Investigating Lancashire Coal mines

[@bobingram6912]

Never ceases to amaze me how much "stuff" there is under your feet in such remote locations. You drop into an unassuming hole on the moor and there's a forgotten world of mining and it's architecture. Top stuff guys👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@williamkennedy5492]

Fascinating, many years ago i was down a working tin mine in Cornwall, I decided i would never go underground again, ( apart from the blue john caverns) Today we cannot imagine the hardship those men and children experienced the story of the father and child particularly hits home hard, but thats how it was in those days, Thank goodness we had the introduction of the unions to stop the exploitation of the working man and children. Another great video thank you. Sisaket Thailand.

[@MrGeotim]

Martin, at 32 mins they discuss Ginny Track - rails for the coal hoppers. They cut them because the ends would still have been bolted firmly into the sleepers back when they stripped out the mine. Also, the cobbles between the tracks were laid for the pit ponies to save their feet from damage and to give them traction. Although children were used in the mines, mainly they were used to lead the pit ponies rather than actually pushing or pulling the carts.

[@oliverwilson7903]

That is one of my favourite explores you've ever done Martin. You are mad going down those tunnels! Absolutely fascinating thank you

[@jackcro8825]

Let’s be honest, the people in them days where people hard as nails. I visited this video again because it is so great.

[@davedear929]

Thanks for showing something most of us will ever see. So interesting. You guys certainly have big balls going down there. Look forward to some more.

[@jetsons101]

Enjoyed seeing you guys getting Baptized in the Church Of The Adventure. The image of the workers at 9:12, the stories they could tell. Again love the "Brew" music. What a walk thru in the tunnel, "We have a collapse here" "OK just press on." I can't imagine what it was like to work down there with only candles for light. Outstanding..... Thanks to Northern Monkeys, James and Martin, nobody lost their "bottle"

[@jamesmihalcik1310]

Wonderful exploration ! Fantastic images and explanations. Glad to see James doing well and the Northern Monkeys exercising for a higher calling :) Always remember a thumbs up for Martin.

[@pablomarron8371]

I have lived in Burnley for 67 years and roamed the moors when was younger and never realised this even existed or being young and stupid i would have been down there exploring....fantastic Martin

[@MartinZero]

Its quite well hidden Pablo

[@richardwills-woodward]

Incredible! Disappear down a small hole in an unassuming grassy hillside and suddenly this! Just wow. Talk about history beneath your feet.

[@MartinZero]

Yeah I couldnt believe it to be honest Richard

[@stately1967]

I used to live in a place called Bierley which is just south of Bradford and on the edge of the yorkshire coal field. The area was and is riddled with mine workings one of which my dad went down and through as a lad and went for a number of miles.

[@MartinZero]

Fascinating stuff Stephen

[@thesolidsnakealpha]

Absolutely mental as per usual. Thanks Martin.

[@nickcooper1260]

Great video again Martin. I think the little refuge was used for protection away from blasts from explosions to break up the rockface@21:19. I know this was the case in Speedwell Cavern in Castleton, Derbyshire. Often the very small children from about five years old were used to pull the rope to open the door at the end of a length of rail. They used to sit all day in the total darkness waiting for a knock or call to open the door to let a trolly through.

[@TheBanana93]

Thats so insane man and I say kids now days don't stay children long enough...

[@MartinZero]

Poor buggers ! But thanks Nick good info

[@lindamccaughey6669]

That was fabulous thanks. Love tunnels they are so fascinating. Pleased you didn’t go alone. Thanks for taking me along, tho I had to squeeze a little going down the hole, lol. Please stay safe and take care

[@DaimlerSleeveValve]

From the Frank Hough Mining Archive: "George Hargreaves and Company Gambleshaw Colliery was located on the far side of Clowbridge Reservoir and it mined the Upper and Lower Mountain Mines. In the mid 1890s the colliery employed 30 men underground and 2 surface workers. By the end of the First World War 33 men were employed underground with 11 men on the surface. The colliery also worked from a number of drifts and shafts working southwards alongside the reservoir. The last of the pits was abandoned in 1936. A surface chain road ran from the colliery to the Swinshaw Colliery, where it continued down to rhe Crawshawbooth Coal Staith." Incidentally, the Lower Mountain Mine is the same seam which was worked at the TOP of Winter Hill.

