires great care to avoid dislodging stones which may block the small passage at the bottom. Access conditions are uncertain as the site is owned by the M.o.D. The slope shaft is found about twenty feet from the A4 between Box and Corsham on the brink of the hill in the woodland beneath the water towers. It is covered with a thick iron grill which looks suspiciously like it was built by the M.o.D. At the time of writing there is enough room to squeeze under the girder at one end in order to descend the slope. Be careful of the vertical shaft once inside as it is very deep and several passages lead into it. In the lower level many sawn blocks of Ashlar are stacked up but were never removed, this was possibly due to a collapse at a smaller shaft in the centre of the mine preventing the removal of the stone. Navigation is easy in the mine as all the passages seem to be dead ends with a few links between them. This mine is relatively small but well worth seeing as it is unique. _

On with the show...

Looking down the shaft






Looking back up at the way in..




Ground floor level..




































Stairs to lower level..




Old graff..1894?








Saw bench and files..




Stone anyone??









We were not alone...





Hope you enjoyed!

Thats all folks!! :O)


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## J_a_t_33 (Nov 22, 2009)

Awesome pics


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## djrich (Nov 22, 2009)

Excellent pics, great place that looks. Love the bat pic.


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## tommo (Nov 22, 2009)

Nice one fella looks like u had a good day out, some nice graffiti under there and I did hear it was a little slippery on the way in


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## Evilgenius (Nov 22, 2009)

Thanks for all the comments!

I didnt think my pics were to great to be honest, alot of them were way to dark so had to brighten them up a bit.

The wayin/out is dodgy 45 degree mud slide through rubbish, rock and glass, rope for next time just to be safe I think!


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## oldscrote (Nov 23, 2009)

Hey Dazaf you just made my day.Thats one of the few mines round here I never got into,great photos ,interesting to see not one but two pram chassis down there.


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## cogito (Nov 23, 2009)

You do know about the conservation laws regarding bats right? It's illegal to deliberately disturb a bat, which depending on circumstances can include flash photography. Flash and other light sources can confuse bats sense of the time of day, leading to changes in their sleep and feeding patterns and it can also damage their very fragile eyes over time.

You can get a license to photograph bats, but they are only granted for scientific, educational or conservation purposes; and clearly there are a lot of guidelines regarding the photographing of them even then.


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## Evilgenius (Nov 23, 2009)

There was more then two prams down there, there was plenty of junk from old boilers to bikes, old radios and tv's, i think most of it came down one of the shafts before they blocked it.

With regards to batman that was zoomed in from quite away with a very low subtle light, he was half way up the wall (about 3ft from the ground which was strange) and if we did disturb him it would of been while walking past on the way in as he was right by the entrance and we didnt see him until we had just walked past. We had a look around, took a few snaps then left very quietly back past the little fella the way we came (one way in one way out). I do know enough about the local bat population to know alot of them are endangered and protected and to stay away and leave them be but when exploring mines/quarrys/caves its one of the things you will come across, maybe i shouldnt of taken that photo sorry but i though it would make a nice picture, I wouldnt of done it if I thought it might disturb it.


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## crickleymal (Nov 30, 2009)

That's one I've not done before. Nice one. Do you have to scramble under the grill like it says in the preamble? If so can a lardy bloke get underneath?


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## Evilgenius (Nov 30, 2009)

Well is all I will say is that it is a squeeze but the mate i went with is over 6ft and he managed it, worst bit is the slippery slope shaft!


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