Fish Mine Prestatyn

Location
SJ 068 812

Directions
Park at the end of the lane by the entrance to the woodland (Coed y Esgob). (there is room for around 3-4 cars).Enter the woodland and the path immediately forks. Take the left fork (steeply up hill) and the entrance is on the left around 200 yards up.

Access
Ungated. No known permissions required

Suggested Equipment
None unless you are undertaking the “through trip” which will require SRT

Length
2 levels extending around several hundred yards each

Flood risk
None, but there is water running out of the adit but nothing more than a trickle. There is water of an unknown depth (deep) at the end of the lower mine adit.

Mine Attributes
Standard lead mine style adits, multi-pitched shaft to the upper series (bolted for SRT). Few decorations.

Description
The lower level consists of a walkable passage of several hundred yards which passes a shaft up to the higher level, an exploited rift and terminates at water (unknown depth). It is understood that this water has been crossed by shimming across using the adit walls and that the adit terminates suddenly on the other side of the water (to be confirmed?).

The upper level passages are much less uniform and are interesting in themselves.

There appears to be two backfilled entrances in the upper level as well as a gated (and locked) exit to the surface. There is also a climbable rift of around 20 feet in the adit roof which exits to the surface and is not gated although this is very small and difficult to find.

miners pick marks can still clearly be seen at the limit of the mining.

The mine is named “fish mine” after the shape of the spoil (which looked like fish) during the time of it’s operation.

Unexplored Passages
Possibly beyond the “hard to pass” water.

Digs
None known.

I can confirm that the Fish mine is dead after the deep water. Myself, Mike and Wes shimmied across one afternoon. It goes a further 50yards maximum and is dead. I was well impressed!!!

I swam, and confirmed the same. was slightly annoyed and wet at the time

ho ho did'nt swim it did'nt get wet he he

The crew getting ready before entry in to Fish Mine also a popular place for chav spotting



Pic below is looking back at the entrance and that is the sun low in the sky at the time shining right down the tunnel.



This is the first junction in the adit, straight ahead its dead to the left just out of view is the level towards the workings.

The Hoss getting ready to crawl up and climb the internal shaft.



The Sledghammer family and Johno getting ready to climb up the internal shaft... n.b: this was my last shot with the camera in the mine until i got up rather too quickly and had a right head rush then fainted.. oops!



Sitting outside getting my head together taking a few shots outside the mine entrance With Ian.

Superb