[@ExploreNorthernMonkeys]

loving this, brilliant day as always

[@MartinZero]

Cheers guys really appreciate you showing us all this stuff 👍🏻

[@briancopp4024]

Wonderful explore Martin. Looking forward to seeing your next one

[@MartinZero]

Thanks very much Brian, hope your well

[@speedyboolooks]

Amazing stuff Martin. My 5 year old son is asleep at the other end of the sofa whilst i watched this. Looking at him whilst you told the story of the father carrying his son to work asleep in a blanket brought a tear to my eye. I couldnt imagine that life, taking my son into such a dangerous environment and putting him to work would of broken me. Thanks for the video & stories 👌🏻

[@NKL_FISHING]

How times have changed hey

[@speedyboolooks]

@@NKL_FISHING for the better in this case

[@NKL_FISHING]

@@speedyboolooks definitely man 100%

[@danieltoth-nagy5097]

Having a 6 years old boy I had the same thoughts, feelings and tears.

[@spike191174]

Soft bastard that’s all the problem today get em working

[@sorbabaric1]

Great video guys. My dad started working as a young man in the coal mines in Washington State, USA. I have his old miner’s lamp. He had some wild stories of the rides down. Fascinating to see the old mines. Imagine spending hours working down there by candle, or miner’s lamp.

[@sarahcrowther6267]

That was flippin amazing martin. Thank you to all concerned. I just sat there going "wow". 🙂🐶🐶🐶

[@MartinZero]

Thanks Sarah, it was a sketchy but interesting place

[@MerlinKernow75]

Dead man's walls also known as gobin tends to be waste rock. They do that with the waste rock to avoid having to haul it out. Do like watching old mine videos as they are somewhere I would not be in too much of a hurry to go myself.

[@douglasthompson296]

Just caught up with this video and just thinking how well lit it was with your modern torches etc but think of those original miners with only candle's for the working day. Bloody hell! Also i was Impressed by the brick/cobble tunnel where you first went in. James in the money too treating everyone to MS teacakes at cupa time. Cheers DougT in Mancs

[@roosalwaysthesun8759]

Thank you so much Guys, loved it all, this is à New world to me, awesome to see. Roos 🙋🏻‍♀️🌹💪🏻👍🏻🤗🥰

[@richbrookes9297]

Yet another great video, going to places we can't. Thank you Martin and all the guys.

[@MartinZero]

Thanks Rich

[@dianapatterson1559]

You do great videos, Martin. You are a natural storyteller. Thank you.

[@MartinZero]

Thank you Diana

[@MrGeotim]

At 32:58 you are in a deeper/higher tunnel and there's a drill mark. they would have followed the upper seam and then dug out the floor of the access way to get to the lower seams, hence the very high tunnel. Sometimes the old workers would put wooden boarding across the tunnel and push any waste rock up onto the boards, rather than hauling it all the way out of the mine - so sometimes what looks like a wooden roof to the tunnel actually has tonnes of waste rock sitting on top of it...

[@jayman2145]

The walls are Stacked debts. Waste rock used to prop up the mine and to save the effort of taking the material out of the mine. They're called dead man's walls because if you mess about with them you'd likely be slabbed or be underneath a full collapse. You'd be a dead man.

[@zeberdee1972]

I have heard these walls being called Gobbing , same thing waste rock used to prop or wall of old disused parts of the mine . Makes sense , rather than drag it all out .

