CME Expedition 15

Location: Skien, Norway.
Members: 001, 002, 003, 007.
Type: Ironmine.
Status: Abandoned.

As described in Expedition 11, Norway has a lot of natural resources that other nations have been more than willing to exploit. Let's take a journey back in time...to the year 1538. Norway is under danish rule, and will continue to be so until we get our constiution in 1814, after which we enter into a union with Sweden for almost a hundred years. But either way, back on track..the year is 1538 and the danish king Christian III orders a mining expert from Saxony to travel to the area of Skien to prospect for iron. The german mining expert's name is Hans Glaser. He has loads of experience from mining in eastern Germany. After poking around in the hills west of Skien he sends a letter to the danish king saying something along the lines of "God has shown us mercy by placing an abundance of iron ore in Skien, in plenty and wide locations."

Hans Glaser goes about making major plans for developing Skien into a mining town. This is said to be the earliest know comprehensive plan for developing industry in Norway. This was never to materialize though. Based on experience from Saxony, Hans Glaser had expected the ores to widen as they mined further down into the mountain. They didn't..they were widest near the surface and narrowed as one descended.

The nearby ironworks of Fossum were established, and in 1543 Glaser reports that the first mine is up and running and iron production at Fossum has commenced. This first mine, the "Glaser Mine" (It probably didn't have this name in 1543.) is the oldest ironmine that can be dated in Norway. The Glaser mine was only the first mine of many in this area, and Fossum ironworks stopped production as late as 1867 after more than 300 years of producing canons, ovens and so forth. Unfortunately most of Fossum ironworks is gone today. The Castle of the owners (quite spectacular), along with the gunpowder house remain to this day. There is an estimated 400-600 mines of various size in the hills west of Skien, most of them not secured by fences, and anyone traveling to this area is advised to stick to the paths and to show caution to where one steps if going of road.  (The Cavemen experienced this when traveling through the wilderness, but we were prepared and cautious and therefore avoided falling into the abyss on several occations.)

The Glaser Mine was an obvious destination for the Cavemen!!

We set out early one saturday morning. I hop on into the cavemobile, and with exploration music blaring out of the speakers to set the mood, I head for 003's hideout. Soon after, 007 was picked up for his first expedition and we were off. 002 was supposed to meet us on site with his girlfriend, but after a distress call we ended up picking up him aswell. All four of us packed into my little Toyota Yaris, we were ready for action, until 002 decided he couldn't go anywhere without his dose of morning coffee. A few take away coffee's later we're back on road and find the designated parking. We gear up and head off into the bush. After 20 minutes of walking we are met by the first warning signs..we're getting close.

Dangerous Open Mines

We kept on walking, headed for the minetunnel that goes straight into the hill we were approaching. Soon enough we get there and have a little break before heading into the darkness. I pull out a small bag of candles and 003 looks at me like I've just proclaimed being fond of other men. I laugh him off, considering 007 and I have both put children into the world! Either way, I was hoping to get some cool shots inside the mine, turning off the flash and only using the light from the candles. I head off into the mine with the first candle lit and place it where I see fit. The rest of the guys quickly follow, grabb candles and place them as we venture further into the darkness.

Near The Entrance. An Airshaft Provides Daylight.

In The Halls Of The Mountain King

It was an awesome feeling walking through this miningtunnel thinking about the primitive methods of mining they had in the 16th century.

Belly Of The Beast

After walking and placing candles for about 40 meters (120 ft.) we hit the end, there had been a cave-in here at some point in time and the tunnel was blocked. We went back out for some fresh air and warmth. By now 003 had realised what I was trying to achieve with the candles, as it now dawned on him that we could traverse the whole thing without flashlights, only guided by the candles. It gave a special feeling that in no terms can be transcribed to text or photo. I tried to get the shots I mentioned earlier, but unfortunately i'm not that much of a photographer. ( Maybe one day.) I'll throw along a few anyway, just to give you an idea.

Caveman 002

Guided By The Lights

After a few journeys back and forth taking pictures, I told the guys about an access point across the hill that lead down into a cave containing a small lake. They needed no convincing and so we were off. Once there my camera was bugging out, so I got no good pictures from the inside but i'll throw in a shot of the entrance itself.

The Other Side Of The Mountain

We entered the cracks in the picture above and found ourselves in a cavern with a small lake. There were side entrances back into the mine we had previously explored, but we were cut off by collapses and water. Caveman 007 was all eager and began planning absailing into the cut off sections from above, and so the rest of us had to calm him down...you've got to applaude his dedication though, but one thing at a time right. That being said, it's an interesting thought..people may not have been down there, in the closed off sections for hundreds of years..would be nice if the Cavemen were amongst the first to really map this thing in a proper way.

