Brewery Shaft Nenthead Mines
Saturday March 1st 2025
Members present: Alfie Exall, Dylan Kocher, Elliot Macinnes, Elly Masteller, Erika Lang, Fionnuala Andrews, Lucy Hudson, Sophie Brazil, William Barlow
Report by William Barlow
A fun feature of the shaft is there are lights down the shaft, a controller at the top allows the lights to be switched on or off, and also has a button which triggers a countdown to drop a 'rock'. After the countdown, the lights flash one by one starting at the top with increasing frequency, to show the distance travelled by the dropped 'rock'. A speaker plays a crashing sound when the bottom is 'hit'. This provided some cool entertainment on the way down and up.
When the lights were first switched on, the shaft could be seen very clearly. The concrete walls of the shaft were a mix of dark and light grey, discoloured by water. Several large pipes go down, severely rusted by a mix of water and many decades. The lights do not go all the way down, so even when illuminated the bottom cannot be seen.
Elliot began rigging, tying the rope off to the nearby wooden structure, before opening the gate and walking out onto the metal grate. Two slings were used to create a Y-hang from the grate below the trapdoor. Alfie used this time to flick the shaft lights on and off, much to the disapproval of Elliot. The rope was lowered down, marking the beginning of our journey. During this time, Sophie, Lucy, and Alfie headed off to the Rampgill horse level, which is entered through a gap behind a nearby building. A short walk leads to a balcony approximately 20m down the shaft. They remained there to take photos of the rest of us on the way down.
Back at the top of the shaft, Elliot was the first to descend. Coming up with the great idea to use your hand jammer upside down to take the immense weight of the rope on your safety link, making rigging our descenders much easier. Before watching Elliot rig I had it in my head that the anchor would be above the trap door, but no, that would be way too easy. Once Elliot had rigged his simple, I watched as he grabbed either side of the trapdoor, and lowered himself down the hole onto his simple and cow's tails, before beginning his descent. During this time the shaft lights were left off, but once he was around 5m down, he asked for them to be switched back on, creating a great photo opportunity which Dylan used well. Once he was level with the Rampgill balcony, the lights were switched off and photos were taken. Before switching the lights back on and allowing him to continue down. We watched in slightly nervous anticipation as he became a mere speck.
Nuala was next, after initially forgetting to clip in her cow's tails, she proceeded in Elliot's footsteps in walking over the metal grate getting ready to descend. Once her rack was rigged, she used the absolutely fearless technique of starting to carefully lower yourself through the trapdoor, only to then just let go and drop onto the rack and cow’s tails. Elly followed next, getting her arm in a bit of a jam when dropping through the trapdoor. Then Erika, Dylan, and me.
I was the last one in the hut when I walked out over the metal grate, as the others had not yet returned from Rampgill. Just before I lowered myself down the trapdoor, Lucy walked in, welcome company as I got ready to descend. The start of the descent is actually quite difficult, as I had to use a bit of strength to feed rope into my simple, though this difficulty did not last long. Like everyone else I stopped at the Rampgill balcony for a photo, then continued. As I slowly dropped into the abyss, I could feel the heat from my poor simple against my face.
On reaching the bottom I couldn't help but think about the long ascent to come, however for now I would instead focus on this really cool space I had just entered, one which not many people get to experience. At the bottom of the shaft, lies a huge pile of debris. Old rotten wooden beams, rusted metal pipes which we suspect may have at one point lined the shaft, but have since fallen to the bottom. Climbing down the ladder, you are in a small room which contains a large metal cylinder, which the pipes that line the shaft appear to connect to, though the connections were obscured by the pile of debris. A small duck under some pipes in just less than wellie height water leads further into the mines.
The next room, larger, but still with just less than wellie height water, contained what appeared to be an old motor connected to some machinery. All metal surfaces were heavily rusted, except for some brass fittings which had remarkably stood the test of time. An old metal can of toffee stood atop some more machinery, highlighting that unlike caves, mines like this will have once contained many people, working in what must have been deafening conditions. This room acted as the junction to all the other areas, and since it contains a motor I will refer to it as the motor room.
At this point I joined up with the others who were already down, Dylan and I went off to look at a water wheel, whilst everyone else who was down at this point headed off to locate a bad air sign. I followed Dylan, as we entered a tunnel from the motor room. This tunnel had increasingly deepening water, peaking at around waist height. We found the best way to minimise water exposure was to walk along the minecart rails which lay beneath the water. The passage itself I found really interesting, the walls were coated in some form of crystal, mixed with rust leaching from the rock. At the end of the passage you reach a room which contains a large water wheel, approximately 3m in diameter. The wheel was surrounded by more debris, including some wooden beams with some sharp spikes, something you would not want to fall on. Dylan asked me to pose for some photos, which came out really well. Just past the wheel is a small waterfall, which caused the colour of the rock/debris beneath it to turn a deep black. Just right of this waterfall, you can find a small entrance into another partially flooded passage. Being in a very curious mood, I called back to Dylan to let him know that it goes, and we proceeded. The water in this passage was higher than previously, and the ceiling was starting to slowly drop. I particularly noticed that the water ahead of me was crystal clear, though the water below and behind me had turned to an opaque brown. We reached the point where traveling any further would involve significant submersion, which I didn't want to do at that moment as I knew that it would be a long time before my exit and I didn't want to get too cold later. We said that we would come back later, though unfortunately we never did.