[@mikewright447]

@@zeberdee1972 in the uk deads as in dead weight , dead rock , dead money and in the usa gobbing (no idea why) but they are more used to line the mines in the uk rather than the usa probably as the mines in the uk are wet mines and a lot of the mines in arizona , nevada etc are dry mines (there are ladders that are over 100yrs old in these mines that look new as its so dry there) and yes there will be wet mines in the usa and canada , but both places will back fill tunnels with waste rock rather than haul it out of a mine.

[@zeberdee1972]

@@mikewright447 Thanks for the info , interesting reply . I love mines and any thing underground .

[@TechTokOffical]

Idk why anyone who volunteer to potentially be buried alive

[@jayman2145]

Sorry 'debts' was supposed to be 'deads'.

[@wolvenar]

Cool Thanks for again showing us a place we wouldn't ever be able to see ourselves.

[@theowdgit9790]

Hes right about the shaft sinking over the decades, still wouldnt risk going on it after the nettles have died off. The deadmans wall is to block off an explatory inroad or back filled tunnel with the stones as a walls, some are about 3 to 4ft in depth. M Grandad was working underground at Pemberton Wigan, Blundels colliery at the age of 13yrs in 1901.

[@duckweedy]

My great grandmother was a Pitbrow Lass at Pemberton.

[@judeodomhnaill9711]

Here in Pennsylvania the abandoned mines they merely threw backfilled rock and dirt in the entrances. Some much more sketchy to get in than others. This one looked fine, just don't touch the roof going in. My great grandfather worked underground in the anthracite mines from 1902 to 1952. Hardcore shit man. My other grand father fought in WW2, wounded and captured by the Wermacht, was told he came home from the war on a Friday in 1945 and went back to working at the colliery on the next Monday. Men among men.

[@roamer2u2]

In California where I live the California Department of Forestry and the Bureau of Land Management (the real BLM) have been using chicken wire and expanding foam to fill in mine shafts that are basically a hole in the ground that someone can fall into. The will make a plug with the chicken wire then pour the foam on it. Cut it to where it fits snuggley into the hole then mix up another big bag of expanding foam dump it on throw branches and other debris on it make up another bag pour it on give it about 45 minutes between layer's then when the are done one will step on it to make sure it will hold some weight. I've seen videos on Discovery Channel Mike Rowe's Dirty Job's

[@catcook3324]

@@roamer2u2 Chicken wire with expanded foam? Pretty lame, sounds like it with last about 5 years max. Luckily CA is so dry otherwise the ground water would make it last even less.

[@judeodomhnaill9711]

@@roamer2u2 no more new mines in CA. It'll contribute to global warming. Lmfaooooo

[@TheGreatest1974]

Love watching a bunch of mates out having fun and exploring places 👍

[@shirleylynch7529]

Brilliant, excellent, so interesting and informative. Well done to you all. Very brave men. Thank you

[@MartinZero]

Thanks very much Shirley

[@merledoughty5787]

You can have going into those places thankful that you do it and its great to see these wonderful old places

[@rossendalecollieries7995]

The story re the 6 year old 15 years or so after the 1842 act I have never seen it confirmed nor the source of the evidence and I was a close friend of the man that wrote it down. 15-16 years later takes us to 1857 or so and with the records I have of that company and that pit I doubt it was the case...maybe a year or so after but I would very much doubt 15 years later..8 and 10 year olds yes. The bell pit story in 1860...again its an old mans tale with no doubt a grain of truth but certainly not 1860. Mining went on round there from before 1612, that's just a date we have of a court case so it could have gone on for 100 years previously. They wern't bell pits. They sunk shafts and worked about 100 yards around it then sunk another, underground haulage was a problem in those days so it was easier to sink another shaft and haul coal vertically than drag it long distances on sleds. many of these old shafts dot the Hillside, you wern't far off two or three of them when you were at Gambleside. It would be in one of these old pits the lad was left underground all night. Apparently its not that unusual as I have a report of a lad in Bacup around 1840 who spent a month at a time underground. Those old shafts were worked until 1835 when the new pit was driven. The winding shaft at Gambleside is filled in, its just subsided a little prob with water at the pit bottom...its 144' deep and sunk 1861, the pit didn't come into production properly till 1864 and closed 1936. The pumping shaft was sunk later to get to the deep virgin coal that extended up to the Deerplay fault that is roughly on the little lane at the end of Clowbridge res . The coal you find wasn't the coal the pit worked, it's the seam below...you were right...it does slightly rise all the way in so it drains naturally. It was driven under the coal for 4-500 yards and slowly cut through the strata till it met the coal it was looking for...your in the Lower Foot coal...very good for smiths forges...but only a foot thick. The main coal is maybe 15 yards above but the road is blown in before the workings are encountered.

