This ABANDONED MINE had SO MANY surprises! MINE EXPLORATION in Cornwall, UK.

[@danr1920]

I would not go in there if you gave me a pasty! Lots and lots on Cornish miners emigrated to the U.S.to Northern Minnesota and Upper Peninsula Michigan 175 years ago more or less. Still can get pasties in those areas.

[@hazza5999]

Also, in Mexico, they do a spicy pasty! Wherever you go in the world, if you look down a hole there's usually a Cornishman at the bottom! 😂

[@martynwatson4929]

Back in the day we used to use the oldham and exide incandescent lamps we'd pinch from crofty and would think they were great, I used one again recently and it was terrible. You're undoubtedly right when you observe that the miners would probably never have appreciated what a huge space they were standing in, the dim yellow candle glow would barely illuminate your path. Some mines are quite draughty, how they kept candles lit is anyone's guess, half the time they were eating them so that made them even harder to light. The modern led lights have made exploring so much better, even down to being able to spot openings high up in stopes/shafts/winzes/rises you can bolt up to, previously hidden in the dark..

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

You're right, we're spoilt these days. Ben's new handheld is a legit 14000 lumens. It actually casts shadows in daylight! Yes, we've had a bit of fun with candles. In draft, or wet, they're a nightmare. My night vision isn't great and I find them absolutely useless! How miners actually identified tin ore with them is beyond me.

[@dawnpavey3620]

I'm absolutely fascinated by these cornish mines, but my God those small crawl spaces would terrify me. I take my hat off to those old miners. Thank you.

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

So do we, Dawn. So do we 😊 (re. the hats off, of course)

[@keithrimmer3]

This was partly dewatered in 1964 for sampling hence the sack and carbide marks, She was first recorded working in 1560 and one of the oldest in Kernow

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Thanks Keith. We didn't make the connection, in the moment, between the carbide and the de-watering. But you're right, it could be. There was also some activity in the 30s (though no ore produced), so it may possibly date from then, too.

[@timwright8785]

Brilliant video hopefully will be coming down to do your underground adventurer tour this year

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Sounds great Tim. We'll look forward to seeing you 😊

[@CornishMineExplorer]

That was brilliant exploring guys, so very jealous, I think that was the day we went over the other side of the hill, just caught a glimpse of you all on top the hill when we got there.

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Thank you! Haha, such a small world down here. Oh, the other side of the hill... Still so much to do in there! We should head out for an explore together soon?

[@CornishMineExplorer]

@@cornwallundergroundadventu6328 That would be awesome!

[@theprofessor9163]

Great video. Good explanations. But please dispense with the music. It spoils a great atmosphere...

[@UKAbandonedMineExplores]

Strange how most Cornish shafts tend to be rectangular where as in the Northern Pennines, they are mostly circular. Nice stope you found, just imagine working in there with just candlelight, and all the dust and noise. Dropping through those deads looked sketchy. I was going to say, lucky you don't have to climb back up that whinze but then... lol

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Actually, a lot of older shafts are round (as you'll see in our forthcoming video). I think the more modern ones were rectangular, presumably to accommodate two separate haulage systems.

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Yes, that winze wasn't the nicest ground, but it was maybe the most fun part of the trip!

[@nightvisionuknvuk2556]

Looks terrifyingly awesome...what a video.. well done folks on a wonderful video

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Thanks so much for watching. Time to start editing the next one... 😭😅

[@qldabandonedmines]

Awesome work lads. That stope at the bottom of the climb down was sensational.

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

We definitely weren't expecting it, it blew our minds!

[@MarkASmithflyclimb]

Insane you guys! Insane AND very educational :)

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

That's great to hear, Mark!

[@twin40dave]

Great video guys it's amazing what is down there 😀

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Thanks Dave!

[@royfellows5468]

I have been going down to Cornwall for many years and always wondered about that shaft. Now you have answered my questions. I assume that you have the Geology map of the district that I digitalised?

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Happy to answer that one for you, Roy! Yes, we've seen it. Great work!

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Let's go for an explore when you're next down, Roy.

[@darreno9874]

The hessian sack were most likely sample bags to take a small sample of the ore to surface for assay. As for not seeing the stopes take a candle down and give it a try, you can see much more than you would think. I know their candles were tallow and therefore not as bright.

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Hi Darren. Good insight about the hessian sack. We've used candles a fair bit underground. If, like me, you have poor night vision, they really are terrible. I can hardly even see my feet. Ben, like you, thinks they're surprisingly good.

[@darreno9874]

@@cornwallundergroundadventu6328 I had great fun abseiling by candlelight through a slate mine in North Wales. With a single candle I could see most of the Chambers, detail was a little less clear.

[@warrenjohnknight.9831]

Absolutely nothing like it, 😮.

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Great stuff, Warren!

[@pengoat9]

At minute 14:15 when showing the slab with writing on it, that slab is probably rich in gold but was not mined because it would have been before the 1880s-90s when acid leaching came into use to extract gold . If you go back get samples for testing or take a jewelers loop to inspect . Bring some tourists ,charge them a tour fee, then fill up their backpacks and make them haul it out ..

[@cornwallundergroundadventu6328]

Thanks for your comment. Gold was never given any serious consideration in Cornwall 's mines (save for one tiny gold mine we know of), all the way up to the end of the twentieth century. Whilst there likely are trace amounts throughout the Cornubian granite, I would be very surprised if there were economic amounts of gold present.

[@NicSkerten]

@@cornwallundergroundadventu6328 Knowing St Just people - they would never have missed out on gold if it was there in any decent amount. You're right - the igneous intrusions in Cornwall never formed any significant gold deposits and what was there was spread so thin it wasn't worth extracting.

[@tommo01]

Shame about the music! Why aren't these old mines full of water?

[@DerekGM6]

Great video but I can do without all the thrashing guitars. It detracts from the eerie silence of the underground workings, other than dripping water...

[@Kernowbop]

You do tours??

[@chrisangove8997]

Most people wont know what the names you use mean, adit, whinze, stop, level, etc can you have diagrams showing them for non miners?

[@Trylobyte]

Boring that we cant see the outside of the mine -we just end up seeing dark tunnels with no context. All this secrecy is just rubbish -its not like everyone who sees it will be filled with a raging urge to put their life in grave danger in order to see something theyve already seen in your video.

[@Kernowbop]

If your not from here do one and find somewhere your knowledgeable to cover😂

[@DerekGM6]

I disagree, I have done a bit of amateur underground exploring myself here in West Cornwall but back in the 1990s and in retrospect it was very dangerous. It still is so is best left to people who educate themselves about the mines and equip themselves for safe exploration, not casual tourists who may get stuck or injured and necessitate expensive rescue operations. It is bad enough with holiday makers getting drowned on the beaches or falling off cliffs without disappearing down mineshafts without Trace. Sorry if I'm sounding like a killjoy but I am chastened by my own foolishness, I explored alone without telling anybody where I was going and if anything had happened to me I would still be down there and possibly not discovered for 100 years.