The mineral line Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A respite from the tricky micros on the trail, a decent sized cache and not too tricky. :) The cache is located on the section of the Southwell trail which runs between Bilsthorpe and Farnsfield. This section of the Southwell trail follows the line of the mineral railway which served the Bilsthorpe colliery and the Eakring oil field.
Bilsthorpe Colliery is situated in Nottinghamshire about 8 miles from Mansfield. It had a workforce of 1000 and prior to nationalisation in 1947 was owned by the Stanton Coal and Iron Works Company.
Work started on sinking both shafts in 1925 and progressed well until tragedy stuck in March 1927. A falling water main hit the sinking kibble in the No2 shaft, resulting in the deaths of 8 men working in the cage and a further 6 men who were working below.
Both shafts were sunk to the Top Hard seam at a depth of 485 yards and No1 shaft was subsequently sunk further to a depth of 710 yards in order to prove the Dunsil, Warterloo, Parkside, Low Main and Blackshale seams. Before electrification of No1 and No 2 winders in 1979 and 1978 respectively, steam for winding and general surface use was provided by 8 Lancashire Boilers. Skip winding was introduced in 1969 with most of the output being sold for use at local power stations.
The colliery was closed in 1997 as part of the general decline in the coal industry.
Car parking is via Forest links road
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ybt vg