[@ASCIITerminal]

Fascinating trip! Thanks! The common way to "cap" shafts in that era was to chuck a load of wood down and backfill with earth. Over time the wood rots, leaving an earth plug. This can collapse, taking most of the ginging with it! (By the way, don't whistle in mines - it upsets the knockers)

[@MartinZero]

I have heard of the Knockers

[@andykopgod]

Love Mine Shafts, especialy brick lined, something really interesting about them, especialy when you can look down them. Great video martin 🏆💪

[@MartinZero]

Yeah I loved looking in that shaft Andrew

[@TheSonic10160]

Those dead man's walls remind me of a procedure in old private and cooperative mines in New Zealand. When an area was worked out, the entrances to it would be walled off. This reduced the amount of ventilation that needed to be constantly carried out by partially or later (with modern concrete walls) completely sealing those parts of the mine.

[@MartinZero]

Cheers Samuel

[@LittleCarol]

Hi Martin, such a great video, thank you. Please can you mention that the social and housing conditions were so different in those days, that the general population was much shorter than today. Access to good nutrition was almost absent, as was health care and clean water was a premium too. My Grandfather worked as a Miner and moved to building pit baths in the early 1900's in Wales where the miners were able to get clean before returning home after an often 12 hour shift. He died before I was born sadly so I was never able to get to know him. Life was indescribably hard, workers were frequently killed underground and there was no mention of it. Children were used to reach smaller spaces to gain the maximum profit for the mine owners. There was a reason women had 10 or 11 children. Child mortality was massively high compared to today. Thank goodness things have changed for the better. The only perk of being a miner was access to a small amount of coal for the families heating during the dark cold winter months. When you study industrial history, it is important to share what life was really like without electricity. Clean water, Doctors, Most workers were barely literate the life changes we have enjoyed in 100 years are incredible. Thank you for taking us into living history like this, you do us proud with your research.

[@MartinZero]

Thanks very much Carol

[@riz8437]

That a 'V' notch weir at the pumping station for measuring the flow.

[@scottrk4930]

I can't believe that long tunnel was all dry fitted stone , no bricks and no mortar and it is in great shape arches and all . Cheers !/SRK

[@alexac3098]

Same thought...they're walking through and I'm thinking, "Wait, there's no mortar at all in between these rocks...."

[@MartinZero]

Yeah incredible workmanship Scott

[@stevesrepairs5778]

Thanks Martin , very interesting mate. Take care and all the best. Stevie

[@MartinZero]

Cheers guys

[@familylife3624]

Another great video Martin zero So much history up on those moors

[@manchesterukabriefvideooftime]

Still watch all your films Martin .. This is one of my favorites Visited Burnley recently to investigate the route of Leeds Liverpool canal .. sure it was a boom town back in 1800s

[@leeasmithnorthernmonkey890]

The town began to develop in the early medieval period as a number of farming hamlets surrounded by manor houses and royal forests, and has held a market for more than 700 years. During the Industrial Revolution it became one of Lancashire's most prominent mill towns; at its peak, it was one of the world's largest producers of cotton cloth and a major centre of engineering.

