Parc Mine
Parc Mine
Grid refs :
2 Adit : SH7868-5980
3 Adit : SH7877-6015
No. of levels : 5
Personal experience? : Yes
About Parc
Parc mine is a substantial lead mine, mining in the area having been started in earnest around 1750, and carried on by many different companies right through to the 1960's.
Parc mine was also where the Bidston Tidal experiment was carried out where an attempt was made to measure the tilt of the coastline due to the movement of the tides. The experiment was inconclusive.
What's there
Parc mine followes a single vein of Lead through the hills. This vein is known as the Principal Lode. It is followed on 2 levels, the 2 adit and the three adit, with numerous side offshoots to explore intersected veins, but none of them come to much. Along the way, Endeans shaft of Llanrwst mine is met, and the mine finally terminates when it joins Cyffty mine.
There are two main entrances to Parc Mine, the 2 Adit and the 3 Adit, both of which are barred.
3 Adit
The entrance is to the north of Kneebones cutting, and is gated. Spirit yourself through the gate, and walk along the obvious adit. Soon you reach a turning loop which is where the adit changes direction to the right as the Principal Lode has been reached. The main thrust of the mine is along the Principal Lode, although there are small excursions off into other lodes. Pursue the Principal Lode, passing interesting rock falls and the odd shaft in the floor. Soon there is a dam (roof fall), causing the water to back up behind it. Past this point, the adit carries on much as before, until after about 1.5 miles form the adit, a rise takes you into Cyffty mine.
2 Adit
The 2 adit is about 130 feet higher than the 3 adit, and follows much the same pattern, before finally breaking into the Cyffty 10 fathom level. There are connections from this level into the old Llanrwst mine at Endeans Shaft. The level 2 adit is very dangerous as the stopes from the 3 adit have reached the floor of the 2 adit, and give 130 foot deep holes!. It is possible to reach the 3 adit from the 2 adit in 2 ways. Right at the end of the 2 adit, you can use 8 old ladders to decend into the 3 adit. The catch is that the 3 adit is full of slime up to chest deep at this point. The other way is near the start of the 2 adit, go left at the concrete capped shaft, and right next, and down some ladders. This brings you to a level that is about 20 metres above the three adit, and from here you can SRT on down through an ore chute.
From the level three adit, the right fork just by Kneebones cutting drops down to the old Fucheslas level 4 which has obviously flooded badly as some point as it is silted up.
Further in on the right is a major branch, which goes to the Hafna and Reservoir lodes. The branch forks again, the right fork being Hafna, which is blind after some interesting steel arching, and the left fork the Reservoir lode. This has stoping on it, and becomes blocked by silt with water entering............ Could be a link to the old Bryn Eisteddfod workings.
A drop down from level 2 between the junction with the adit and Principal Lode and the Tidal Experiment area leads to a very small sub level (only about 20ft down) with some old hessian sacks containing tailings. Why they are down there, who knows?, but there are a couple of sticks of old Gelignite too.
Connections
There are connections from Parc mine into the following mines:
- Cyffty Mine
- Llanrwst Mine
- Gorlan
- Hafna - not found, not likely
- Bryn Eisteddfod - likely, but very silted up
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