Engine Vein Mine and The Cobalt Mine, Alderley Edge

As one of the organised underground trips being run as part of the NAMHO Conference (being run in Matlock this year), Karen and I joined a group for a guided trip down Engine Vein Mine and The Cobalt Mine. These are two of the mines in Alderley Edge. We started with a trip down Engine Vein mine entering via Hough Level. After having a look around various parts of the mine, we climbed a fixed iron ladder at Blue Shaft leading to a higher area in the mine. The ladder passed close to a formation of various shades of blue due to the copper content (this being a copper mine - see the Derbyshire Cave Club's web page) and was very spectacular. At the top of the ladder was another short ladder leading past an opening into another shaft called the Bear Pit. After looking around the upper section of the mine we ended up below the original entrance via a large gash on the surface which was originally due to a fault and was gradually widened over the centuries.
After lunch at the Tea Shop next to the nearby "The Wizard" pub we walked a short distance towards the car park and after the shaft lid was opened we climbed down a short fixed iron ladder into The Cobalt Mine. This was a smaller mine with mostly crawling-sized passages with much evidence of the Cobalt which was mined there, as black areas in the sandstone. Once we had seen most parts of the mine we reascended to the surface and while some were taken on another short visit to a third mine, Karen and I headed back to the Orpheus Club cottage for the OCC BBQ.