[@manchesterukabriefvideooftime]

@@leeasmithnorthernmonkey890 cheers for the info .. Burnley has some of the best buildings I've ever seen . When you look closely . Love the canal embankment

[@eddiek0507]

Brilliant Video, I'm amazed you went so far underground, I don't think I would have fancied it, so fair play to you lads. Nice to see Kipper getting baptised lol...🤣👍

[@alden1132]

Imagine heading out for a nice, impromptu picnic by yourself, having no idea something like that was below your feet, then accidentally falling into a space like that. No light, no map, no cell signal, no clue where you are or the nature of the place you suddenly find yourself, and no hope of anyone figuring out where you've gone... Sounds like the set-up for a pretty compelling thriller...or horror film.

[@richardjellis9186]

14:00... This tunnel is AMAZING.!🤯!. Just think about how much work went into building that.!🧐😲🤯!. LOVE THE VIDS KEEP'EM COMING RICH(UK) 🥰🥰🥰.

[@PurityVendetta]

A video that brings back a childhood nightmare of going potholing with my dad and a couple of his mad friends in Derbyshire. To be fair the mine looked quite nice compared with the pothole, K something or other. Nasty, I flatly refuse to go down any holes in the ground myself but appreciate to video 😊 My Great Grandfather was a mining engineer who started in the pit at 14. He joined the Royal Engineers during WW1 and was a Lieutenant in the 172nd Mining Company. He was wounded in December 1915 and died on New Years Day. He was 27.

[@MartinZero]

I must admit I wouldnt fancy Potholing Sophie

[@judeodomhnaill9711]

Geez, so he was a tunnel digger under the Kraut trenches?

[@terryansell6641]

You certainly have some amazing adventures , just imagine the hard life those early miners had thanks from NZ

[@andyhill242]

I may be wrong but I think a drawer was someone who opened and closed the airtight doors to let the tubs through. I learnt this at the Yorkshire Mining Museum. They were usually the youngest lads in the mine, apparently, they were given a candle on their first day but after that, they worked in complete darkness, judging only by the sound that a tub was coming. I wonder if dead men's walls blocked off an area where there had been a collapse and some bodies were still in there. Just a theory.

[@Porthcothen]

I have heard something similar but also that the kids would work hand bellows type things to push fresh air into the mine hence the name drawer?! could be wrong .

[@andyhill242]

@@Porthcothen You know, I think they were the drawers and the kids operating the doors were trappers.

[@rossendalecollieries7995]

Drawers pushed coal tubs..in Yorkshire they were Hurriers and in the north counties they were putters. They Took empties in..helped fill the coal and took the fulls out to the shunt. In Rossendale the colliers would get their coal for the day then go home leaving all the drawers in the pit to fill the coal off and draw it either to bank or to the haulage....There was a big strike in Baxenden near Accrington about 1869...70 where the new manager wanted to stop the prectice and make the colliers stay and fill the coal off...bearing in mind some of the drawers were only 10 and basicaly when the colliers went home there was no adult supervision. In all my years as a miner and assosiated with the industry I have never heard of the term...dead mans walls... certainly not in Lancashire or the North Counties...they are packs

[@Porthcothen]

@@rossendalecollieries7995 thanks for the information 👍 I was never really interested in history as a kid but now I'm really getting into it and really enjoy Martin's and others history adventures.

[@MartinZero]

I think deads is a term for unusable spoil. It got stacked up to block off worked or dangerous parts of the mine

[@richardjellis9186]

At 25:50... Where you're saying that, that is a place for candles((hardware jokes aside.🍴🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️)), it COULD be a place for offerings, or somewhere to say a little prayer to Athos(god of rocks), or Pluto(god of minerals), or The Ourea(gods of the mountains). I've seen this kind of thing before, but not near Manchester.!🤣! LOVE THE VIDS.🧐🥰, KEEP'EM COMING.🤞🥰, RICH(UK).😁😋🥰.

[@Dan23_7]

Yonks ago I said about these mate. There was Padiham power station From J8 on m65, go down the hill and you can see brick columns on your left, vent shafts. At the bottom of the road there’s Altham. It has a capped off colliery thing with the triangle thing

[@U34CH]

Another excellent video - the best thing I have seen in ages! Very interesting, thanks all.

