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Box Freestone Mines in Wiltshire, UK, are a huge network of disused mining tunnels. Along with my brother Adam and his mate Andy I visited them in August 2008 for an 8 hour underground adventure, full of danger and darkness. It's not a place to wander around without knowing what you're doing. We had a map from the local pub and a good selection of torches and managed to get to see the brick figures tucked well away, looked up air shafts, heard trains passing in Box Tunnel below us and found lots of stone-working saws and a crane. All good fun but I was glad to get out in the end!

We started at the Quarryman's Arms (N51 25.367 W002 14.356), walked up the road, found the 'Back Door' entrance to the mines, and when that was too tightly bolted (it is legal to go in, but they like to keep the ill-prepared out, and knowing what sort of spanner to bring is a part of the preparation) we went in a grill a short way to the north, which was open. This route was tricky for me as it included a very tight section with a drop at the end, which I only just fitted down. In brief, we took the OXO1 route to Cathedral, then went south over the railway tunnel to look at a crane, then rejoined the B12 route to 'Box17', where the brick 'sculptures' are. Then we pushed east along the B Passage, which turned north (a good compass is vital) and that good tunnel took us to see the Delta-Rectangle air shafts (the second one being up a cool rock staircase - N51 25.384 W002 13.713 - Half a mile away from the pub as the crow flies, but rather more underground!) before we went on to the WO Passage which brought us to the well and water-tank at the north end of the central section of the mines. Then we went south-west back towards the Back Door via the AOR passage. Unfortunately I didn't fit back in the crack I'd come in through (did myself some mischief trying) so I went the short way south to the proper Back Door while my brother and Andy went to fetch a suitable tool to remove the bolt on it (no damage done, I'm just being circumspect as not to give 'the secret' away). Although I was only alone for 20 minutes or so, it's a very different (and not recommended) experience to be down there by yourself, and the final crawl out was a pleasure after some of the rock falls I'd been over and through. Photos I've seen of the tunnels (including mine!) tend to be the tidy bits; there's lots of rough stuff to climb over where the roof has dropped, even on main routes.

• Map of the mine's central section. We had a laminated version with us (£6 from the pub) and as a paper one wouldn't last, I don't suggest printing this one out.
• Close to the Back Door entrance to the mines. They're kept locked, so you need to plan ahead.
• Cathedral is the largest 'cave' in this section of the mines. The roof is something around 100ft up, with buildings right on top of it!
• There's a light/air shaft into Cathedral, which has been used as a damp for many years. We found rusted parts of a motorbike at the foot of the spoil heap.
• Several 'notices' left by past cavers/explorers can be found. This one about Jack's Passage dates from 1963. Sadly there is spray graffiti too...
• A crane towards the far south end of this section of tunnels. To reach it we had to pass over the Box Tunnel railway and heard trains passing below.
• We paused to take a quick group shot by the crane. My poor camera did its best but it is hard to focus and frame in the dark!
• At 'Box17' we discovered these curious brick sculptures. I liked this pagan group around a 'fire'.
• More bricks. One of my favourites was a miniature Stonehenge.
• Santa (on the right) with my brother. I'd never though of Santa having genitals before, but here is some proof that he has them.
• One of the two Delta Rectangle passageway air shafts. We enjoyed looking up at the first daylight we'd seen for hours.
• Zooming up, I could see the grill at the top, stopping folks leaping in this way. There's a small building built over it, which you can see a little of below.
• Stretching up to another Delta Rectangle air shaft is this rock staircase. It was a tight fit up there for me and I bashed my head several times on the way down.
• At the top of the steps (above) was this ladder stretching up into the darkness. The top of this air shaft has been capped, leaving it very dark...
• While taking a detour off the map to look at another locked entrance we saw these barrels along with some old MOD signs and saws (see below).
• We'd seen big saws at the Quarryman's Arms pub. Seeing them in situ gave us a better idea of what a tough life it must have been for the men working here.
• Once safely back on top, we went to see the top of the Delta Rectangle passage air shaft. This is the view down it.
• The little block building covering the shaft is very overgrown but we were able to locate it with some (more) top map reading by yours truly.

• BoxMines.mpg: 41.7Mb / 3mins. Exploring Box Freestone Mines, a huge network of disused tunnels in Wilts. This video clip features audio.
• BoxMines.wmv: 7.654Mb / 3mins. As above, but a smaller, more compressed video. This video clip features audio.

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