Dylan and I made our way back to the motor room, where we met up with everyone again, though at this point Lucy and Sophie had also made it down. We all entered another large room connected directly to the motor room, which contained what appeared to be an engine and a workshop. This room had a slightly elevated floor, meaning that you did not have to wade through water to get through, a welcome change. The left side of the room has a large table, with various tools and engine parts laid across it, including some very large spanners and an equally large piston. On the right is what I assume to be the engine itself. A large piece of machinery with a shaft running through the middle. Behind the machine lay a very large crankshaft, sitting beside an entrance to a rather stoopy passageway.
I was told that following this passage would lead to the infamous bad air sign, so I took a quick excursion to see it. The passage led to a T junction, I called back to ask which way and was told that the right led back to the motor room, and the left to the bad air sign. So I took the right and began wading once again. This passage has brick walls and a curved ceiling, a cool passage indeed. Well aware that I was by myself, I only continued for around 2 mins before turning back, slightly worried that I had accidentally missed the sign. Once back in the engine room, I confirmed with the others who had already been there that it was quite far, so I had not missed it.
At this point Alfie had made it down, meaning all 9 of us were now down. We used this time to take a group photo in the engine room, with Dylan's phone precariously balanced on some machinery. Once the photography had finished, Elliot headed back to the bottom of the shaft to begin his ascent. Me, Dylan, Alfie, Sophie, and Lucy headed off to see the bad air sign. Not too far beyond where I reached on my own, there is a junction with a passage bearing left and right. Sat atop a pile of debris was a piece of paper inside a plastic sleeve, warning us of potential bad air ahead, and to not continue without a gas detector. It was dated 2015.
Returning to the motor room, Lucy and Sophie sensibly decided to wait to see the water wheel, as to not get too wet and cold too early. However, Alfie decided to brave it, so I showed him the way to the water wheel. Once Alfie had seen what there was to see, we headed back to join the others in the engine room. It was around this time that Elliot had called rope free and Elly began her ascent.
Not too much happened from here, everyone just gathered and chatted in the engine room whilst ascents were ongoing. Nuala went after Elly. I was talking with Erika when we noticed that the tail of the rope had gotten very stuck on the debris, which could cause a major problem if the last person doesn't do anything to address it. So I later reported this to Sophie and Alfie, who would be leaving last. Erika went next, followed by Dylan who decided to play some music from his phone on the way up. During this time the cold started to set in, so once Dylan called rope free I quickly got into position to begin the 100m uninterrupted prusik. I was quite surprised how clearly I was able to see the metal grate at the top. As you may be able to imagine, 100m of rope causes a lot of rope stretch. About 10 or so steps were needed to even get off the ground. Then I got to experience the bounce, timing my prusik with the bounce I achieved some pretty impressive bungeeing.
The ascent was actually kind of relaxing, and slightly easier than I had imagined. Keeping in step with the bounce, taking 15 seconds breaks every 15-20 steps worked quite well for me. Somewhere between a third and half way up you reach the first light, a nice indicator on the progress I was making. The bottom most light is actually quite far below the others, so it was a little while later before I reached another light. At some point during the ascent, I noticed a rug lying over a pipe. I wondered how and why this was here, whilst continuing the journey.
It felt good once I reached the Rampgill balcony, as that signaled that I was almost there. There were people standing at the balcony, originally I thought it must have been our people, however it turned out to be other cavers from (I think) Manchester (they did tell me where they were from but I was too focused on my ascent, so I apologise if I misremembered that). So with the rope bounce but a distant memory, I reached the top. I was partially relieved, however I was not looking forward to having to pull myself up from the Y-hang to above the trap door.
Very thoughtfully, Elliot had tied the rope out of the Y-hang to make a very convenient place to stand. After attaching my cow's tails and stepping out of my chest jammer, I began my very graceful heave up through the trapdoor. Holding onto the metal grate either side of the trapdoor, and standing up in the rope loop allowed me to mantel the metal grate, lean forward, and then pull my legs up. An exhausting task after the long prusik. After a few seconds to catch my breath, I called rope free and walked from the metal grate to the viewing balcony. I met up with everyone else, just as Nuala noticed that the strap for her phone case, which was around her neck, had at some point snapped. So her phone was held on entirely by friction the whole way up. I also noticed that my wellies were still full of water, so I had unnecessarily hauled up some weight of water.
Not too long later, Elly, Erika, Nuala, and I decided to go to the Rampgill balcony to see the others coming up. This was my first time entering it, from behind the nearby building there is a metal gate which pivots to allow entry underneath it. A short walk leads to a junction, bearing right leads to the balcony shortly ahead. We arrived just as Lucy reached the balcony, Erika took some photos, then Lucy proceeded. We then backed up to the junction and took the right path. A short walk leads to an ornate gate, blocking access to the shaft. Elly and I decided to follow the passage a bit further, until there was another junction (to prevent getting lost in the extensive system). However, after a few minutes of walking without reaching a junction, we decided to turn back. We then waited at the balcony to watch/take photos of Sophie and Alfie coming up. Sophie was up next. Just after passing us, I noticed what looked like some damage to the rope sheath. The rope was flailing about too much to make it out clearly, so we waited until it settled down to have a closer inspection. It turned out to only be a piece of mud, much to our relief. Alfie made it up next quite quickly, as with Dylan he played some music on the way up, so we could hear him coming.
Once Alfie had passed us, we headed back to the shaft hut to get changed. Elliot and Alfie hauled up the rope, concluding an awesome trip, certainly my best yet. Would recommend.
