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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ต.ค. 2021
- So today we are going to look at the mine workings of Unity woods, in Cornwall.
This area has been mined for over 400 years, and there is still evidence all around, from shallow open workings to deep mine shafts.
Tin was brought to the surface here in the form of cassiterite, and this area once contained many buildings and engines for pumping water, hauling materials and processing ore... many of which are now long gone.
Mining was finally abandoned here in the 1920s, and the site was landscaped and made safe, then left to grow over with vegetation which now hides many of the mining features.
Walking through the woods many trails you will see several well secured mine shaft openings. Although interesting to look down, none of these access any workings any more as they have all been backfilled or collapsed further down.
There is just one small shaft, hidden well away from the public paths, which still allows us to go and take a look at some of these old underground stopes where tin was once located.
As always this video has been made to show you the public what is still remaining underground in these historic mine workings.
We put ourselves in danger so that you don't have too.
Mine exploring can be seriously dangerous and we would highly recommend not repeating what you see in this trip unless you are experienced and well equip to take on such a visit.
This mine in particular is very narrow and has very poor ventilation, there are also several areas that are ready to collapse, and will do so at some point in the future. There is only on way in and out of this set of workings, so dislodging any wooden props or disturbing the ground as you pass through will likely make this place your tomb.
There will be most likely no one out there insane enough to come and rescue you. Worth bearing in mind.
Someone has also gone to some effort of throwing a large amount of material down the shaft to prevent us continuing to access these workings. So much so that previous groups have descended this shaft and not been able to see that there was a way onwards.
Top marks to Danny for stacking it all to one side so that we could complete this trip, and bring you this footage.
Anyways thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed the video and as always don't forget to give us a like, a share and subscribe if you haven't already as we have some more great mine exploring videos coming up. - กีฬา
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Really fascinating to see these old workings. Just unimaginable how men could work down there in such restricted room. Thanks for that
I've done a bit of mine exploring, but you would _not_ catch me using those old ladders - you're a braver man than I.
Fantastic to see all this! Thanks so much for these videos.
🙂👍
Unusual for workings to be so narrow in that area, its more what I would expect around St Just.
Interesting little mine, can you imagine working in that stope month after month!
Great camaraderie and banter between your crew whilst, more importantly, watching each other’s backs. Interesting mine that one with some sporty challenges. Precision workings, fascinating.
Cannot believe how they used to work down in these mines must have been very determined and everything was done by hand cornish miners were the best in the world
That looks incredibly scary! Unity Wood is a fascinating and beautiful place to explore.
Nice and dry mine, this. I think i will have to establish my luxury apartment there asap......
Different type of mining to this but nonetheless, my grandfather dug coal in Wales for years. Poor pay, miserable back breaking work, high risk of injury or death - and yet these men stood it all to put bread on the table for their families. As a society built in no small way on the backs of their effort and sacrifice we do not pay tribute to them anywhere near enough. So these videos are a nice testimony.
OMG I was so anxious watching this video. I dont know how you do it. I take my hat off to you in those confined spaces. However, hugely interesting. Thank you.
Fantastic video, I was in those woods this afternoon shooting fungi, walked past a number of theses old shafts.
My heart was racing...lovely to see. Proper job boys, go steady.😉
Cheers Lee glad you enjoyed it
I measured shaft 90 metres is this correct ?
Mate, that was tight.
Thanks for sharing. I've probably commented this before but my Hammill Ancestors were Tin and Copper Miners before coming to the US in the 1800's to work Gold Mines. Neat to see the old Mines over there.
@Rex Ruth Will do, Thanks!
Absolutely love the videos can’t wait for the next one
Thanks for sharing , absolutely loved it,you guys have nerves of steel.....
Wow thats ace!. Must've been claustrophobic down in that narrow stope! Just keeps going down and down 👍
Absolutely awesome. I would still love to hear how you quantify risks you are taking here. I have a feeling its way more dangerous than even what you typed in description.
No worries, he had double ropes, went by the book.
You are braver than I ! With that amount of fractured ground - that was a sketchy explore to say the very least. I've never visited Wheal Unity Wood so very interesting - I assume that was not one of the main shafts given it's small size but one of the subsidiary ones where the miners were literally chasing the cassiterite lode.
Yes I think your bang on there. A smaller group chasing a narrow lode I think without the time and budget to widen the access
a great vid m8
Gordon Bennet… that was a squeeze but well worth it. Seemed atmospheric somehow. Here’s a question… do you blokes go for a pint after?
Haha glad you enjoyed. Sometimes, although more often than not we are late and have told our partners we won’t be long etc so we have to get back and prove we are still alive 🤣
Love it, editing getting real good 😀
Cheers Aaron it’s taken me a long time to get where I have. Never been that good with computers but I’m getting the hang of it a bit more now 🙂
Fascinating video again, thanks for your efforts, I'd love to explore one of these (especially after draining and adit on Dartmoor as a kid and exploring it!) but it'll have to be a walk in and out, couldn't deal with a big drop!
