Most of us know there was once an active but hidden life underground in the region but for Rob Richardson, he grew up hearing first hand about what went on.
Rob, who now lives in Broughton, grew up in Bagillt and Holywell, and was fascinated by the tales of working in the lead and limestone mines told by his late father, Don Richardson.
Here, Rob shares some photos and details of life in the tunnels...
Rob Richardson and his dad Don, pictured in December 2019.
"During his 47 years at Halkyn Mines, dad has many stories to tell. One of them is about the miners boating through the Milwr Tunnel to the Pumphouse in Bagillt to check the condition of the tunnel.
"Before the shaft at Pen-y-Bryn, Halkyn was closed in the early 1960s, the boat was taken underground there in sections, in later days from early 1960s to late 1980s the boat was taken down the Olwyn Goch shaft at Rhydymwyn via an addit (a side tunnel to the shaft at a lower surface level to the headframe).
Photo taken in the late 1940s at Pen-y-Bryn shaft top Halkyn. Pictured are Ernie Marshall, Albert Richardson (Rob’s grandad), Evan Jones and Jim Blythin. Photo courtesy of Rob Richardson
"In the late 1960s and 80s dad would take the mine's van to the Pumphouse to wait for the miners then transport them back to Rhydymwyn.
"On one occasion there was great alarm at the Bagillt end of the tunnel as one and then another of the miner's hard hats washed through the portal, shortly followed by the upturned boat!
"Fortunately, and to much relief, and a good while later, the miners could be heard in the distance approaching the portal, thankfully all safely arrived at Bagillt, having waded for several miles through the underground river, for much of the time the water level reaching up their necks following an unfortunate capsizing of their trusty craft!"
Olwyn Goch lead and limestone mine at Rhydymwyn, 1982. Photo courtesy of Rob Richardson
• The shaft-top, headframe and hoisthouse at the Holywell-Halkyn Mining and Tunnel Company's Olwyn Goch lead and limestone mine at Rhydymwyn, in 1982 (owned by that time by Courtauld's Ltd). Galena (lead ore) and high-grade limestone was mined and brought to the surface there.
The headframe was modified along with the electric winding hoist to comply with rigid safety standards imposed by HM Inspectorate of Mines.
The original cast wheels on the frame were replaced (after they became buckled), by the fabricated wheels (seen in the photo) and supplied to order by the National Coal Board in the 1970s.
The mine finally closed in 1987 and the 500ft shaft was sealed with a cap of thick concrete. The headframe, hoist house and other buildings and equipment were dismantled and transported to the National Trust's Dolaucothi Gold Mine, Pumsaint, Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire.
My father, Don Richardson, worked for the company from 1940 to its closure in 1987, so did my grandfather, Albert Richardson, from 1934 until 1958.
Pen-y-Bryn shaft top at Halkyn, circa 1941. Picture courtesy of Rob Richardson
• Headframe at Halkyn District United Mines' 925ft deep Pen-y-Bryn shaft. The building to the left is the mill where the mined galena (lead ore) was crushed for processing.
Pen-y-Bryn was closed for processing and hauling lead ore in 1957 and the operation was partly transferred to the nearby Olwyn Goch mine at Rhydymwyn, the electric winding hoist was dismantled in the early 1980s and donated to the Greenfield Valley Heritage Park, Holywell.
The head frame was salvaged for scrap a few years later. The structure with the windows atop the mill building is a wartime lookout post which provided an excellent vantage point of the Dee Estuary, Wirral and Liverpool beyond a strategic destination for enemy aircraft. The lone worker at the pithead is my grandfather who was Surface Foreman at the mine from 1934 to 1957.
The bottom of the shaft at Pen-y-Bryn, circa 1941. Photo courtesy of Rob Richardson
• The shaft-bottom at Pen-y-Bryn, Halkyn Lead Mine - circa 1941, showing one of the winding cages which had a carrying capacity of one mine car (as illustrated) or eight men for transport to and from the surface some 925ft above the shaft-bottom.
A view from deep underground in the 10 mile long Milwr Tunnel. Photo courtesy of Rob Ricahrdson
• A view from deep underground in the 10-mile Milwr Tunnel which reaches from Cadole near Loggerheads, Mold to the Dee at Bagillt via Halkyn Mountain. The tunnel was driven through to drain the various lead mines in the area and was maintained by the Holywell - Halkyn Mining & Tunnel Co. Ltd. The battery loco pictured operating on the 22.5" gauge track dates from the 1930s and was one of two operated which were manufactured by Wingrove and Rogers of Liverpool. A tandem battery loco (two locos joined) a B.E.V. battery loco and two Ruston Hornby diesel locos were also in the mine's haulage fleet. The network of mine workings in the area roughly encompassing Pantymwyn, Cadole, Rhydymwyn, Rhes-y-Cae, Rhosesmor, Halkyn and Bagillt area is estimated to contain 60 miles of tunnel workings.
A gang in the Milwr Tunnel near Harrward shaft, 1930. Photo courtesy of Rob Richardson
• Pictured in 1930, a gang in the Milwr Tunnel near Harrward shaft outside Holywell, near the Milwr. They are in a flat bottomed boat and had been doing some maintenance work on the tunnel.
A a commercial postcard, published around 1920 of Lewis' Shaft at Halkyn it was just up the road towards Rhosesmor from the Blue Bell pub. Picture courtesy of Rob Richardson
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