IT'S CREEK TIME AT THE OLD GRINKLE IRON MINE!
The day dawned crisp with clear blue skies, it was perfect for our trip to the far reaches of North Yorkshire.
An old old iron mine at Grinkle was our destination, i'd been looking forward to this trip with great anticipation all week
The mine site and tramway sidings as it was in it's heyday.
Grinkle iron mine was opened in 1875, it was situated in the bottom of a deep sided valley, There simply wasn't enough room to build the various mine buildings, so it was necessary to culvert the Easington beck at the mine site. A stone tunnel was built over the beck in 1875, then it was covered with thousands of tonnes of spoil to create a level area. The mine buildings and narrow gauge tramway sidings could now be built.
The Grinkle iron mine was closed in 1930, it was no longer making any profit, three years earlier the beck culvert collapsed which caused the mine to flood and killed several miners. The collapsed section was strengthened in 1927 with metal props and sleepers, there have been two further collapse's since then.
Peering into the Abyss!
This is the upstream entrance where the beck starts it's subterranean journey under the mine. A part collapsed brick arch guards the Western portal. The bars have been fitted to stop debris becoming lodged inside the culvert.
Iron posts have also been erected as a debris trap just before the upstream entrance. I just loved this rusty wheel from an old tramway waggon.
Your Barred!
Man added for scale!
This was a fascinating place to visit for me, It was very quiet, an almost forgotten world, i really liked the lush Amazon atmosphere here.
The view inside the culvert from on top of the brick arch, this section has been carved out of solid rock.
The tunnel of old Father Time!
Todays holy grail behold, this is the 'downstream' Eastern portal of the culvert, and what a fine brick baralled portal it is too. Mother nature has camouflaged this old tunnel with a head of green hair, and lush ferns for a beard.
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides!
I sometimes wonder about my sanity at times!
The anticipation shooting down the barrel!
We were well aware of just how bad conditions were once inside this tunnel, I knew this was probably the most dangerous place i've visited so far. I've got to admit we took a little bit longer stood talking outside, and taking shots than normal. However we hadn't travelled this far for nothing, so we headed off into the tunnel to see what we would encounter.
Looking out of the downstream portal you can see an adit on the far bank.
The view with the search light at the tunnel entrance looks promising enough, it isn't until you round the curve at the far end that things start to look a little worrying.
The first signs of trouble!
These makeshift wooden probs were wedged into the missing stonework. It looks like the stone has been crushed under the weight from above.
A set of stairs used to lead to the surface at the far end of this passage, It is a very small passage too, you would have to crawl through it, i've no idea what the half semi circle object could be.
OH SH*T!
This is when things started to look REALLY bad
A huge section of tunnel has collapsed here, one day the stonework came crashing down without warning, large amounts of spoil then spilled into the culvert. A maintenance team must have cleared this debris to stop the water backing up. The area above has been fenced off, you can clearly see the big hole above. There doesn't seem to be anything to stop the rest of the spoil crashing in again. You can actually see the stonework at the far end of the collapse is been pushed inwards.
Ahoy down there!
This section is where the tunnel first collapsed in 1927, the props and sleepers were fitted in attempt to strengthen the tunnel. Things started to become a little cramped at this point, two of my companions headed up the tunnel taking there shots, we followed behind them so we didn't get in each others way.
I wasn't happy looking at these rusting props here, there the only thing holding up thousands of tonnes of spoil above my head.
This is madness!
The X factor!
Sorting my pictures out in the warmth and safety of my home, it's really quite worrying to see how feeble the whole structure actually was down there.
In too deep!
Uncle Toms cabin.
I loved the textures and smell's down here, it reminded me of a smugglers cave and ship wrecks.
I don't like those rumbling noises down there!
Peering into the gloom you could hear feint rumbling noises ahead, bits of debris fell into the water, it's noise magnified alarmingly loud underground. The tunnel was getting smaller and more twisted too, it seemed as if the whole structure was been pushed into submission. We looked at this view for a while pondering if we should go any further.
Then there was one loud creaking noise too many for our liking.
LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! was quickly agreed upon forthwith!
A last look back at our companions following as we made our hasty retreat back to safety.
It's hard to belief now, but this is the old tramway trackbed that ran from the mine to the harbour at Port Mulgrave. The line turned sharply to the right further down, it then crossed an embankement built to carry the line across the Easington beck. The Ridge lane tram tunnel is situated just the other side of embankement.
The North portal of Ridge lane tunnel is well hid behind vegetation these days, we walked straight past it without noticing earlier in the day.
The tramway tunnel emerges on the far side of Ridge lane, you can see the small dot of daylight around 400 yards away. I lit this shot by placing a search lamp in one of the side refuges, it created an eerie atmosphere, it gives a good indication how dark these places really are.
Ghost rails of the old tram tunnel.
This picture was taken from the exact same spot as the shot above, more lighting fire power illuminates the whole length of tunnel. I was really pleased to see the old sleepers still place, they still had the track bolts in place. It's easy to imagine the rails still in situ on this shot.
The sleepers seemed to have become solidified into the tunnel floor!
The last tram to run through here was in 1916, A new inclined section was built from the mine site North to connect with the nearby Middlesbrough-Whitby line. The tunnel was then surplus to requirements and abandoned. This Ridge lane tunnel line used to run through a second tunnel at Port Mulgrave.
This is three quarters of the way through the tunnel looking to the East portal. I was surprised to see there were ample side refuges in this tunnel.
Looking back the way we had come, there was some nice colours, and textures on the tunnel linning here. Is it me, or does the tunnel look like it's buckling in under weight here?
The tunnel had been dry up to this point, the last 50 yards was under deep water.
The sleepers had rotted, and looked quite eerie in the flooded section, they almost appeared to be spreading and creeping along.
Back into fresh air at the Southern portal of Ridge lane tunnel, well it should have been fresh air, we did get a very strong whiff of Methane gas in this area. We smelt nothing in the tunnel at all, but the boggy portal was very pungent indeed.
The tunnel and culvert now in the bag, we were well pleased with our day's efforts
Thanks to my three companions for a great day out.
Cheers guys!
The day dawned crisp with clear blue skies, it was perfect for our trip to the far reaches of North Yorkshire.
An old old iron mine at Grinkle was our destination, i'd been looking forward to this trip with great anticipation all week
The mine site and tramway sidings as it was in it's heyday.
Grinkle iron mine was opened in 1875, it was situated in the bottom of a deep sided valley, There simply wasn't enough room to build the various mine buildings, so it was necessary to culvert the Easington beck at the mine site. A stone tunnel was built over the beck in 1875, then it was covered with thousands of tonnes of spoil to create a level area. The mine buildings and narrow gauge tramway sidings could now be built.
The Grinkle iron mine was closed in 1930, it was no longer making any profit, three years earlier the beck culvert collapsed which caused the mine to flood and killed several miners. The collapsed section was strengthened in 1927 with metal props and sleepers, there have been two further collapse's since then.
Peering into the Abyss!
This is the upstream entrance where the beck starts it's subterranean journey under the mine. A part collapsed brick arch guards the Western portal. The bars have been fitted to stop debris becoming lodged inside the culvert.
Iron posts have also been erected as a debris trap just before the upstream entrance. I just loved this rusty wheel from an old tramway waggon.
Your Barred!
Man added for scale!
This was a fascinating place to visit for me, It was very quiet, an almost forgotten world, i really liked the lush Amazon atmosphere here.
The view inside the culvert from on top of the brick arch, this section has been carved out of solid rock.
The tunnel of old Father Time!
Todays holy grail behold, this is the 'downstream' Eastern portal of the culvert, and what a fine brick baralled portal it is too. Mother nature has camouflaged this old tunnel with a head of green hair, and lush ferns for a beard.
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides!
I sometimes wonder about my sanity at times!
The anticipation shooting down the barrel!
We were well aware of just how bad conditions were once inside this tunnel, I knew this was probably the most dangerous place i've visited so far. I've got to admit we took a little bit longer stood talking outside, and taking shots than normal. However we hadn't travelled this far for nothing, so we headed off into the tunnel to see what we would encounter.
