Transforming Light

Carrock Wolframite Mine

With:          Andy Hoe

When:        09 September 2015

Weather:    Uncharacteristically warm late summer evening

I first heard of Carrock Wolframite Mine as long ago as 2007 in the early days of living and working at Blaithwaite House. It was described as a local mine, well worth exploring but with some sensitivity around access. It remained on the "to do" list or even the back burner for the next eight years! Earlier this year when out on a trip to Lucy Tongue Level in Greenside mine led by CATMHS, Carrock came up in conversation: the restoration work undertaken on the Canadian X-Cut entrance; the new "key" system for access and other bits and pieces were discussed. This all led ultimately to Andy Hoe and myself setting off up Mosedale on a warm, late summer, Wednesday evening.

A review of our joint research and a brief look at the map had us seeking the confluence of Brandy Gill and Grainsgill Beck: the evidence of past industrial endeavour in the area is extensive and we were surprised upon approach to the confluence to be met by an information board offering insight into the historical activities undertaken in this area & suggesting the exact location of the adit to the Canadian X--cut! The shortest of walks and we were stood at the recently & impressively restored entrance. Next, getting in... We'd had a bit of a last minute ratch around trying to procure the appropriate "key" so it was with some relief that the gate was smoothly opened!

The Canadian X-cut, as the name implies, driven by Canadian engineers in the 1940's connects the earlier Harding (1900) and Smith Veins. The first efforts undertaken at Carrock were to recover lead from the site in 1870 through Emerson. However, it was the significantly more valuable Tungsten ores of Wolframite and Scheelite that were recovered in abundance by the Canadians from the Harding and Smith veins (north) leading to the mine's most prosperous period. Tungsten originally found use in filaments for light bulbs but latterly its principle use was via the military for hardening steel to be employed in armour plating & shell tips.The mine's fortunes fluctuated with the price of Tungsten and after the Canadian efforts of the 1940's it was to be 1976 before the mine re-opened for a period of six years, its final closure being in 1982. Personally, I find it disappointing that after closure the surface buildings were demolished leaving scant evidence of this particular piece of our industrial heritage.

Underground, just a few metres after the entrance, a cross roads is reached. Everything to the right being the Harding & Smith veins (north) and to the left their south running counterparts. On the evening of the visit we explored just about everything apart from Emerson Vein which is accessed from Harding Vein (North). 

Harding Vein (North) is an excellent area for the mine explorer: passages cut through solid rock and chasing the wandering course of a quartz vein; ore pass after ore pass and magnificent stopes extending to great height. We spent considerable time in this area.

A return trip will be needed for Emerson Vein and Harding Vein (South) although I believe the latter extends only as far as a sludge dam. All in all a great evening underground.

A Moment in Time - Part 2 - Wrysgan August 2015

 

‘…There are moments in life that a camera cannot fully capture the beauty or power of a scene; cannot speak of what the naked eye has truly seen and experienced…’

 

Another of these occasions occurred whilst revisiting Wrysgan Slate Mine, one of our Bala Community Holiday activities. After an inaugural visit to this site in 2013, a time that was also a baptism of fire into the underground there was an air of readiness to enter and encounter.

 

Having previously conquered the various extremities of this mine and Cwmorthin, along with the hours spent in the more local mine at Nenthead, confidence was at a good level and even the 100ft drop traverse seemed less daunting; knowledge and experience was much greater, a hope and belief that what had been accomplished once could be completed again without the same anxiety!

 

However, what hadn’t been prepared for and was a million miles away from any consideration prior to entry was a very brief, but what seemed like a ‘forever’ moment of entering a section of the mine solo to recover some rope.

 

Already having walked this way with the group, the ‘on the spot’ offer to tread the same path again didn’t seem to invite or induce any real emotion, it seemed within range – this however was soon to change!

 

Within a few steps of ‘independence’ an overwhelming sense of trepidation set in and before the intended destination had been reached tears began to find themselves rolling down a dust laden face; a moment of vulnerability and inadequacy took hold,  that words, once again, could not truly describe!

 

If ever there was a need to be focused it was now, for the light of one small head torch to be used with intention and feet purposefully positioned to successfully complete the task in hand; a moment to hold onto the knowledge that, irrespective of the darkness that surrounded and the feelings this conjured, God had gone no-where – a moment to acknowledge His inescapable presence and care.

 

‘Where could I go that Your Spirit and presence wouldn’t be …

You even see me in the dark where Your hands lead and hold me’

 

(from Psalm139)



Snowdonia: Photo Blog

Its been a fantastic summer & we are still trying to catch up with the blog!

More than two weeks have passed since we returned from Snowdonia but we've only managed to post on some of the gorge walking we did with groups. In an effort to get caught up this one's a brief photo-blog from this year's Community Holiday in Bala, it was a great week, these photos are from our Snowdon summit day & the underground day in Wrysgan Slate Mine.