[@Simon_Nonymous]

Great vid, and hello from Waterfoot!

[@MartinZero]

Hello

[@johncoe1413]

Yet another exhilarating journey. Fabulous. Thanks for that Martin 👍👍😎

[@MartinZero]

Thanks John

[@TheFilwud]

Fascinating stuff! Brings back memories of a trip down an active coal mine when I was an apprentice, but that tramway looked in better condition than some of the workings we were taken through where the corrugated steel archway had been compressed. It either was compressed into a triangular shape as the edges were pushed in, or sometimes into a sort of M shape where the roof pushed the centre of the arch downwards, I did not like seeing dust falling out of the roof, those miners may have been well paid, but they deserved every penny! I couldn't have worked down there. Great video, always good to see you and them there Monkeys!

[@MartinZero]

Thanks Cappen 👍🏻

[@SirWombat]

I always find it amazing that you never know what’s underneath your feet. Great video.

[@johnashton2816]

great video as always martin

[@jackcro8825]

This video is absolutely fantastic.Many years ago I went in one very similar near Wigan.

[@MartinZero]

Thank you Jack

[@JohnSmith-zv8km]

You guys are totally bonkers going into these places, may you be safe while entertaining us.

[@Phil-M0KPH]

Good explore as always. Just think of all the places that have been forgotten about and are waiting to be rediscovered.

[@iainpaton7129]

Cool old coal mine interesting video friend thank you once again for another great video please keep the great videos coming 👍

[@hond654]

I would appreciate a cool mine in this hot weather. Nice walk! Stay safe, post more.

[@Dave64track]

Great video the shaft up on the moors looked scary not knowing what lies beneath the nettles a few feet down. The mine was fantastic perfectly straight stone walls all built by hand and still standing to this day apart from the odd part. You traveled a good distance before you reached the coal seam it shows you how deep these seems are and to think kids used to push the karts along. Thank you and the Northern Monkeys for showing us these fantastic places of history.

[@davidsilkstone8969]

Where I live near brighouse W Yorks we had these type of shallow coal mines where the main shaft were only sunk a few 100ft and the coal was known as lousy bed black bed and better bed coal seams also iron ore was also mined out of the collieries and was all taken on a 4ft gauge rope hauled wagon way to low Moor iron works Bradford the better bed coal was usually used in the iron works or black bed and the black bed coal was also used in wool mill boilers the lousy bed was used domestically in homes and the coal seams used to run as far as Halifax but then going into the moors it turned to peat and fire clay good for making bricks out of. Also as well the local people of the villages surrounding the coal fields had to work the pits to earn money for their familys it most certainly were not easy going in victorian industrial U.K.

[@Dave64track]

@@davidsilkstone8969 Thanks for the info.

[@jezm1703]

Another fascinating video lads. What an adventure. Thank you for doing and showing. 😀

[@MartinZero]

Thanks Jez

[@richardjohn7991]

Another GREAT one .Cheers Martin and all.

[@annescott2748]

I watched this with fascination, sometimes finding I was holding my breath! The same feeling I got when having an MRI🙂. The rock-lined tunnels were so beautifully made - look how old they are and mostly still standing. Thanks for being brave enough to go exploring and bringing the adventure to us.

[@derelictmanchester8745]

Wow...great stuff Martin...😮

[@brianartillery]

Lovely video, Martin. That was a hell of a place! Felt totally different to last week's stone mine.

[@MartinZero]

Yeah very different place

[@markjempson6608]

Proper enthusiastic lads those Monkeys, loving the collabs recently, great teamwork.

[@AcornElectron]

Been saving this. Can’t help think it’d have been an easier ingress without the brekkie. Best to keep places uncharted as you’ll just end up with kids going in and getting killed. Enough have died in Clowbridge res over the years already in weather like this, never mind them going underground and getting trapped. Just my 2 penceworth. Stay safe and well fella and keep up the good work.

