Report - Draycott Cross Colliery, Staffordshire, August 2018

[Wanderingmellon]

Did you make it to the end where the major collapse is ? The tunnels is all twisted and gnarled up . Looks sick !

 

[BullyMong]

Did you make it to the end where the major collapse is ? The tunnels is all twisted and gnarled up . Looks sick !

We turned back when we got to all the piled up sand. it goes further?

 

[BullyMong]

Did you make it to the end where the major collapse is ? The tunnels is all twisted and gnarled up . Looks sick !

We went back and we got to the end of the tunnel. That thing is just waiting to come down!

 

[Wanderingmellon]

We went back and we got to the end of the tunnel. That thing is just waiting to come down!

It sure is ,It doesn’t surprise me though above is an old gravel quarry and there is a massive fault somewhere near to where the tunnel goes under so I belive the collapse and the fault crack are linked someway .id it currently accessible?last I heard it got fully closed off by concrete and a Steele plate

 

[Hmp-Caver]

very interesting pics, I agree with dweeb though take a gas detector down just in case you stir anything up. Envious though I've always wanted to see inside a coal colliery but majority of them are either filled in, privately owned by mining companies, or too dangerous/flooded etc :/

 

[BullyMong]

We had a re visit and took a 4 gas, we had no problem down a few of the adits. We couldent get too far as they were all flooded. The main tunnel is a gem in its self, well worth it!

 

[Kendog]

Good past, thank you

 

[Wanderingmellon]

I wouldn’t advise going up this side shoot ,I belive it will be the one that you mentioned as having a strong through draught . The walls are basically sand as soon as you get in there . The whole tunnel was built through a gravel bar and that is the reason it collapsed and got sold off for mining . If you go into the GRAVEL quarry that’s directly above the tunnle ,you can see the huge crack that was created when it collapsed .

 

[BullyMong]

I wouldn’t advise going up this side shoot ,I belive it will be the one that you mentioned as having a strong through draught . The walls are basically sand as soon as you get in there . The whole tunnel was built through a gravel bar and that is the reason it collapsed and got sold off for mining . If you go into the GRAVEL quarry that’s directly above the tunnle ,you can see the huge crack that was created when it collapsed .

You have bigger balls than me sir

Good job!

 

[Wanderingmellon]

Curiosity always gets the better of me .

 

[dweeb]

That is the escape drift. @Oxygen Thief and I got a fair way up it many years ago but thought better of it towards the top it got worse and worse the higher we went...

 

[Oxygen Thief]

That is the escape drift. @Oxygen Thief and I got a fair way up it many years ago but thought better of it towards the top it got worse and worse the higher we went...

Yeah that was something else going up there. I felt like some crazy prospector from the wild west...

 

[wizeguy]

We went in Spring 2016.
I'll skip over all the main tunnel before the sand and side shafts which go down.


Beyond the collapse
We walked up and beyond the sand and then up the collapsed rocks.
Then climbed up over the collapsed rocks and looked back at the thick brickwork of the arch. See photo.

After walking further forward along the huge rocks we found a way in to the boulder choke on the left.
A tight climb through the boulders for about 5 minutes and it opened up into a living room sized cavity.
Inside that space lower down on the right is just the top of the arch of the other side of the tunnel.
The gap under the arch top is big enough for someone to get through but very damp and muddy.
We didn't have any rope to descend into it so we threw a glow stick into it which just disappeared.

Would have liked to have gone further but went back out through the boulder choke.
We'd probably do the bolder choke again.


Steep shaft out
We couldn't resist investigating the wind blowing out of the hole in concrete blocks on the east side of the main tunnel.
We climbed through the hole and started up the shaft.

Pretty much all the corrugated ceiling has fallen onto the floor and skates around on the rocks as your walk on it.
There are a few huge wooden support beams which are balanced on their ends.
Knocked one of them sideways by accident which was terrifying for 3 seconds.
Much of the way up the floor was so loose rocks were tumbling onto the people behind.
The ceiling is visible and loose most of the way up and gets increasingly sandy.

After what felt like 300 meters of scrambling we got to the end and could see plenty of daylight.
The last 5 meters are sandy, tight and have almost nothing to grab onto to climb up.
5 minutes of contentious pushing up off the crumbling sides and a shove from below got one of us out.
That exhilarated person than pulled the rest of us out once we'd scrambled far enough to the light. See photo.

After we got out we saw we were on a hill with bike tracks at thew bottom. See photo.
Looking south we could see trees but couldn't see the road close to the main tunnel entrance.

We would definitely not climb that shaft again.

 

[Kendog]

Wow, cracking report, I think the tracks are close to a place called Sheepwash but I may be wrong, good pics has well.

 

[Wanderingmellon]

Nice mate. I found that hole years ago and though it was a way out , it’s now sealed up unfortunatly I belive as last time I went that way I saw some sleepers and fence around that general area . Would you say it was possible at that time to get beyond the collapse if you’d of had roped ? Also how stable were the rocks when you climbed them ? I’ve never fancied getting close to them .