Snowdon is a great mountain, however, the day of our planned ascent was the jewel in the crown for the week's weather and predictably every man and his dog (literally) had made the same observation! We'd hoped to do the Pyg Track / Miners Track, however, Pen-y-Pass car park was already well & truly full by the time we arrived, so reluctantly we opted for Llanberis Path up & Miner's Track down (we had the luxury of someone to pick us up and return us to Llanberis. It was a very enjoyable day with much achievement amongst our group but the summit crowds were something else...

In many ways the antithesis to scaling the highest summit in Wales was our day in Wrysgan Slate Mine, exploring the depths of the earth! Wrysgan is an excellent venue: cavernous spaces; lofty traverses and big abseils it has everything for a challenging group day out ...

Afon Merch

A Google search doesn't produce much on Afon Merch, the search engine's translator tells us that the Welsh translates literally into "River Girl". Afon Merch does, however, provide an excellent venue for a gorge walk at a range of levels. The setting is near perfect: a wooded watercourse cascading down the flanks of Snowdon through a series of waterfalls and pools.

Over the last two weeks we ascended the gorge on numerous occasions starting in the gentle lower sections: scrambling up small waterfalls; deploying ropes to climb larger steps; walking round even larger falls; squeezing under boulders; swimming through deep pools and finally climbing up the "chimney" in the cave before a squeeze into daylight at the head of a waterfall. All that before coffee and cake in the excellent Caffi Gwynant which is only 10 minutes walk away.

Its difficult to convey the joys & thrills experienced by the diverse range of people we shared time with in the gorge. There are a few photos below that try to capture at least some of the spirit of a day in Afon Merch.

A Moment in Time - Part 1 Afon Merch

There are moments in life that a camera cannot fully capture the beauty or power of a scene; cannot speak of what the naked eye has truly seen and experienced.

One recent occasion was as we stepped out into Afon Merch for our fourth gorge walk of the week whilst delivering activities for Christian Youth Camps based in North Wales.

Overnight rain in abundance had meant that the gorge was raging and our morning trip was unable to fulfil the ‘chimney climb’ due to the force of the thundering falls; by the afternoon however a little subsidence meant that the older youth had the opportunity of challenge.

Standing waiting for safety ropes to be put in place, in what can only be described as an ‘open cave’, dark, cold walls could be seen to be overpowered by the cascading water and the bright sunlight that shone through.

In what seemed very harsh and unforgiving surroundings, what was evident was a reflection of the character of our Creator God. The sun’s beams bouncing off the many droplets of water a reminder of the cleansing love of Jesus and the light of His life bringing warmth and healing. An overwhelming, and very much privileged moment, that pictures and words could never really do justice to; a moment to be held with great affection and gratitude – a moment to ‘be still and know’ a real presence of God …

‘Let us become more aware of Your presence

Let us experience the glory of Your goodness

 Your presence Lord …

… where my heart becomes free

and my shame is undone

 Your glory God is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your presence Lord’

 (words from Holy Spirit – Bryan & Katie Torwalt)



Andy Johnson Guest Blog: A Wilderness Canoe Journey

Big thanks to Andy Johnson for providing us with his first "Guest Blog" based on our wilderness canoe journey together earlier this year. Its a great read!

A Wilderness Canoe Journey on Loch Shiel – April 2015

By Andrew Johnson

 

The expedition began early on a crisp morning in Carlisle where we were leaving from. After putting canoes on the trailer and packing paddles, poles, barrels and bags we were on our way and eager to start what we hoped would be a real wilderness experience.

After a long journey with the obligatory stop at the Green Welly services near Tyndrum we arrived at Glenfinnan at the head of Loch Shiel. We quickly unloaded and stowed our gear for the expedition in our respective canoes all the while considering trim and accessibility of our essentials.

We put in via the loch side grounds of the Glenfinnan House Hotel which has sat in its rolling lawns since 1755 and is framed by the Glenfinnan viaduct of Harry Potter fame. We pushed off and were soon gliding through the calm, clear waters of the vast loch with the reflections of the mountains disturbed only by the ripples caused by our paddle strokes. The “song of the paddle” was easily discernible as the noises of civilization quickly faded behind us.

After a few hours paddling in good conditions we landed at our campsite for the night, everyone quickly pitched their tents or tarps and we all settled down next to our first campsite to eat and talk and begin to immerse ourselves in the nature around us.

We woke up early the next morning looking forward to a full day of paddling ahead of us. After a couple hours of steady paddling I began to really get a feel for the canoe and paddling with my boat partner Macky. Early in the morning we saw one other canoe on the loch; otherwise we were all alone on the vast expanse of water. The whole group seemed to fall into a steady rhythm.

