Castle-an-Dinas Mine 2, this page contains images of the interior of the buildings around South Shaft. The remains in the area around North Shaft are also covered, because this is on private land permission must be gained before access.
Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.1: The forge in the Blacksmiths Shop at the South Shaft. It was remarkable that these buildings had been subjected to so little vandalism, it was like walking back in time.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.2: The interior of the Mine Workshop/Smithy at South Shaft. A long forgotten work bench in front of a boarded up window.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.3: Another image of the mine forge, the gas feed can be seen in the bottom left hand corner.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.4: The interior of the auxiliary boiler room. In this area the floor had given way.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.5: This is the combined Compressor and Pumping Engine House. The compressor was on the right of the image with the gearing for the Cornish Pumps on the left. The oil engines that drove these was placed behind the camera.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.6: The remains of an old fashioned Electrical Fuse Box in the South Shaft Compressor House. Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.7: This is the interior of the Lancashire Boiler House at Castle-an-Dinas Mine South Shaft.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.8: A second lower image of the boiler house, the stairs led into the Pump/Compressor room.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.9: Meanwhile, behind the boiler house and underneath the engine room floor was a tight set of passages.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.10: Just under floor level ran an old steam pipe.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.11: A clearer view of the steam pipe heavily lagged in asbestos, a heavy steel girder is supporting the floor above.
The rest of the images on Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2 were taken around the North Shaft area of the site. All these photographs were taken during the summer of 1998. I have been recently told that the site is now heavily overgrown. The building in the part of the site are on Private Land, because of this please gain permission before entering.
The buildings on this side of the hill had suffered over the years. They were not as well preserved as the buildings around South Shaft.
Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.12: This side of the hill was more overgrown, almost nothing of the processing mill survives. This small building contained a diesel engine that powered the processing mill machinery.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.13: A closer view of the same building, quite well preserved but used by the farmer for hay storage.Castle-an-Dinas Mine Gallery 2.14: I was also surprised to see it was built on a concrete and block plinth.Cornish Mine Images 2.15: Another small bit of history, perched on the wall of the building is an old electrical insulator.
Further on down the track were the remains of the Miner’s Dry. This was where the miners changed before their shift underground.
Cornish Mine Images 2.16: The first view of the North Shaft area Miner’s Dry, this was where the miners would get changed before and after shifts.Cornish Mine Images 2.17: The years had not been kind to the dry, the roof in this side had all collapsed.Cornish Mine Images 2.18: Looking into the dry, this was where the miners would store their change of clothes.Cornish Mine Images 2.19: The roof was quite intact in this side of the building, this was the toilet and washing area. This part of the building was very well preserved.Cornish Mine Images 2.20: This was certainly a lovely building to photograph, textures and patterns everywhere.Cornish Mine Images 2.21: A final image of the exterior of the Miners Dry.
Once again the buildings were open and safe to enter.
Cornish Mine Images 2.22: This image is the interior of the North Shaft Winder House.Cornish Mine Images 2.23: Similar to the South Winder house this building was very well preserved.Cornish Mine Images 2.24: Another detailed image clearly showing the concrete loadings for the winder.Cornish Mine Images 2.25: Finally on this page, this is the remains of one wall of the processing mill. Also of interest is an explosives safe, it’s doubtful this dates from the mines operation, perhaps some mining was done after the official closure.
I loved this site, the buildings were very photogenic and interesting. Wandering around in the sun I happily fired off several films. Mine buildings of this era are rare and it would be good to see them preserved.