Fantastic video, keep them coming! Love mining history.
Nice one Ben! Wicked video
It is really hard to imagine how the miners actually got down those narrow tunnels with a candle and worked then hauled the ore out!!! Shame they didn't have video cameras!
Looks terrifying to me!
great video . first time ive seen you look like youve pushed ur luck too far on that rusty ladder coming up ...
Haha did you like Danny’s wise words of wisdom telling me to not look at it 🤣
It’s super tight and last time I went down the ladder seemed a lot stronger (and didn’t break ) so the concern this time was genuine.
A great explore but a bit tight for my liking :p
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I wonder if you know of the huge shaft opening in unity woods? It's hidden in the woodland off to the side, if you go down the path off to the right on your way from the carpark Chacewater side, to the woods, after the enginehouse. Massive cone over the top and huge black hole.
That’s Killifrith West shaft. We were one of the first groups to ever go down it . We had to instal a bridge over a winse shaft to be able to get under that engine house where the pump valves are. th-cam.com/video/cKA1hHsJ7Hg/w-d-xo.html
@@BenoCam fascinating stuff. Is there a map of the notable mine shafts around these parts?
Not exactly. OS maps mark many shafts. Old maps also show what was once there . There’s plenty of information online , minedat is a good site which shows the basic area.
Nutty pasty crimpers!
And I would NOT have been using that ladder 😂
I can easily do over 180mph on a bike but I think I would have a proper panic attack if I went down them mines, its hard to believe how they worked down there. It really is heartbreaking the live they had
have you guys explored the copper mines around Pensilva? I had a great grandad who was a mine labourer, in the 1871 census age 14. His step dad was a copper miner.
Cheers Alan. Haven’t done anything in that area... will look into it ! Sounds interesting.
I would assume you leave a person at the top of the shaft to discourage the local intelligentsia from cutting your ropes?
Yeah, anywhere near the public it’s good to have someone watching the ropes. There are some strange people out there who would absolutely love to watch us go down a mine and pull up our ropes . We have plans in place for if this happens, if calls aren’t made by a certain time we do have people who will come looking buy it’s obviously best to avoid getting in a situation like that !
Top Watch.
Alternate backup plans.
Better safe😄 than sorry☹️ !!
Incredible those sketchy old ladders still support any weight at all?!!
There’s so much friction on the sides that even if it totally snapped you wouldn’t fall... it wouldn’t be very comfortable though ! You can kind of climb back out just by bracing off the stope sides.
How many people at a time would've worked in a mine like that?
What the hell were they using? Kids with spoons?
Not many records for this place I can find, it’s likely this section was just a shallower small part while the majority of the workers would have been working in the deeper sections which are now either underwater or collapsed .
This could even be a much older set of workings to the others. If I find out I will update the description
How deep did you go?
Warning to those who are mildly claustrophobic.... 😉
They must have used proper timbers in the old days. Not sure the stuff you buy from DIY stores these days would survive this length of time.
I'm never going to moan again that I've had a hard day at work. Imagine what the men and i guess, young boys, went through working in this mine ,conditions in which they worked and for the little money they got in relation to the risk.
Your never going to what..
Looks like you could get down this shaft by bum legging it Ben! How deep is it in metres please?
Ha maybe, it’s still quite a drop. We put down a 50m rope and there was a lot on the floor. Maybe even half of it. I would estimate the drop being 25-35m something like that.
What sort of risks are there for respiratory health? I know you can take gas monitors for hydrogen sulfide etc but what about particulates? Looks quite dusty in a lot of your videos
I know a lot of mines suffered from a build up of radon gas, but we are only in these places a short amount of time, hopefully not enough to have any impact on our lives later on.
Most of them are very damp, many have running or dropping water everywhere . Often the dust that appears near the camera lens has come from my overalls or equipment that I have dried out and some mining mud has settled on which very easily dusts up to a fine powder in front of the lights .
@@BenoCam that makes a lot of sense. Cracking video, definitely the most claustrophobic. As for radon, i think background radiation is about 2.5 times the yearly average dose for the UK in Devon and Cornwall. Obviously it gives you spelunking super powers
Another good video Ben, but for the life of me I can't understand why you keep giving locations out.
It encourages inexperienced guys into places they don't understand, and eventually someone's gonna get hurt, or worse
At the very least, it forces landowners to block access, so no-one can get down there.
I think I put enough emphasis on the dangers. If anything this video should put people off not encourage !! 🤣
Watching this video has put me off even driving through Scorrier 😂
Ben's location information is less specific that can be obtained pretty easily from other sources on the Web.
@@TheTouringbene 🤣🤣🤣
Love your videos but I have to admit at about 8 mins in I nearly switched off, that dodgy ladder down into the belly of the mine with next to no room to even move. Jeez. I have no idea how you do it, one mistake and you are fu***d. I thought free climbing was bad enough (like Alex Honnold) but I think this is even worse …..
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How deep is it