Kettleness Ironstone Drift

Despite being on the same level as Cat Beck trial and only about 500m away getting to this one is a real challenge, it opens out below the edge of the cliffs, a climb down would be very risky and the climb from below is challenging and covered in brambles already, later in the year gardening gloves and very thick trousers would be in order.

The difficulty of access is reflected in there being only empty beercan in the drift (regulars of this sort of thing will know you cannot usually move for them)
The drift goes into the cliff before reaching a T-junction perhaps 25m in.

Kettleness Ironstone Drift Kettleness Ironstone Drift

To the right there is fair bit of collapsed roof which quickly leads to what looks like a purposefully filled face, the abandonment plan for this mine show the major continuation of the mine back towards the inland shaft to be in this direction

Kettleness Ironstone Drift Kettleness Ironstone Drift

Turning around and going back to the left at the T-junction there is a much longer section of drift, which has a slight dog-leg

Kettleness Ironstone Drift Kettleness Ironstone Drift

It continues for about the same distance again after the dog-leg at which point there are some pretty large roof-falls after which the tunnel looks to come to an end (although I didn’t fancy climbing over as there were large cracks in the ceiling)
Kettleness Ironstone Drift  Kettleness Ironstone Drift

Here are a couple of photos from the entrance.

View from entrance of Kettleness Ironstone Drift View from entrance of Kettleness Ironstone Drift

1 thought on “Kettleness Ironstone Drift

  1. Great pictures and narrative from what must have been a difficult site to get to! I passed what I believe to be the Kettleness mine surface workings yesterday (by the railway) and the field that is annotated as being the site shows definite earthworks which must have been the sidings, site of main drift etc. I cannot find much information about this mine, does anyone know anything about it?

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