Mal had mentioned that a renowned naturalist, writer and Scottish wild cat expert called Mike Tompkies had lived alone in a small hut near to a place called Gaskan Wood we decided that we would paddle for Gaskan to visit the wood and also to see if the hut Tompkies had named “Wildernesse” still stood.  After a good paddle into a building head wind we reached the shores of Gaskan Wood and pulled our boats up onto a sandy beach, stretched our legs and went for a short exploratory walk through the woodland.

After only ten minutes exploration we saw a tin roof glinting through the ancient boughs of moss and lichen encrusted trees. From a distance we saw a woman cutting down a shrub at the side of the structure which we assumed to be “Wildernesse” we cautiously approached not wishing to startle the lady, visitors did not seem like they could be a regular occurrence as Loch Shiel has only one road for the purposes of forestry work and this was on the other shore of the loch to which we paddled.

We needn’t have been so cautious as we were warmly greeted by the lady who was indeed the current resident of “Wildernesse” we talked for a while about the loch, Tompkies and what it was like to live in such a wild, beautiful but isolated place. She explained that the hut was without electricity so was lit by candlelight with the fridge being powered by gas. The luxury of a hot shower was also powered by gas. 

We left the lady to her gardening. Me, Macky, Sara and Sandra took her recommendation to walk a little up the forested slope to see a series of crystal clear plunge pools carved out by the stream which ran down the slope behind “Wildernesse” on its way into the loch. The stream was picturesque and the plunge pools looked inviting in the heat of the afternoon.

 I walked away from “Wildernesse” with a strong feeling that someday I should live in such a place, a feeling that Mal for one shared, though I think Marion was not convinced of the idea!

From Gaskan we turned around and began to paddle back the way we’d come, after a short crossing to a small island in the middle of the loch we headed towards our camp for the night. The paddling required concentration as the wind was building as the afternoon wore on creating a significant tail wind. All of the tandems had to stay focused in order to keep the boats tracking well with the waves striking our sterns square on.

After making good progress with the wind at our backs we made camp on a beautiful sheltered beach. We got the campfire going pulling the canoes up the beach to create some extra shelter from the increasing wind blowing down the loch. All settled into the camp routines of cooking, making drinks and reflecting on what had been a perfect days paddling. 

We awoke in the morning to another beautiful morning, the surface of the water still and glassy, this was to change quite quickly with winds building close to what seemed to be the threshold of what was paddleable. It was a day that tested every individual’s skills and more importantly the ability of each tandem to communicate and paddle as a cohesive team. One of the best things about the canoe is that there is no-where to escape to, nobody to blame. One of a tandem cannot be allowed to lag behind or struggle, in such conditions team work is not a luxury but essential. On this day, in these conditions we paddled in a cluster of boats with everyone watching out for each other. We stuck close to the shore always aiming to keep an outcrop of land in front us reducing the risk of being blown out into the loch should we capsize.

At one particularly protruding headland we skirted round it one boat at a time immediately seeking refuge from the wind and waves in its lee. The wind was so strong Mal’s cap was blown off his head whilst he watched each tandem round the headland; it was never to be seen again.  I learnt a lot about how to handle the open canoe in windy conditions and on later reflection a bit about team work whilst paddling.

As we continued to paddle I got used to what were still tricky conditions, me and Macky began to feel confident in our ability to control the canoe in such conditions and I felt that my ability to respond to how the boat would react to the varying strength and direction of waves and react accordingly improved.

Towards the end of the afternoon when we were thinking of where to camp we pulled up to a gravel beach at the same time as some of the only other people we’d seen on the water since leaving Glenfinnan, the other canoe. We spoke briefly to the two paddlers who it turned out were twins marking their 50^th birthday with a canoe trip. After a couple of difficulties we all managed to put in from the shore of the beach into waves which seemed intent on pushing our canoes back up onto the beach like the driftwood which Andy H had been intently gathering for fire wood whilst we had a break and chatted to the birthday paddlers.

Tonight was to be our last and we aimed to find a spot which would allow us the opportunity to enjoy our last night in the wild whilst still leaving us a short paddle in the morning. We decided to camp on a beach near a fish farm which was currently not operating. Though this site seemed the least wild of our camps I was quickly reminded of the wild beauty around us as moments after pulling the boats up onto the beach we noticed an adult pair of Eagles soaring above us with three of their young. A truly majestic sight. Such are the rewards for those who travel quietly by canoe into the lesser populated parts of these Isles of ours.

All were quiet on our final morning. We had a short paddle ahead of us and in a reflective mood I was intent on enjoying every stroke of the paddle. Our boat moved easily through the still water, in no time we were metres away from the point we’d put in at a small gravel beach at the edge of the hotel’s lawn. As the hull of the canoe scraped on the gravelly bottom of the loch I felt sad that our expedition was over but enriched by what had been a special trip into a real wilderness with a special group of friends.