[@hyperballadbradx6486]

Fantastic video. I've not watched your videos for a couple of months so definitely into this one. Glad I'm back. Them Northern Monkeys ate bonkers, and brilliant!! Wonder if they they used to go to Cross Keys back in the day! I need to go back to my Burnley family tree and see if I can see where my collier ancestors used to work!

[@braggelbak]

ok .. i'm still watching the broadcast. and many of your episodes I share on facebook... now this: frame...16.22....and yes...Tartarian. the forbidden history. what you are looking for is so! unbelievably beautiful I will continue to watch. Greetings

[@simonmcowan6874]

Thank you Martin and the monkeys, that was excellent, again. Really interesting, all that work all those years ago chasing a 10 or 12 inch seam of coal, it must have been worth it though.

[@richardross7219]

Beautiful stone work at the pumping station. Very interesting but, that mine seemed too dangerous. Glad that you all got out okay.

[@MrGeotim]

When you talk about the buckets for lowering men into the shaft, the term used is 'kibble' - its a normal method for when the shaft is being deepened, before wooden or steel guides are put in to allow a 'cage' to be used to move men up and down the shaft.

[@williamwelbourn7932]

Great video! Loved the tramway tunnel. Monday morning wouldn't be the same without a Martin Zero vid!

[@MartinZero]

Thanks William

[@christopherbraiden6713]

Thanks for the video Martin, totally appreciate what you do. It's a totally different world down there it must have been pretty crap conditions for all that worked in these mines. Thanks for comments from other people about things down there!!😎🐓🐓🐓🇬🇧

[@darriendastar3941]

Daft as it sounds, it was like watching a Hollywood thriller/horror movie. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when everyone got out alive!

[@MartinZero]

So did I Darrien

[@debbiepitcher9806]

Another great video Martin thank you 😊 😎😎

[@MartinZero]

Thanks very much Debbie

[@ivanhockenhull2604]

Those Northern Monkeys are an intrepid bunch. Those mine collapses looked recent. Great use of lighting, Martin. Wunderbar!. 🇯🇪

[@MrRoyboy55]

thank guys for the real deal , no attention-grabbing headlines like "secret medieval tunnel " referancing the Tintern abby tunnel recently found , on a little more reading a disclaimer was found inspected by Cadw and concluded that the feature could be linked to the iron works ruins previously discovered in area

[@MartinZero]

Thank you Roy

[@70mmbobbyj]

Very interesting, great video.

[@KHGrinderboy]

Awesome, very interesting! Mad how they chased such a thin seam of coal!

[@MartinZero]

Yeah, very interesting to see

[@bd4_l]

Omg this was so cool. Ty for sharing!

[@MartinZero]

Thank you 👍🏻

[@mikewright447]

in the uk they are called deads in the usa they are called gobbing and the dead man walls are made from the deads and more than likely to shore up a weak spot where they have mined out , here in the high peak the coal seems were around 2-3ft thick and were called "yard coal" due to them being about a yard high and the addits were called "day eyes" presumably you got so far in and the entrance looked like an eye of daylight , in my area i think in the 80s they were doing some work i think to extend a school car park and found a capped shaft (this was a surprise) which after some research turned out to be some 180ft deep the only problem is that the map they eventually found showed the shaft connected to a tunnel that runs under the town and it shows 3 other shafts that connect to the same tunnel system and they (as far as i know ) are not sure where the other 3 shafts are lol.

[@MartinZero]

Wow, and I bet that is repeated in other towns as well. So much of this stuff still around

[@judeodomhnaill9711]

Google the anthracite mammoth vein in Pennsylvania, some spots are 150 feet thick! We simply call it gob walls in the US, gobbing holding the top or roof up. The tunnels they walked in look like manways that would parallel gangways, tunnels or drifts. Definitely looked like a small independent type local operation. Greetings from northeastern Pennsylvania.

