Yesterday I finally had some time to re-bolt the free hanging pitch in Penarth Slate Mine from the Middle to Lower Levels. There are now several resin anchors to rig a short traverse and free having pitch which is ideal for practicing SRT. There are also some historic anchors which give the option of rigging a contrived re-belay off a pillar midway down the pitch. In addition there’s an extra anchor placed so you can rig a 14m ladder down the hole (you’ll need another short, 4m, ladder to exit the hole) if you want to practice some ladder work. Rigging guide attached.
Free hanging SRT pitch, with options to practice ladder or re-bealys
While I was in there I also took a gas monitor into the area strewn with graffiti about bad air. The gas monitor measures O2 levels, if the levels drop then you could assume there is some other gas which may be of concern (probably CO2), as well as Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S, bad eggy smell), Carbon Monoxide (CO, White Damp) and Methane (CH4, from rotten timbers etc). Normal o2 levels are 20.9%, the monitor also detects levels of H2S, CO, and CH4 and sounds an alarm. Having wandered through the O2 meter did drop, but only to 20.2%, no alarms sounded so none of the other gasses were detected at the levels set for the monitor (pretty low levels) so I’m not sure that graffiti is justified!
If you’re really sad you can watch a video of the monitor…