United Cavers Exploration Team

Location
SH806403


Directions
The best place to park is in a small field access at SH80403 39777,  near the bridge over the Afon Taihirion...if you tuck the car in, the farmer won't be inconvenienced. Then head up the hill by the black barn.  After a short walk over the usual bog, the mine tips appear.

Access
Ungated, not sure about rights of access.


Suggested Equipment
Wellies


Length
69 metres


Flood Risk
As usual it was raining when we visited, water levels seemed stable though..


Mine Attributes
Manganese

Description
A very nice little mine. The surface remains are fascinating  with the remains of a waterwheel at the bottom of the site. One adit is open, flooded to just below critical wellie depth. There are two crosscuts, very short.
Inside, minerals sparkle off the walls and there is purple veining from traces of manganese ore. Some iron staining but little decoration inside the adit, despite the length of time the mine has been lying empty.
Towards the blind forehead there is a deep pool, probably the remains of a shaft, which is negotiable but at belly depth. There seems to be the remains of a bridge or walkboards here.
Further up the site are some open workings, the run-in adit and the remains of several shafts.


Unexplored Passages
None

Digs
none known

Links
Dave Linton's Merioneth Manganese site has an excellent write-up http://www.davel.f2s.com/hendrecoed/Merioneth-Manganese/mines/moelMochowgryn/index.html

The post on my Treasure Maps site: http://robinsonmaps.blogspot.com/2011/09/stormy-skies-over-moel-mochowgryn.html


Inside the adit


The soggy entrance


Adit and tips

The flooded area


One of the crosscuts


Mrs Teigl at the crosscut near the adit mouth


Flooded shaft at the top of the site

The Wheelpit




Arenig Fawr from the open pit

Open pit from the south

[quote="Teigl" post=2430]Open pit from the south[/quote]
nice photo's teigl. marty and the other photo addicts will be shakeing in there boots

Thanks very much, Mike. I've a long way to go before I can reach the excellence of some of the photos on here! And I'm too much of a wuss to go down all those super scary bits with the camera...