[@TheGreatest1974]

Brilliant video mate. Thanks for making these they are really interesting, even though I live in Scotland. I used to explore old copper mines at abbey st bathans. And smugglers caves at cove harbour.

[@matthewrail6065]

Another great video Martin

[@barbhenderson4867]

Brilliant Martin, so cleverly built, great vid as always x

[@MartinZero]

Thanks Barb, interesting place

[@georgebush2798]

I could never do that myself, thanks for sharing and greetings from Ireland

[@marilynpowell6881]

Thanks Martin, another interesting video. Those black stalagtites and mites looks really eerie!! Well you did take the left side of the fork and it was worth it. So sad that children went down there, they must have been terrified poor things.

[@richardjellis9186]

23:35... The days of that wooden post's 'singing' are well and truly over.!🧐! I'd BET that it wouldn't make a sound if it started to get squashed.! It looks completely soaked and ROTTEN to me.!🧐! LOVE THE VIDS KEEP'EM COMING RICH(UK) 🥰🥰🥰.

[@jamesvarney2654]

Great Filming. I was nearly right in the guessing game you set up Martin the other night, before this film came out. There was my lovely little narrow gauge tramroad; I dream of riding on, whizzing along through dark twisting tunnels. Sad the tubs and track have all gone, but you can still imagine and dream of the tubs rolling along the tunnels out from deep underground down in the earth, into the fresh air. To be taken away to be burnt to make dirty stale air, far off in our old city's. What a funny strange lot us humans are. But great human early tunnel engineering?. And filming by you as the whole world can see Martin. You take us on great adventures that we all wish we could go on and do. But most of us cant do or go on for one reason or another. Keep up the great work. We all love watching you go back into our history and telling us great story's of the past. Smashing stuff.

[@MartinZero]

Thank you very much James

[@patchso]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks for posting.

[@darreno9874]

Hi Martin, mention was made of miners of different height, access used to be open to a mine where most of the upper coffin level was about 5'6" but suddenly increased to nearly 7'. Love the video and especially the level. God bless

[@richardjellis9186]

Dead man's walls... Could simply be a way of getting rid of waste rock easily. Easier than taking it outside, in the carts, which would be using space that would be better suited to the rock that they actually wanted to remove from the mine in the carts.!🤔!. Any Stopes, Tunnels or Drifts that have had their Seems exhausted, would be backfilled with the waste rock from newer workings (or DEAD workings), right up to the point where they meet the main Tunnel. And so, all you would see is a Tunnel entrance shaped wall of neatly stacked rocks. They would also line the sides of wider Tunnels with the same waste rocks. Just like the wider parts at 28mins 14secs. LOVE THE VIDS.🧐🥰, KEEP'EM COMING.🤞🥰, RICH(UK).😁😋🥰.

[@ROBERTSCOIN]

watching these mine video's is like going back in time it's good to see what you find in there

[@MartinZero]

Thanks Robert

[@nixtax3526]

Brilliant explore, great stuff , cheers guys

[@stehaughton5074]

Another Epic Explore 👍👍

[@RustyNailsadventures]

You never cease to amaze me with your stunning videos. Great work!

[@MartinZero]

Thank you very much

[@richardpettet9996]

Brought me out in a cold sweat. Wouldn't get me down there. But a great find and really interesting film. Thanks

[@Tuberuser187]

Another name for "dead mans walls" is "gobbing" and they are sometimes used to hold up backfill/spoil, rather than remove the spoil from deeper tunnels, narrow ones especially they just build chest high or so walls like that, fill behind them with loose waste and then build it to the top. Messing with those can be a bad idea, it can all fall out onto you.

[@laszlofyre845]

Would the stuff behind the gobbings be smaller spoils (snots?), held back by the larger? I know someone from Scunthorpe way, who has an impressive saying he uses at times, 'what's difference between snots and gobbings'? It fits, but either way, neat phrase!