One Of Many Holes Into The Deep Below, Scattered Along Hill

On our way back across the hill, 007 was creeping on all four into every nook and cranny looking for ways into the mine. Some were fenced off, leading a long way down judging by the small rocks we threw in, others were small entrances not really leading into the mine itself, being blocked by cave-ins. 003 had one hell of slide down a slope, getting a few bruises, but nothing a Caveman can't handle right?! He's now a nominee for injury award during the Cavemen Awards 2014. (Until I came home and found out I had a bug stuck to my thigh...a bug known to carry the disease Borrelia, making you insane.) So in the words of 003: "During the spring of 2014, if you start climbing walls in bunkers, trying to convince the rest of us that you're Spiderman, you deserve that award by a mile."

-Caveman 001-

CME Expedition 14

Location: Skien, Norway.
Members: 001, 004.
Type: Defence Post, WW2.
Status: Abandoned.

After exploring the location in expedition 13, we got back in the car and continued our journey. It was still early in the evening, sunny and warm, and caveman 004 was ready for some more exploring. We decided to have a look for a defence position built by the germans during the second world war, reported to be nearby. This place was located on a little hill right in the middle of a field, so we had to drive a little back and forth to find a place to park. We saw a guy standing by the side of the road and decided to ask him politely if we could park on his property for half an hour. He replied with a grin, so I was curious to see if the car was there at all when we got back, or if it had been stripped for all usable parts. Either way, we climbed the little hill and the following picture illustrates what we saw.

001 Headed Into The Bush

We looked at eachother thinking 'how the hell are we going to find anything here'? It was the right spot, so we carried on through the bush, fighting off branches and bugs, carefull not to fall into overgrown trenches. Then, at last we spotted concrete, though heavily overgrown after being abandoned for the past 68 years. This was a perfect caveman playground and a nice find. All we had to do now was find a good entry point.

Trenches

After pushing through branches and trees a little while longer, we found the entry point. All of a sudden a horse comes riding by litterally 20 ft. from where we stand, but the rider has no chance of spotting us, as this place is so overgrown. It made us wonder how much of the surrounding bush the germans would have left standing when making this place. The trees around us seemed to be quite young, but this could have been cut down and re-grown several times since the war. Caveman 004 jumped on in, and while I took pictures from above, 004 was moving along down in the trench.

 
It didn't take long before it branched off into two paths..towards two different shooting positions.

Intersection

We decided to check out the path on the left hand side in the picture above. Branches and small trees down in the trench served the purpose of natural barriers, but 004 carried on and got to the first shooting position. It had a raised platform and niches in the wall for storing ammo.

Position 1

After heading back to the intersection and choosing the other path, 004 crouched down to get a shot of where we came from. If you imagine his camera replaced by a gun, it sort of looks like he's defending the trench from a rear attack.

Private Caveman 004 Reporting From The Front Lines

The second shooting position turned out to be a bit bigger than the first, and was overbuildt with what the germans called wellblech, but still had the raised platform and ammo niches in the walls.

Position 2

Having found the extent of the trench system we climbed up and headed to the front of the structure to get an impression of what potensial enemies would see, that's when 004 discovered that they had even built a draining system to keep water out of the trenches.

Drain Hole In Front Of Position 2

Once down from the little hill we had been on, we turn back towards the second position and discussed how this must have been quite a strategic position, it overlooks the field nearby and a little lake, and it's relatively well concealed. Besides the fact that it uses natural rock, the germans probably fitted it with their own camouflage.

Looking Back Up At Position 2

So now to the question about why the germans constructed this position just here? Well, it's hard to tell really. It's not situated close to any place of obvious strategic value. The guys over at the kystfort forum speculate that this may have been constructed to protect a seaplane port down by the lake, or it could have been here to defend against airborne troops landing in the area. I have no idea which is correct, but the germans constructed several inland positions up in the county of Telemark during the last stages of the war. A lot of the original german records from the war are simply gone, so it could be hard to find out. We'll keep you posted if we do. Oh, by the way...the car was still there when we got back!

-Caveman 001-  

CME Expedition 13

Location: Skien, Norway.
Members: 001, 004.
Type: Industrial, Waterworks (?).
Status: Active.

Sometimes, when i'm headed up into the county of Telemark I stop the car a little northwest of Skien city and take a leak at this location. I have seen the weird looking structure there several times before and always wondered what it was, but I have never had the camera with me until now. Caveman 004 and I were out spelunking one day after work, and decided to have a closer look at this place. Once there we parked the car and scanned the area for potentially curious onlookers. There seemed to be none, so we carried on down to the structure itself.

The back side of this thing, whatever it may be is right next to the main road. (You can just catch a glimpse of the car parked behind the tree on the left hand side.) Anyway, we surfed on down the little slope in the picture, almost falling headlong when tripping over some roots. Once in front of the entrance I noticed something different from when I was here last a few weeks earlier, namely the small red stickers that are present on the door. They gave some insight into who ran this place, but posed some new questions as well.

