Devon Mine

Date:

15 June 2010

Party:

Big Dave, Findar, Richard, Jenny, Mike Ali, Lionel, Margot, Hugh, Trish & Rupert

Photos:

In Brief:

A mine that hardly anybody could find. A dodgy boulder resting on a rotting support. Uncertainty regarding what would be behind the boulder, except that it would involve SRT. This Tuesday’s trip promised much!

We parked, got into our gear, or tossed the gear into a bag and carried it; it was a warm evening, and oversuits with SRT kit can be a slightly sweaty choice of outfit in such circumstances.  And we set off.

 

Continued:.

Only minutes later there was confusion. The first batch went in some plausible direction, but Ali, who was the only one who could locate the adit, seemed to have gone somewhere else, without attracting the attention of the others to this discrepancy. This was found out what could have been in time; he came back. Several of us were already crossing the river. I heard him say something about that both ways would work, but that the river-crossers would have a more cumbersome approach. I quickly assessed the situation; follow Ali on the easy way to a certain mine, or follow the stubborn impatient guys, who are known for getting themselves in trouble, taking the assault course? Not difficult. Even though it may mean not ending up underground; during a trip in late May both Lionel and Richard condemned themselves to an above-ground evening by the very same behavior.

On the other side it became apparent that Lionel, who was in the lead, erroneously assumed he was following someone, and had no idea where he was going. Nor did anybody else of that group. So we had no other choice than to go back. We crossed the river again, and went for a search. Lionel used his military voice to beckon to the other group, inadvertently scaring the heck out of many, many sheep. Once we heard an answer, but searching the area it seemed to have come from was in vain.

It was an interesting scene. Lionel was fanatically strolling this way and that, cursing civilians for being so %$*@# disorganized, Rupert was staying constructive, Richard lagged behind with a face that said enough about his assessment of the situation, and I amused myself observing all that, in the process probably making then men's moods even worse.

At some point we had gone so far we had left the mined area, so we went back, half hoping at least one of them would have done the same. No sign of a living non-cattle soul, though. So we searched the other side of the river. We sure did get our exercise in this hilly terrain! And we were rewarded with a beautiful landscape with picturesque mine-related ruins, but not with the company of our friends. At some point we gave up and went back to the cars. This involved crossing a cemetery, where Lionel made me laugh by announcing he'd take off his helmet to be less conspicuous. Yes, indeed, without the helmet he would blend in well with any innocent passers by, in his thermals-with-wellies. Sure. I was wiser than to bother to try to look normal, with all my SRT kit dangling from the climber's harness.

We reached the cars, which was of not much use, as both Rupert and Lionel had been passengers and had no access to the cars they had travelled in. Not very much later, though, the other group came back too; they did not look happiest either. They had of course found it, but only a few feet inside the adit there was a drop that could only be negotiated with ropes. And guess who carried those...

Some words of frustration flew, but soon enough everybody had shed their caving kit, and we were off to the pub, where all discordia was immediately forgotten. And the good news is, that now many of us can find this mine, and we have a proper trip there to look forward to in the near future!

Write up by  Margot

Added 16-06-10