Exploring Eston Mines

Surprised if that is one of the Eston Mines ... where about is it supposed to be?? There is the one at the top of 'New Bank' or 'Cali Bank' as known locally ... that was always bricked off , hard to access like the rest of them for safety reasons obv

SS Castle 'Guibal Fan House' .. bit dangerous walking into that without gear ... knee deep in black mud but also sealed off ..

There is another one people call 'The Secret Mine' .. around that backside of hils just off Wilton Bank .. you can climb in and see rusted rails, etc but extremely dangerous to try and climb further into... Unless people have been breaking the walls erected to stop people walking in, don't recognize anything to do with the Eston Mines in that particular video, though??
 
Can normal people go in? I was wild camping in the heather near Ribblehead Viaduct a couple of times while walking the Yorkshire 3 peaks ( 9hrs 1 way, 9.5 the other). Anyway there are loads of caves under there and had a look but needs way more skill than I have. Saw a few lone people going in. I wish I had the balls to do it.
 
It’s amazing all the iron for all those bridges came out of them tunnel’s…
that’s history that needs preserving…
 
Can normal people go in? I was wild camping in the heather near Ribblehead Viaduct a couple of times while walking the Yorkshire 3 peaks ( 9hrs 1 way, 9.5 the other). Anyway there are loads of caves under there and had a look but needs way more skill than I have. Saw a few lone people going in. I wish I had the balls to do it.
When I worked with Connexions PAYP we took a group of students on two different occasions into the Long Churn caves in that area. One of the guides use to take his alsatian dog in with us.

I don't think I would get through the cheese press these days. 🤣 🤣 🤣

 
There is also a "tunnel" out the back of our old house in Ferryhill. As kids we would get 50m in and then **** ourselves and never got further. I presume it was an abandoned train tunnel from Steetley the lime works. I tried to have a look last year but amazing how in 40 years it is now all fenced off, including the ponds I used to swim in.
 
Maybe the best place to safely explore the Cleveland ironstone mines is at Skinningrove Mining Museum - when I last went there you walk into the hillside in an old adit mine (horiziontal) and they switch off the lights to give you a chance to take in the environment and atmosphere that little kids experienced when they first went down the mines to workthe trap doors.
They have maps and charts in the former offices showing the lattice work of tunnels and shafts that stretched beneath the hills between Eston and beyond Guisborough - with all the districts marked out that could be several miles walk from the pit entrance.
 
Maybe the best place to safely explore the Cleveland ironstone mines is at Skinningrove Mining Museum - when I last went there you walk into the hillside in an old adit mine (horiziontal) and they switch off the lights to give you a chance to take in the environment and atmosphere that little kids experienced when they first went down the mines to workthe trap doors.
They have maps and charts in the former offices showing the lattice work of tunnels and shafts that stretched beneath the hills between Eston and beyond Guisborough - with all the districts marked out that could be several miles walk from the pit entrance.
I think for these explorers it is more about thrill seeking than visiting a museum. I would be happy to visit the museum and leave the thrill side to others. ;)

Anyone doing this should at least go with a partner or have someone at the cave/mine entrance.
 
There are photos from the Victorian era in mine working areas of Eston Mine with miners working on scaffolding, because the seam was so high/big 6 metres (20 feet) one reason the mine was so profitable and lasted 99 years..
 
I’ve been up Eston Hills this morning with the dog and walked from the Flatt’s Lane side of the hills to the S S Castle. I took a few pictures of the remains of the mine workings and different entrances to the mine.

The first two photos are of what I believe to be the winch at the top of California Bank (Cali Bank) and when I was a kid you could crawl from under one wall across and come out at the other - around 6 metres.

The third picture is of the opening to the mine at the top of Cali Bank. The opening is bricked up but a few bricks have been knocked out and obvious people have used this to gain entrance.02BB3C14-5A10-4551-9868-605FFDD70D79.jpegCBBEA879-2CA1-4884-815C-19A473692CF4.jpeg010B1871-6351-4046-804B-C60BDB70E0DA.jpeg
 
This picture shows the bricks removed from the mine entrance. I did take a picture through the hole in the wall but it didn't show anything. There seems to be clay mounted up some 20 metres further back and that was how I remember the mine being blocked off as a teenager with some of the clay removed from the top to gain access. The brick wall must have been added in the latter years.

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These pictures are of a bridge you go under and the path leads to the S S Castle. Again there were entrances to the S S Castle which had been blocked up but one at the back was open. Being on my own I didn’t explore. There was plenty of graffiti on the SS Castle and someones pride and joy had been burnt out.

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