Spar Mine (Hendre)

[Ian A]

Location
SJ 188 677

Directions
Locate the Royal Oak Pub at Hendre and park nearby. There is a road behind the pub with a track running off to the right immediately. Take that track until you arrive at a small, derelict building and head up into the woods along a path. The shaft is a couple hundred yards up the hill.

Access
Permission is required from Lloyds Quarries

Suggested Equipment
None

Length
½ to 1 mile along all the passages

Flood risk
The bottom adit is habitually flooded with the water rising almost up to the level above on occasions.

Mine Attributes
Feldspar Mine. Numerous levels all laddered.

Description
A reasonable sized mine with (mostly) big, open passages on multiple levels.

Entering the mine by the main ladder takes you into the main system and you immediately find yourself in a big chamber. There is a level below here (connected by a ladder) leading to a backfilled adit, a waterlogged adit and also a hole to another level below.

Continuing along the first level adit you arrive at a small hole upwards where a fireman’s hose assisted scramble takes you to a shelf within a large, exposed hole (to the surface). Here a ladder can be taken down to another level and, again, another ladder to another level below.

In this level the passageway is it’s biggest with a small exit at the end leading to the base of the large hole which houses the shelf from earlier.

As series of three ladders takes you down to a further level with two parallel adits (one impassable due to a hole) which converge in a chamber with a passage running off to the right (only short) and a bridge directly in front with an upward sloping passage behind it which also goes blind.

There is another level below this level which can be accessed where the two parallel adits converge but the level below is always flooded. If the water depth is not to deep it is possible to swim into the adit but, usually, the level is above the ceiling of the adit below.

The mineral content of this mine is extremely rich with feldspar littering the ground and walls almost everywhere you travel.

Unexplored Passages
There are several passages known to be unexplored including a full exploration of the hole (which must be rigged) near to the base of the first set of ladders after entering the mine, the climb upwards in the chamber to the right of the bridge on the pen-ultimate level and other “holes” at the end of some of the adits which require rigging to pass or descend.

Digs
None Known

Links
http://www.gloucester-speleo.org/gallery/mines/mines.html

http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/mines/Hendre-spar_2429/Hendre-spar.asp

http://www.wirralcavinggroup.org.uk/trips/hendre.html

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Hendre-Fluorite-Mine-2/

[Ian A]

[Ian A]

The ladder down in the first chamber




The fireman's hose assisted scramble




The ladder down from the shelf to the level below

[Ian A]

The waterlogged adit on the level immediately below entry level










The bottom (flooded) level

[Ian A]

[Ian A]

More piccies courtesy of MartyMarty  

[Ian A]

[Ian A]

[Ian A]

just a few more of the unseen bottom adit level

This is the bottom level the only way in is through the hole at the top and an ab down or electron ladder in this case. The top light is Ian the second is Mike and the third is Marc and with Adam next to me.


Mike Leahy standing near the top of the level behind him it goes to water with a massive colapse at the end.


Mike at the bottom of the main incline now submerged and full of water. The water is very low in these summer months but ive seen the water to roof level and more in the winter.


Adam and Mike half way down the main adit level note the submersable pnumatic pumps next to Adam there were three of these in total.

[Ian A]

Two of the three pumps.


This is the main incline if you follow this it takes you to a steeper incline to surface but at the top its all caved in. Note the timbering to the left side to keep falling spar from the tracks.


Mike at the incline facing upwards and outwards.


Mike Adam and Marc at the top of the main incline the portal now behind them blocked big time. Keep still Marc im a pro you know!

[Ian A]

just a few of the work done. pics taken tonight after someone moaning on another popular web site

[Ian A]

[John Oh]

Lower level, Normally flooded

(sorry for picture quality, taken with my camera in an underwater housing)

[John Oh]

A few more for you

End of the workings

Washed in rubbish

"That's All Forks!"

[Iain Robinson]

Bloody brilliant photos, all of them!:cheer: