The Band of Hope mine.

[stoyve]

In the last few years I have been exploring a mine
in the Ballarat region.
I have been inside this old company mine at least
a dozen times as I find this one to be particularly
fascinating.
The entrance has been back filled in so you need
to crawl in onyour hands and knees to get in.
Once in, you can stand up straight if your not to tall.
(I'm 6foot)
The lead goes in for about 30 metres and you reach
a passage on the left.
This goes for about 20metrs till you reach a mound
dirt which once blocked off the tunnel.about a year
ago I dug it out from the top and could see the
tunnel continue so I cleared enough dirt to climb into
the other side.
The tunnel went for about another 10 metres and then
stopped.
It opened up into a gallery about 3 metres above into
a chamber which went up another 5 metres.
In this chamber was a candle stubb on a spike which
has now be taken by some fool for whatever reason.
I won't go on to describe the rest of this lead in detail
other than to say it also has an extensive upper level
and a very interesting inscription cut into the rock face
above a back filled shaft.
It reads as follows. " Robert Dodds died here 1866 "
So sad but also gave what I needed to find out the name
the mine.
The Band of Hope.
I will write a bit about this amazing mine in another
post soon, what a history.
Cheers Steve

 

[Redfin]

Good story the Band of Hope, actually had a royal visit in the mid 1860's.
There is a full map of the mine available for viewing in the state library.
Look forward to hearing more on this.

 

[MJB]

amazing Steve....would be nice to see some pics if you have them. What was the air like when you broke on through to the other side of the back filled shaft?

CHeers

 

[dwt]

Got me hooked mate, if you dont mind personal requests, could ya slip in a few ghost stories in there as well, i dont mind the old ghost stories from yesteryear , mixed in with the facts

 

[stoyve]

Yes Redfin,
Prince Albert the Duke of Edinburgh visited the mine
in December 1867 and went into the lead for a bit of
mining experience.
It was reported that with a pick he worked the rock
face for about one and a half hours and found a few
worthy nuggets.
In the 1870s another visit from the royals occurred,
It was from the Prince of Wales who later became
King George.
The Band of Hope mine was the most modern mine
of its type in the world, it didn't have any ventilation
shafts as it was the first mine to have air pumped
into it. ( state of the art technology )
In its day it was the richest mine in the world and its
total yield was 22.3 tonnes of gold!!
It was reported that on one particular day they took
out over 11,000 thousand pounds of gold.
Now that's what I call a good days work.

Cheers Steve

 

[stoyve]

Gday mjb and dwt,
The air behind the dirt pile was pretty stale, I waited for over an hour
before going into that section so some fresher air would get in,
it was still a bit stale but I've been in there since and its a lot
better now.
As far as ghost's go, I haven't run into any yet,
but I must say that every time I go in there, I
stop and read the inscription in the rock.
Robert Dodds must of had at least one good mate
down there who took the time and effort to leave
such a moving memorial.
Without that inscription I wouldn't of known the mine
I'd been exploring for the last few year's.
As far as photos go, I took dean65 in there a few
months ago but the photos didn't come out as good
as was hoped.
I will go in there with him again sometime in the new
year and see if he can take a good shot of the massive
quarts vein in the main tunnel.
Its about 1 foot wide for about 30 foot.
Its amazing.

Cheers Steve

 

[MJB]

If I ever get a chance to get over there I may have to get you to take me down for a looksee

Cheers,
Matt

 

[stoyve]

I have no problems with that Matt,
If I'm free we can certainly arrange a
two or three mine tour day.
Cheers Steve

 

[Guest]

Hey Stoyve,

Mate what a story and thanks for sharing, I do enjoy researching old mines. I'm with Matt regarding having a look. Perhaps there may be a few others interested in having a look too. We could make a weekend of it.

I'd be keen to come over for a camp out.

Regards

Lambi

 

[stoyve]

Gday lambi,
If your ever coming down my way,
we might be able to work something out.
As you can all understand I won't be taking
bus tour's into the mines as safety and
keeping the integrity of the mines historic values
are very important to me and of course the rest
of the country.
Having said that, I don't mind taking people into
them in the odd occasion.
Cheers Steve

 

[stoyve]

Just a foot note about Robert Dodds,
The poor man died from a burst boiler it
was reported in one of the papers.
What a terrible way to die.
I'm still researching this man's life and I
hope to find out more info about his life.
Cheers Steve

 

[BoydWilliam]

Quite an impressive read Stoyve. Poor Robert Dodds, what a shocking way to go!
I'll follow this post with interest!

 

[stoyve]

Cheers BoydWilliam,
Since I posted the last bit of information on Robert
Diffs, I found out that he died eight days after the
accident, he was aged 40 years.
2 years earlier his 4 month old daughter died and
1 year earlier his 12 month old son of the same
name died as well.
They are all buried together in the same plot
at the old Ballarat cemetery.
They were sure hard times back then.
Regards Steve. :|

 

[stoyve]

Sorry about the miss spelling of
Robert Dodds,
Auto correct strikes again.

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Geez, the yields back in the day were nothing short of amazing.

Hard work was rewarded

Cheers, Tone

 

[Hunting the yellow]

In the last few years I have been exploring a mine
in the Ballarat region.
I have been inside this old company mine at least
a dozen times as I find this one to be particularly
fascinating.
The entrance has been back filled in so you need
to crawl in onyour hands and knees to get in.
Once in, you can stand up straight if your not to tall.
(I'm 6foot)
The lead goes in for about 30 metres and you reach
a passage on the left.
This goes for about 20metrs till you reach a mound
dirt which once blocked off the tunnel.about a year
ago I dug it out from the top and could see the
tunnel continue so I cleared enough dirt to climb into
the other side.
The tunnel went for about another 10 metres and then
stopped.
It opened up into a gallery about 3 metres above into
a chamber which went up another 5 metres.
In this chamber was a candle stubb on a spike which
has now be taken by some fool for whatever reason.
I won't go on to describe the rest of this lead in detail
other than to say it also has an extensive upper level
and a very interesting inscription cut into the rock face
above a back filled shaft.
It reads as follows. " Robert Dodds died here 1866 "
So sad but also gave what I needed to find out the name
the mine.
The Band of Hope.
I will write a bit about this amazing mine in another
post soon, what a history.
Cheers Steve

the upper level if its not too far up I would get a fold up ladder in there and see if you can get up into it I could help you could always stand on my shoulders

 

[stoyve]

Gday hty,
Every time I go in there, I go into the upper level.
It has 3 entry levels that are quite easy to go in
and another one which is a bit dodgy.
They all go into the same tunnel which I have
fully explored.
It runs for several hundred metres till it hits a dead
end.
About 15 metres before you reach the end there
is a shaft which goes up about 10 to 15 metres.
It has been back filled from above and is very
unstable .
I believe this lead to another level above and
might be a stope.
There was at least 7 entry points to this mine but
only this one is accessible.

Gday Tone,
It was sure worth it in this mine, one of the quartz
veins is about 1 and half feet wide and around 30
to 40 foot long, absolutely amazing.

Cheers Steve.