Now this was more like it. Someone at Chatterley Whitfield had told us that there was another colliery, Apedale, that we could visit in Stoke, but it was at the other end of town. As I didn’t have a satnav, I had to follow Bungle at breakneck speed across town to find the place. It appeared to be just closing for the day, but the proprietor was a fantastic bloke and he agreed to stay open for a bit longer and to take us underground as well. Apedale is a drift mine, which means that the shaft was dug diagonally into the ground rather than vertically, and there was little of the vast array of surface infrastructure that there was at Chatterley Whitfield. However, there was a newly built museum, and of course the mine you could go down, which is always good. There were big plans for Apedale, and it sounds like they’re coming to fruition, with the Moseley Railway Trust moving their stock there in 2010 to become the Apedale Valley Railway. At the time it was still at the planning stage, but there was still enough to keep us amused.

Well worth a visit! The place is officially the Apedale Heritage Centre, find more about them on their website http://www.apedale.co.uk/

Manic Miner – Gibbo gets stuck in.

Our host – a smashing chap who showed us round and let us do our light painting in the mine.

Bungle, DCG, Me, R1 and Gibbo. I’ve explored with them all on ‘proper’ explores, a top bunch of lads.