575 replies to this topic

[james seddon]

ill scan the pic in. its really strange bcaus its an old photo n the caves are bare with no trees. there is a sailor. were doin a media project its sort of a spook of most haunted called almost haunted. but in such a place it wud be nice to see what we get. id soo love to explore them tho

[BtC]

When I first went to the caverns it was early 1980's and I was about 10.

What I remembered most was discarded gluey bags and syringes lying around the place, and graffiti daubed in the caves, litter and remains of fires scattered about.

I've been back many times since and they seem to be cleaner (and the graffiti faded a bit).

A few of us went early one morning (5'ish) on a comedown and had a hoot there, in about 1991. The 'mousehole', as it's been described here, wasn't blocked (if we're talking about the one round the corner, away from the main cavern) and a couple of mates went inside. They said the roof got lower and lower until they'd have had to crawl to go further, and they thought "bugger that".

I heard the council used the caverns as a landfil in the 1980's, but I can't see it - access problems for a start. Whatever, the main caverns only go in a small way and some are grated off.

[james seddon]

no i dont rekon they'd use it as a landfil, although noin our council n the state theyve let other things like the lodge in vikky park go to waste i wudnt be atall surprised. apparently you can get into crank cavern system in clinkham wood somewhere although i wudnt no the spot or if its beed blocked up etc.

[james seddon]

does enebody else on this forum or jay if u r on cud u please give meas much info as u can regarding enething u no bout the caves, experiances there etc.

ta

james

[Jay]

I've already posted all i know much to the speculation of others

[james seddon]

well jay im really greatful u did and uv been a big help, i went up the other day and looked for the whitches face but i wasnt sure where u meant.

[lallian]

i remember getting stuck in a dark crevice when i was a kid,a lot of the rocks that form the roof of the caves are crumbling and some have fell down.

[Jay]

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well jay im really greatful u did and uv been a big help, i went up the other day and looked for the whitches face but i wasnt sure where u meant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'll be willing to point it out sometime, when are you next going up?

[james seddon]

im not sure because im a bit busy at the moment id expect it to be around three to four weeks time.

[Jay]

No problem, just give me a pm on here when you want to go up and I'll show you what i know and tell you some stuff.

[cactus]

I spent quite a bit of time in the caves at Crank in the 1980’s, at which time that damned gate wasn’t there. Entrance to the left hand deepest cave was via a scramble on your stomach under a very low roof to the point at which you dropped through a small hole into the larger cavern below. An alternative means of entry was via a very small twisting hole on the quarry wall to the left of the gated passage which also came out near the drop down hole. This entrance has long since been filled by rubbish and earth pushed over the quarry edge – although if someone wants to start digging!!!!

Once through the hole the main passage was much higher and wider, the caves did not go very far (I would estimate less than 50 metres at the maximum) the main passage running in a circle, probably under the adjoining field. There were a few side passages but all dead ends the largest being a rectangular raised cavern to the left shortly after starting on the main circuit, the roof of this cave had many small stalactites hanging from it. From an exploration point of view probably the most interesting area was a blocked cave on the main circle just after the raised side chamber, maybe this at some time went deeper, but we could not clear the rock fall blocking this passage. The blockage was similar to that which can be seen at the back of one of the main caves consisting of broken rock and mud, although the blocked passage was much smaller. It appeared to be deliberate and not a natural collapse.

As previously mentioned the St Helens reporter carried an article on a trip into the caverns in the 1930’s which describes a much larger system than that seen now, whether this is evidence of a complex now lost tunnel system or a bit of journalistic license I can’t say, but I suspect the latter. The caverns were originally a sandstone quarry operated by a Charles Howarth (Known colloquially as Yorkshire Charlie) in the mid 19th century, tunneling was done rather than surface quarrying to reach the best stone which was deep in the ground, as sandstone is heavy and required in large blocks for building the logistics of bringing the stone to the surface would suggest that the caverns would not go very far.

I have somewhere a couple of photos taken in the deepest caverns, which I’ll dig out and scan, one I recall shows the roof with a good covering of stalactites.

[james seddon]

i found about yorkshire charlie at the library, he was born next to the chapel at crank hill. If they were mined, then the stories of monks n nuns goin into them during the reformation music be false. some caverns seem too large to be man made, i think that they were actually large caverns and the miners tunneled into them whilst mining. does enebody else know of the shaft that drops into the caves near the bottom edge of the woods adjoining the farmers field facing billinge lump? ive seen it but ive never been near, apparently it goes deep.

[cactus]

The shaft in the woods is filled in. When I first saw this in the 1980’s it was no more than a depression in the ground with an outline of stone walling, however it appears that a little excavation has been done and approximately 1.5 metres of the stone shaft wall uncovered. According to William Rigby (see St Helens Reporter July 22nd 1938 available in the Local History Library at St Helens), a stone mason who worked in the caverns there were 3 levels of caverns and the stone was hauled up a shaft, this may possibly be the shaft visible in the woods, There are also I recall some large stone blocks in this area which may be the foundations of the winding engine used to haul stone up the shaft. The best way to find this spot is to look over the hedge from the field side, the shaft is clearly visible close to a very large ash tree.

[Archie]

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Well you obviously didn't goto the left of them and down into the main cave. Also do they look like sandstone to you? Sorry to p!$$ on your bonfire but your talking out your arse.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They are sandstone. It's a fine grained rock, much of which cleaves into thin sheets. If you look around older cottages etc, you'll see it's been used as roofing tiles. If it's not sandstone, what do you suggest it is?

They are old 'pillar and stall' quarry workings. I've been in. They're interesting, but there's no way they go to Billinge. Apart from having to go downhill against the rock grain, what would be the point?. There's more bollocks talked about Crank Caverns than there is about RL. 'Cactus' posts describe the caverns exactly how I remember them. He's talking sense.

Arch

Edited by Archie, 03 July 2004 - 10:56 PM.

[james seddon]

ive been too scrared to go near the hole lol. the caverns stretch to billinge because they have been mapped my the mountain and cave rescue team. apparently there are five levels. the fifth is apparently partialy submerged under water. it is also been said that the caverns are linked to rainford twelve yarder which is supposed to have been an enterance to the caverns many years ago where workers from billinge could enter, it would also be a means of escape. as a fisherman my dad has noticed that no matter what the weather is like be it hot or cold the level of water in this lake is always constantly the same. weve noticed there is a considerable drop in one area of the lake so this could be the enterance to the cave system. there are rumours of a vast under ground lake. underground lakes are not as uncommon as they may seem however it is unlikely there is one in the crank system as the maps bear no refereance and it is probably just folklore.