Harrybecca/Middle Engine Mines - Phil Wolstenholme

Present: Luke Brock, Grace Chu, Louise McMahon, Mark McAuley, Phil Wolstenholme

At last a trip report for these dull days!

A recent evening visit to Middle Engine by me and Lisa to check the general condition of the anchors on the SRT routes reminded me that although they were fine, more anchors should really be added - mentioning this to Grace perked her enthusiasm for a trip, and within a day we'd got a return visit organised - with Harrybecca thrown in as a bonus. Hassop Common is a very steep slope on the south flank of the eastern end of Longstone Edge, home to the now mostly quarried-away master vein Deep Rake. Superficially at least, this area is very much like Castleton - steep fore-reef limestone slipping under shale in the valley floor. However, the mineralisation is much more extreme and exotic - the veins are hading at between 45° and 60° to vertical, and parallel to the hill slope. Additionally, the vertical joints are also mineralised, and there's a significant amount of pipe mineralisation and very small-scale faulting thrown in, and it gets extremely complex when in the middle of it. The mines are all very old, and mostly started pre-gunpowder, so are fireset in the oldest sections, especially Harrybecca, and in a remarkable state of preservation, with sweeping soot-stains across most worked surfaces and lots of tiny pickwork.

Harrybecca was actually once called Evans Gin, but consolidation of titles in the 1950s by George Bacon for fluorspar mining meant that this site and 'Lower Harrybecca'', further down the hill, were all given the same name. Middle Engine is a separate title to the east, but long-rumoured to connect to White Coe Mine, further to the west than Harrybecca - it's complicated! More info (and several detailed surveys by John Barnatt) can be found in part 1 of the PDMHS Bulletin paper 'Metal Mines Though Time', issue 17:3.

Harrybecca consists of two very narrow and parallel vein workings running almost W-E and down the hill, with some sections of the south vein opencut to surface. The two vein workings are extremely old, at least 17th Century, and were linked in the 1950s by a large central stope being created for fluorspar mining, with a new adit and a tramway being blasted to take the spar out to a new dressing-floor. Much of this structure has collapsed in the last few years, closing the 'easy' bottom exit, and now leaving an awkward thrutch through a slot half-full of leaves and mud as the only way out at the bottom. As the stopes are so steep inside, going back uphill is very hard work. We explored all of this mine and saw much evidence of firesetting and some lovely mineralisation - possibly also some natural scalloping on one wall. The deep stope needs a handline for descent, but can be free-climbed back up with care. 

John Hunter has often speculated (including in the article above) that the workings must be much deeper, and are now backfilled, but little evidence has been found to back that up yet, other than all the water runs down the walls and disappears into the floor, probably eventually entering Brightside Sough, which drains to Calver. Once we'd all manage to wriggle out of the tight confines we re-arranged ourselves on the very damp and dismal hillside and trudged off downslope to Middle Engine, getting tripped over by every bramble on there.

This mine is extremely unusual in that it has an engine shaft approx. 70m deep, which is open and the top is very loose and dangerous, but the entry is made via an adit in the ruins of an old coe built into the hill, and which opens into the shaft after 25m at about 15m down from the top. Years ago a few of us bolted a traverse across the shaft to a level and a stope beyond, and also bolted the shaft for SRT. There are numerous alcoves around the shaft-top, and also a climbing-shaft which comes in through the roof above the pitch anchors, as yet unclimbed - but as it probably only goes back to surface it hasn't been attempted yet. We crossed over the shaft to have a look at the workings there, and then I dashed back to rig the shaft for descent while the others waited. A level and large stope halfway down the shaft had also been bolted by Mickey C, but the rebelay to get into the level was only one anchor - although 12mm it still felt a bit sketchy, especially hanging over the open arch of the level with no footholds. So I'd brought the drill with me, and I abseiled down to add a 10mm stainless throughbolt to the rebelay to allow a bunny knot. I also added a 8mm at the entrance to the level to give something to clip into for getting on and off the rope, though as the floor of the level is solid rock, a backup rope into it isn't really needed.

As everyone else descended, I crawled (under some beautifully-stacked deads, and also under some horribly collapsing deads) into the big stope beyond, which is a huge wedge shape, to add a backup anchor in the roof to enable a safe(r) traverse to the single 12mm bolt and plate that Mickey had installed years ago. I had planned to double up this one too, but it was starting to get a bit expensive for something that probably only a handful of people will ever visit, so decided as it was also 12mm, that it was probably enough. We found some miners' artifacts stashed in a corner, with a lump hammer, chain, and three more of the 'M'-shaped windlass staples that we found in SoL. Sadly by this point we were running out of time to do the bottom levels too, which is a shame, as there's some lovely work down there, but we can always do that another time I guess. We had five people to get back up the shaft so had to give up. 

Slogging back up the hill in the drizzle and cold wind was horrible, but completely normal for Hassop Common - I think in about twenty trips up there, it's only been nice weather on about three, day or night. But I did see what may be a blocked adit entrance to Harrybecca, below the opencuts. So maybe the deeper workings might be accessible after all. We got changed in semi-darkness, shivering and knackered, as much due to the climb back up the steep hillside as the underground sections, but it felt good to get a proper workout again.