Year of publication 1990 - Fell and Rock Climbing Club

46 CON1STON COPPER MINES REDISCOVEREDjunction below Brow Stope, which we had already been on the far sideof.At the bottom of the shaft the remains of a partition, or hopper, arestill in situ. The continuation of the tunnel in the opposite direction hadbeen backfilled. A way through was cleared seven weeks later on 26thApril 1987, giving a flat-out crawl into the bottom of the stope we hadseen through the jagged opening in Earthquake Passage high above. Thestope was piled high with collapsed blocks and pinnacles of rock. It ispossible to free climb up to the passage. We called the area the"Shattered Stope".The day's activities ended with an alarming incident. One memberhad been clearing loose rock from the bottom of the hole below the orewagon, where there appeared to be a choked shaft. Suddenly there was aloud rumble as the loose rock on which he was standing subsided andburied him, leaving only his helmet showing in the rubble. Things lookedfairly grim. There was at first no response to anxious shouts. A rope waslowered down and soon he responded to questions. He was all rightapart from cuts and bruises, a broken lamp and a lost wrist watch. Hegot his arms free and had to cut away some trapped gear with a penknife. Eventually he was hauled out through a small hole with the rope,but it was a lucky escape.The discovery of Top Level Extension has added greatly to ourknowledge of Coniston Coppermines and opened up so far a further1000 metres of new tunnels and a large selection of artefacts whichshould be left in situ for other people to see.The ore wagon on the brink of the hole is worthy of description. It issimilar to the one previously discovered in the stope below Grey CragLevel. It still stands on its rails on a section of false floor. It has a steelrivetedbody 2ft 6ins high and 5ft long with tapered sides and a door atone end hinged at the top. It has handles for pushing and pulling, andclose to the centre of gravity a square iron axle carrying two cast-ironspoked wheels is fastened to the tub. Two radius arms, pivoting on thisaxle, are connected to a floating axle under the closed end of the tub,while an iron rod runs from the centre of the fixed axle and passesthrough a hole in the middle of the floating axle and then projectsbeyond the end of the tub. A ring suspended by a chain is looped overthe end of the rod. When the ring is removed it is a simple matter to liftand tip the tub and contents, which will empty out of the door end. Itwas decided to mount a rescue operation to clear the rubble from aroundit and renew the floor on which it stood so that it could be shown toOre wagon found in the Top Level System. Photograph bv Peter Fleming.