Looking out of the downstream portal you can see an adit on the far bank.
The view with the search light at the tunnel entrance looks promising enough, it isn't until you round the curve at the far end that things start to look a little worrying.
The first signs of trouble!
These makeshift wooden probs were wedged into the missing stonework. It looks like the stone has been crushed under the weight from above.
A set of stairs used to lead to the surface at the far end of this passage, It is a very small passage too, you would have to crawl through it, i've no idea what the half semi circle object could be.
OH SH*T!
This is when things started to look REALLY bad
A huge section of tunnel has collapsed here, one day the stonework came crashing down without warning, large amounts of spoil then spilled into the culvert. A maintenance team must have cleared this debris to stop the water backing up. The area above has been fenced off, you can clearly see the big hole above. There doesn't seem to be anything to stop the rest of the spoil crashing in again. You can actually see the stonework at the far end of the collapse is been pushed inwards.
Ahoy down there!
This section is where the tunnel first collapsed in 1927, the props and sleepers were fitted in attempt to strengthen the tunnel. Things started to become a little cramped at this point, two of my companions headed up the tunnel taking there shots, we followed behind them so we didn't get in each others way.
I wasn't happy looking at these rusting props here, there the only thing holding up thousands of tonnes of spoil above my head.
This is madness!
The X factor!
Sorting my pictures out in the warmth and safety of my home, it's really quite worrying to see how feeble the whole structure actually was down there.
In too deep!
Uncle Toms cabin.
I loved the textures and smell's down here, it reminded me of a smugglers cave and ship wrecks.
I don't like those rumbling noises down there!
Peering into the gloom you could hear feint rumbling noises ahead, bits of debris fell into the water, it's noise magnified alarmingly loud underground. The tunnel was getting smaller and more twisted too, it seemed as if the whole structure was been pushed into submission. We looked at this view for a while pondering if we should go any further.
Then there was one loud creaking noise too many for our liking.
LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!
was quickly agreed upon forthwith!
A last look back at our companions following as we made our hasty retreat back to safety.
It's hard to belief now, but this is the old tramway trackbed that ran from the mine to the harbour at Port Mulgrave. The line turned sharply to the right further down, it then crossed an embankement built to carry the line across the Easington beck. The Ridge lane tram tunnel is situated just the other side of embankement.
The North portal of Ridge lane tunnel is well hid behind vegetation these days, we walked straight past it without noticing earlier in the day.
The tramway tunnel emerges on the far side of Ridge lane, you can see the small dot of daylight around 400 yards away. I lit this shot by placing a search lamp in one of the side refuges, it created an eerie atmosphere, it gives a good indication how dark these places really are.
Ghost rails of the old tram tunnel.
This picture was taken from the exact same spot as the shot above, more lighting fire power illuminates the whole length of tunnel. I was really pleased to see the old sleepers still place, they still had the track bolts in place. It's easy to imagine the rails still in situ on this shot.
The sleepers seemed to have become solidified into the tunnel floor!
The last tram to run through here was in 1916, A new inclined section was built from the mine site North to connect with the nearby Middlesbrough-Whitby line. The tunnel was then surplus to requirements and abandoned. This Ridge lane tunnel line used to run through a second tunnel at Port Mulgrave.
This is three quarters of the way through the tunnel looking to the East portal. I was surprised to see there were ample side refuges in this tunnel.
Looking back the way we had come, there was some nice colours, and textures on the tunnel linning here. Is it me, or does the tunnel look like it's buckling in under weight here?
The tunnel had been dry up to this point, the last 50 yards was under deep water.
The sleepers had rotted, and looked quite eerie in the flooded section, they almost appeared to be spreading and creeping along.
Back into fresh air at the Southern portal of Ridge lane tunnel, well it should have been fresh air, we did get a very strong whiff of Methane gas in this area. We smelt nothing in the tunnel at all, but the boggy portal was very pungent indeed.
The tunnel and culvert now in the bag, we were well pleased with our day's efforts
Thanks to my three companions for a great day out.
Cheers guys!
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