Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

An heffalump trap?

I visited this brick lined shaft on Tuesday but I wasn’t happy with the photos so a return visit today. It was a ventilation shaft for the Coate Moor Ironstone Mine. A furnace would have been at the bottom and the air warmed would rise drawing in fresh air from the main drift entrance.

Ventilation shaft, Coate Moor Ironstone Mine
Ventilation shaft

Coate Moor Mine operated for a mere four years from 1872 to 1876. It was one of three ironstone mines on the Kildale Estate. Warren Moor and Lonsdale being the other two. None were successful in spite of the iron trade being in a boom period in the early 1870s. Miners were striking to improve their wages and working conditions and at the same time Coate Moor Mine had to compete with bigger mines. By 1875 it was in debt and was put up for auction.

It must be twenty years since I was last here. I was planning an orienteering event. There was no fence around then and with the hole being big enough to catch a heffalump never mind a runner the courses were carefully planned to avoid it. The landowner has obviously been advised of his liability under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 and has since put the fence up. A selfie stick came in handy to take the photo.


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  1. Paul Buckingham avatar
    Paul Buckingham

    Is this close to the track alongside the River Leven leading to the Old Meggison waterfall

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