Forest of Dean

A few pics of various old mines in the forest i took last week while riding my bike round.

Old Engine Mine

very overgrown - diificult to work out what's what! Near The Rising Sun pub







New Fancy

Screens



Remains of chimney??



last bit of surviving railway line!




Cannop Drift (still being worked)

trucks



entrance to drift is down the slope to the right



There was smoke coming out of the tin shack. No idea what was going on inside



Lightmoor Engine House

inaccessible - in the middle of a timber yard. In rather poor condition

Really enjoyed seeing your pics, btbm. Looks like a nice mooch of an explore.
Some interesting remains there too.

Nice photos, im sure Smiffy will have something to say about them!

I am Loving the Engine house and the mini Inclined plain with the tiny Wagons. Cool Shots.

Is the photo of the chimney actually a chimney or is it a pit shaft. After they closed the mines they sometimes built ventilation shafts on top of the shaft entrance. We used to live on an old pit yard years ago and it had a chimeny where the shaft had been (the shaft was 726 foot deep but was capped of in 1968 15 foot under the surface). Cheers Jon

Been mooching in my backyard hey! ..........Git orf my laaaaaand!!!
Heh heh! Glad you found yer way about mate...
...The one you called 'Old Engine' is (or so I have always understood but that don't mean I am right mind you! ) actually Brick Pit Colliery and the 2 shafts there were only filled and capped about 3 years ago........that is the base of a chimney at Fancy Colliery........one of the shafts is withing 30 foot of it and is currently surrounded by a bit of fencing although it is filled but not capped off.......the other shafts at Fancy are lost under the landscaping that was all done around 1976/77 when the Forestry Commision turned the site into a view point and carpark....well done for finding the screens wall and that bit of rail though!........I think (not sure bout this mind....) that Lightmoor Engine house has a preservation order on it now.....the steam beam engine out of this house is now in the Dean Heritage Museum at Soudley (summat fer yer next visit).and lastly......
... thats the Harding Boys little freemine.....I went to school with them many years back and they are good mates of mine........Richard and Steve were celebratiing last week cos after driving a new road into a completely new district they have just hit coal almost 3 feet thick..... they hope this means they're in business there for at least another 10 years if not more.........
Great trip mate.hope you enjoyed yerself down here in the woods.......
..did you check out the Fairplay Shaft after ????????

Fairplay's on the list for next time Smiffy.

Had a really good day out. Lovely weather. Stopped and chatted with a couple of locals.

Prefer the forest in the winter - easier to pick out those red danger signs