Mandale Mine

The two of us had decided on a quick trip to Mandale Mine in the Lathkill River valley during the week. Also Boyd had sent an email asking for us and Waggy to meet up with him at the Orpheus CC cottage for a quick meeting to plan the dates for Water Icicle accompanied trips to the new extensions.
So, after sorting out gear from last weekend and yesterday's trip, we had the meeting than drove to Monyash café for breakfast which as it was getting on towards lunch time, was quite busy.
Afterwards we headed for the village of Over Haddon and parked in the small layby where the road drops down towards the River Lathkill and got changed.
We then walked on the path along the riverbed which was largely dry for a few hundred metres thn branched off at the old engine house by the mine.
We arrived at the entrance and unscrewed the bolt on one side of the gate as the bolt on the left-hand side wasn't even screwed into its hole in the frame. After clambering down the very short ladder inside, we closed and bolted the gate behind us, this time making sure the bolts were in the correct place and done up tightly with a spanner.
Karen had been in the mine on an evening trip with the “Alternative Tuesday” group and then had taken Keith and Pete Collins on a trip one Sunday, so she led the way.
We had a good wander around with Karen commenting on how the currently dry passages were usually knee-deep or even waist-deep in water. We arrived at a very short slopping and low passage which leads to a section of scaffold pole and then a short climb down.
I couldn't really see where I was going when laying in this short passage and was concerned I would slip through and fall down the climb so I decided to call it a day on this trip anyway. Karen climbed back up and we headed for an alternative exit,
After a short crawl we reached a very awkward looking section which involved a traverse past a shaft, which Karen had forgotten about. Deciding to stick with the easier alternative, we turned around and retraced our route to the same entrance we had come in.
We removed the bolts, lifted the gate and once we were both out, lowered the gate back into place and replaced the bolts ensuring they were done up tightly with a spanner.
As the easiest route home was to go via Youlgreave, we weren't going near any tea shops, and as a teak and some cake was called for, we got a cake for the shop back in Winster and ate it together with some tea while sitting in the garden.