Drakes trail, Plymouth to Tavistock and back 06/09/2014

After a relatively boring day of doing very little, in the early evening i randomly decided to go for a cycle ride. After not riding for 3 years, since i was hit by a car on my old bike i hit the drakes trail leading from Plymouth to Tavistock with the intention of stopping at Clearbrook and riding back. On the way i noticed that the gate underneath one of the viaducts had been unhinged so decided to have a look, resulting in quite an impressive structure however small...

When i got to Clearbrook i decided that i would complete the full trail and after a pint headed on towards Tavistock.

After arriving i quickly had a drink and headed back as it was getting dark, I ended up wearing my caving helmet on the way back as i had no light on the front of my bike and took a couple of snaps on the way...

Altogether i rode 41 miles, not bad for the first ride in 3 years...

Kit Hill 05/09/2014

An interesting day all around, we managed to find several new mines in and around the hill however for the day access was not possible. First looking for quarry lode on the north side of the hill we spent an hour pushing our way through head high shrub, finally finding the adit level however it was gated. Although it is gated access will still be possible through a shaft further up the hill, i descended one of the shafts the day before, however it proved extremely dangerous as it undercuts to much deeper workings.

After this we had a look at the south side of the hill at the workings down there. The adit has been filled in, however above the chimney stack a line of open stopes look accessible. From what can be seen it looks like it will be a 30m decent into the stopes which should lead us into the majority of the workings.

Finally we had a look at one of the WW1 adits on the eastern side. Although it is gated there is enough room to squeeze over the top. Upon entering there is a large winze which is only negotiable via a very thin ledge. Knowing that the odds were that i would end up falling into the flooded winze i left all my gear behind other than my helmet and light...

Duchy and Redmoor 02/09/2014

Absolutely brilliant day today, we visited three mines, two of which were re-visits however we were able to access places we had not been before.
In Duchy i am now confident i have explored the full mine, three levels, one requiring a small SRT decent through a winze, one being the adit level and the other requiring a climb up quite a difficult section of rock in a winze.
Risking this climb was well worth it and when i reached the top i found a place to anchor the rope so the others could ascend and we could descend. This led to a couple of passages and an impressive shaft, where in my opinion i took my best photo yet (soon to be printed and framed)

after this we headed back to Redmoor and back down the slope shaft i had found before, after venturing further in the area became increasingly unstable and risky, however a couple of us pressed on and we still cant find the end.... it just keeps going down!

Finally we went to one that Julian had been on about, he assured us it was mildly moist, and quite dry for a mine. How wrong could he be ;) 

great place though, with an amazing stope at the end...