Underground at Geevor.
Please note this is not part of the offical trip at the museum site and this was filmed while it was open in the summer of 2022.
The access is no longer open and this trip is no longer possible. You might even find yourself in trouble even attempting it. You will especially find yourself in trouble if you are caught underground here if you forced a way in.
This may be the only chance that most people will ever get to see whats underneath the old site at Geevor mine.
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Nice one 👍
Ah nice one! I went on a 'tourist trip' in 1986 down and out under the sea on the Sub-Incline Shaft via the Miner's Underground Inclined Railway. Will have to dig out the photos! Good quality video there – what camera and lighting are you using? 😎
That’s awesome 👌🏻
Great film. You need longer wellies. IMHO a mine museum isn't much cop unless you can access deeper workings although there must be plenty of interest up top for most. I get the reasons they aren't at Geevor as the costs would be prohibitive. I would suggest that they have your film on a loop up top for visitors to see. Interesting that you made reference to Radon gas.
Magic m8
Righton Ben. Nice to tune in again. An old mate, Ray Stone, lived up Truro Hill opposite Dickie Dunstan's 'shop' back-a-long, down Penryn. Ray was a bit of a loner, lived with his Gran, loved keeping tropical fish (1960's/early '70's). He ended up, being one of the very finest miners ever to have gone below ground at Geevor, before Thatcher dumped on us . Funny how mining can make firm men of even the quietest least 'in your face' men. Ray must've been born to be a great miner..Your Dad will remember Dickie Dunstan's black-smith 'shop'. Cheers for the trip. Take care. Chons da!
Amazing. Did that trip in 2010, down on 3rd level. Rebirth is fun! x
Brilliant. So for may own understanding, you entered through a drainage tunnel at sea/beach level, went to the main shaft under that tower shown at the start? Water would have been pumped from all the lower tunnels (where men worked) and brought to that level and sent out to sea? All ore etc would have been brought up through that main shaft?
It blows my mind that they tunneled out under the seabed. I assume there's no sub-seabed tunnels which are flood-free and avaibale to explore.
Another great 👍 video ben was talking to old bloke down Sennen few months ago he worked at geevor for 40 years had been down to 2100 feet and said there's absolutely loads of machinery and equipment still down there
Thankyou for this Ben and Vinzo. I got to see only the mamby pamby parts when we visited the mine earlier this year. I'd have killed for a decent tour like this. Apparently the staff still get to ride the cage down once a year to these workings. So thankyou!!!
Crackin job Ben. You and Vin get wet so we don't have to.
Don't think there's any workings down here in Lanson, but if there is would love to have you here.
cracking.
geevor is amazing ,, ive been under ground there ,, and its sad that its flooding ,nobody can pump it out now ,,
Theres quite a long video on youtube somewhere doing a full tour not long after it shut. It shown a pump room with several pumps all still inplace and a plaque I think the queen visited. Shown the slope down and at that point sea water was gradually coming up the slope…
Brilliant Ben thanks for going down there I have visited Geevor a few times even earlier this year it’s amazing to see so much interesting machinery but wish we could still go down victory shaft I have seen an old tore videos of people visiting down to the 15 level and sub incline shaft looks so interesting such a shame they had to turn the pumps off with out you going down we wouldn’t see any of it 👍🏻 levant video is great too like that mine now to see what’s under there brilliant. Cheers
I remember going down there when the museum first opened, had loads of pumps trains, and the old stables. Shame it wasn't cost effective to keep the pumps and head gear operational.
Hi Ben l am a member of the Southampton Mineral and Fossil Society. We get permissions to collect on various spoil heaps but would be very interested in an underground visit again with the prospect of collecting. We have indemnity insurance but not sure if it covers underground visits but there are perhaps 3 or 4 of us that would be interested in an underground trip. Is there any possibility??
Hi again Ben, I went everywhere shown in the video back when the mine was working. I would have to check my records to give an exact year. I remember well dams that had recently been built in a futile attempt to buy some time as the mine slowly flooded. I have photos of all the massive pumps etc, now under water. I think I uploaded them to aditnow which is currently down, but will be back some time. I was offered a trip into Levant but it would have meant staying on and I had a business to run, so had to decline the offer. One of the biggest regrets of my life, some things money cant buy, worth remembering. Any old Geevor miners on here may remember me, I was always with a little chatty blonde lady and big on photography
Another amazing video! Went to Geevor this year (to the museum!), Incredible visit, museum was so interesting, that we nearly missed the trip into the mine workings itself! 🤣… Looking at this, it is a shame that they haven't kept the lower workings open, as the top bit (which is accessible) is quite short and no where near as interesting as the this section! I am wondering how they managed to keep the water out of the lower sections, given that it extends so deeply and so far into the sea 🤔… Thank you once again for taking the time to share it with us mere land mortals🙏
Fascinating trip Ben. Knew a few of the people who worked at Geevor when I was a teenager. back in the late 60s. So sad to see that they have allowed so much of the workings to flood. As a heritage site they really should have had more investment to maintain access to more of the workings. It's been ages since I've been there – used to spend a lot of time rummaging through the spoil tips around Geevor, Botallack and Levant back in the 60s when nobody gave a bugger about people collecting. Great shame it's not accessible any more.