Always on the go

Even on their days' off centre staff are keen to get out . Saturday a small team went off to explore Hendre calcite and flurospar mine. Situated on the way to Chester, this old mine proved to be a great adventure.

From entering the mine via an old ladder and a short crawl , we started to explore various passage ways and came across some impressive chambers / stopes that the miners had excavated.

Dropping down another 3 levels we ended up at the flooded lower floor, but still had plenty of options to explore.  Using the ladders in the picture proved to be a very interesting way down.

The mine stopped working in 1981. The picture below shows the team descending the in situ ladders that the miners left behind.

North Wales mining adventure at Blue Peris Mountain Centre

Fluorspar is a commercial term for the mineral. fluorite (calcium fluoride, CaF2) which, when pure, contains 51.1% Ca and 48.9% F. It is the most important and only UK source of the element fluorine (F). There are three main grades – acid, metallurgical and ceramic.