Upper Dinas Silica Mine, Powys, March '12

[-Walsh-]

Visited with cunning corgi,

Background info

No 3 UPPER SILICA MINE The most extensive mine in the area, and the most recent, is found on the North bank of the Sychrhyd 200m upstream of Bwa Maen, and has three entrances which face the river, and a further ten on the northern side. The triple entrance is to the left of the bridge, and is the mine most frequented by cavers. This is probably the most extensive mine in the area. The upper series is practically a veritable huge chamber where the `Pillar and Stall' method of mining is well illustrated. This large chamber leads towards several alternative entrances in the side of the hill. The large entrance chamber can be followed to the right down dip for a short distance to the flooded section. However, to the left the huge Pillar and Stall chamber leads up dip for some distance only to drop down dip again onto a passage which runs across the whole length of the mine. Above this passage various `entrances' lead to the huge chamber while below is flooded.


1 One of many entrances

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7195/6949780881_b3e686fb59_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6949780881/)

2 Carts

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6949772841_39d3ffd26b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6949772841/)

3

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7190/6949636197_fa1854d28c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6949636197/)

4

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6949645497_f75ce56185_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6949645497/)

5

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/6803477542_625f8c9cd8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6803477542/)



6

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/6803508490_c0ea3af8ca_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6803508490/)

7

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7050/6803544314_9a450817a2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6803544314/)

8

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7202/6803552232_9cb070c736_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6803552232/)

9 View from the Winch

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7061/6949691927_28d6d1db3b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6949691927/)

10 Looking down, this was actually one hell of an incline

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6803622048_20819cb4ff_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6803622048/)

11 Getting Narrower

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7065/6803629674_5121af8792_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6803629674/)

12 And we emerged and was greeted with this view

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7041/6949745513_cde48bd6f7_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsh01/6949745513/)

[simonix]

Fantastic, great photos as well