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MINING
DRAINAGE
Drainage. Water collects at the bottom of shafts where a sump is left. The water could be pumped out by hand or bailed out with buckets. At Alderley, the only drainage tunnel that we have clearly identified is the Hough Level running from Engine Vein to the Edge.
(Below
right)
Drainage in Wood Mine. Water springs from the floor of a shallow passage
in Wood Mine and is channeled down the side of the passage as this picture
shows. From here, it was channeled through a wooden trough and then
drained out of the Wood Mine adit. At some time, possibly in the early
twentieth century, interceptor pits were built just inside the entrance to
Wood Mine
to stop sand and lead particles escaping from the mine.
(Left) Drainage channel in Cobalt Mine. The cut out channel round the left hand wall was made to take seepage water from the fault workings in the cobalt mine to the shaft illustrated above. Similar features are found in Engine Vein, especially around Bear Pit where a 'garland' has been cut round the shaft to collect falling water and divert it down Blue Shaft and hence to the exit at Dickens Wood.
(The Cobalt Mine and the main picture courtesy of Phill and Elaine Taylor)
(Below
left) The garland around Bear Pit. This gutter carved into the
wall of the shaft collects water and directs to a drain leading to the Hough
Level. On the left side, a piece of wood can be seen that is held in
place by an iron hook. The purpose of the wood is to stop material
falling into an blocking the channel or buckets catching on it and tipping
over when descending.
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