Marden is about a ten minute walk from Godstone main series, but is actually a much smaller mine, which was mainly used for mining firestone. Like Godstone, it also saw service as a mushroom farm but was also used as an ammunition store during WW2 and later as a bonded warehouse (for alcohol and tobacco which had not had duty paid on it). I didn't get so many pictures here as I did at Godstone(my battery gave out half way round) but it is still an interesting contrast.
Like Godstone there is a lot of dry stone walling to stop slips from occurring, but you'll also notice that the propping is very different, using stone stacks rather than railway sleepers (pics 1&2). This is because the miners found out fairly soon that railway sleepers didn't work (see pic 3 which shows a collapse around a sleeper prop) because of the very crumbly nature of hearthstone.
Some views along the galleries - there is the rusting iron frame of a water barrel in that second photo
Some stuff down the mine including some screws for securing pit props, a yellow lamp and some of the trackway that was used to haul wagons around the mine
Enjoy! GDZ
Like Godstone there is a lot of dry stone walling to stop slips from occurring, but you'll also notice that the propping is very different, using stone stacks rather than railway sleepers (pics 1&2). This is because the miners found out fairly soon that railway sleepers didn't work (see pic 3 which shows a collapse around a sleeper prop) because of the very crumbly nature of hearthstone.
Some views along the galleries - there is the rusting iron frame of a water barrel in that second photo
Some stuff down the mine including some screws for securing pit props, a yellow lamp and some of the trackway that was used to haul wagons around the mine
Enjoy! GDZ
