Odin Mine, Derbyshire

Keith, Karen and I drove down Winnats Pass and parked near the end of the main road near Odin Mine and Cave. It was a warm and sunny day so there were quite a few cars also parked there and also cars driving up to the end of the road and turning around. We got changed and headed along the path rising up to the gorge above the entrance to Odin Mine.
With Keith rigging, we followed in passing through the pile of composted leaves from the surrounding trees and into the muddy-floored entrance passage. At the greasy and slippery hand-line climb up, Keith clambered up and fixed on of our ropes so that we could follow easier. We dropped down the largest pitch then after passing through the low passage with stone slab ceiling holding up piles of deads above, we passed the interesting "Chippendale Rift" with its turned table leg stemples and the final short drop into the large rift chamber. This was and obviously worked-out stope with a ceiling high above of more stone slabs and a curving dry-stone wall of dressed stone along one side of the chamber up near the ceiling.
There was a low passage passing through this wall with an arch of stonework leading to the final pitch leading to the very bottom of the mine. This was some 4 or 5 metres above and reached by an in-situ hand-line. We had heard that the last pitch had collapsed some time ago but Keith had found the pitch intact on a previous trip with Pete Collins. In fact the passage leading off from the foot of the pitch had collapsed.
I didn't fancy descending this last pitch only to have to some straight back up again so followed the other two up the hand-line and shouted through to Karen to let them know and that I would wait for them in the rift chamber. After a short while the other two returned and we made our way back to the surface after around two hours and a quarter underground.
Karen and I washed our gear in the small stream near the mine entrance and then returned to the OCC cottage to wash the ropes and tackle bags. Later in the evening, we met Jenny and Boyd in the Miners Standard near home, for a meal.