[Unlucky Pierre]

Mornin all,

Hope you guys are all well. Sorry it's been a million years since I've actually posted anything, but I've had to give up on the overground exploring as of late due to work related stuff.

Me, Tris and our mate Mango visited Crank last week for a quick look around and then last night after a trip elsewhere was called off, me and Mango went back to finish off the caverns. After reading all kinds of interesting stories about the caverns on various websites, I was quite looking forward to seeing what was down there and it is quite a strange little place, but there's not a lot to it unfortunately. In the past, people have spoke about descending down to multiple levels and have described seeing some sort of alter, a tunnel with glistening walls and even an underground lake. Well, I didn't see any of that last night, so it would seem that there have been a few woolybacks out there telling some porky pies somewhere along the line!

Anyways, here's a bit of info pinched from Wikipedia and some pics...

Crank Caverns is the common name of what is in fact the remains of the Rainford Delph Quarry. It is a network of underground tunnels and caverns, as well as an extensive woodland. Information in the St. Helens local history archives states that mining began here as early as 1730, with a small stone quarry known as Rainford Delph. As the quarry expanded, cost of purchasing land in order to open cast mine it increased, so it was decided to opt for a different method. Instead of quarrying out the stone, they would mine it out, following a seam of decent stone until it ran out. This resulted in the network of caves, tunnels and shafts we see today. Mining ceased in 1865, and the woods and caverns were used as a game reserve by the Earl of Derby until 1939, when they became a storage facility for ammunition for the Anti Aircraft position at Crank.

There are numerous myths and legends associated with the caverns. The most famous is that, during the Reformation, local Catholics being persecuted by King Henry VIII took shelter in the caverns and conducted secret mass there. As initial mining on the quarry only began circa 1730, and the ceased circa 1865, this rumour has proved to be false, however there is some debate as to if there are natural caves in the area which may have been used for secret masses and somehow became incorporated into the Rainford Delph Quarry. Some stories report the caves running to, amongst other places, Up Holland in Wigan, Lowe House Church in St.Helens and Moss Bank in St. Helens, another stated that there was in fact a tunnel running some seven miles from St. Helens Town Hall to Crank Caverns in order to conduct 'secret' hangings. Due to the nature of the caves simply being a quarry, all of these are false.

The caverns are reputed to be haunted, though to date no extensive paranormal investigation has been carried out.

The gated entrances -





Mango pulling himself through one of a few crawls you have to make to get around down there -



After dropping down a level through a small hole, it then opens up into full tunnels you can walk around in -









The tunnels then eventually lead you around in a loop back to the place where you initially dropped in to them. Nothing spectacular, but it was nice to actually be out exploring again - makes me feel alive, lol!

That's all from me, cheers for readiing.

U.P.