The first sign carries the logo of Herøya Industrial Park. Ok, so they run this place we figure, but it still didn't offer any clue as to what this place was or why it was here. Sign number two warns of alarms directly linked to the police and that access is restricted to the personel of Herøya Industrial Park. While talking back and forth about what this place could be, we headed on over to the second structure on the site.

Structure number two also bears the same stickers on the door, so we got confirmation that they are related. This one seems to lead under the road behind it. To get an impression of size and depth, 004 went over and shouted through the horisontal openings in the door only to hear the echo ring back out, so it seems this goes quite a stretch in behind the door. Considering the newly discovered fact that this was industry related, combined with the fact that we had a lake behind us, we decided to look for a water intake. We had a working theory that this could be some power generating facility, but we were no where near a waterfall so this would be strange if true. Either way, after a few minutes looking about the site, we did however find old signs warning of danger due to a water intake from the lake. This in itself posed new questions.

While looking for info on the web now, maps of properties and buildings identify this property as owned by the municipality of Skien, and the structure itself is identified as "other preparedness building." The strange thing is that Herøya Industrial Park is located in the neighboring municipality. There is about 10km (6,5 miles) between this place and Herøya Industrial Park. If they generate power here, where are the power lines leading back out of it? Are there tunnels transporting the power all the way (10km!!) through the mountain? (Not very likely!). What are they doing here? We took our photos and got back in the car even more puzzeled than when we came. Maybe we'll figure it out one day..

"UPDATE": Just found out that the company Hydro that first built industry at the place now called Herøya Industrial Park actually did build a 10 km long tunnel through the mountain to maintain a supply of fresh water for their industrial processes..10 KM!! Wow..that makes me even more curious..  

-Caveman 001-

CME Expedition 12

Location: Skien, Norway.
Members: 001, 004.
Type: Shelter.
Status: Re-Used.

Surfing the web, actually looking for info on another location, I stumbled across mentions of a civil defence command post literally 5 min. drive from my house. 004 was ready to go that day as he hadn't been out exploring for a while, so I picked him up on the way there. The place we were headed to, called command post Bergsland was at one point sold to the municipality of Skien, who in turn intended to use it as an archive for the municipality. It is still in use as an archive today, so there was no hope of entering it at this stage. That being said, I do have plenty of unanswered questions and unconfirmed locations that need answering, so I might get in touch with them at some later date. If so, I will be sure to bring my camera with me. Anyway we rolled up to the front..catching weird looks from the next door neighbour watering the plants in her garden, and I can't say I really blame her, considering the following from her point of view.. (Here she is, enjoying herself when all of a sudden this car she hasn't seen before rolls up, two bearded guys come jumping out, taking a few pictures of the door next to her house, leading off into the mountain, and no sooner had they come, they jump back in the car and drive off, nodding their heads to her, smiling, as they pass.) Bet that was a topic around the dinner table that evening. On a side note, luckily this ain't the home of the brave..or she would have taken a quick phone call and we would have been renditioned off to some remote location for "questioning". Well, enough ranting..Let's see what this place looks like..

Command Post Bergsland

Entrance

As with the location in Expedition 2, this entrance has also clearly been rebuilt. I don't know if the usual blast proof doors are still intact behind what we can see today though. Again there was this sign warning about surveillance, but either they have been very clever at concealing it, or it simply doesn't exist. A bit off to the right hand side in the first picture, just outside the frame we again found a strange feature. In Expedition 2, I speculated whether or not it could be connected to some sewer system. Finding it again here, in just the same position in relation to the shelter and identical, I draw the conclusion that at both locations it has something to do with the shelter itself. I'll throw up a picture for you..so you can compare it to the similar looking feature in Expedition 2.

What Are These?

Finishing off, i'm just gonna throw out a little speculative something..if you compare these two images, you'll probably, just as I have, notice that there are manholecovers in front at both locations. I for one, would sure like to have a look inside, to figure it out. One thing is for sure..We'll keep it in mind if we come across these at a seemingly abandoned or disused location.

-Caveman 001-

CME Expedition 11

Location: Skien, Norway.
Members: 001, 002, 003.
Type: Industrial, Waterworks.
Status: Semi-Active Area.

First off, the city of Skien is located right between an inland waterway and a river that runs to the sea. This geographical position has given Skien the basis for growth. It has been settled for a very long time, some speculate that it could be one of the oldest densely settled areas in Norway. Excavations in the center of town during the late 70's indicated that it has been an urban area atleast as far back as 1000 AD. (As urban as you could get back then, that is.) Either way..you can read up on the early history yourself.

Fast foreward a few hundred years to the 1500's and Skien is rapidly beginning to industrialise. Extensive mining is started north-west of the city along with ironworks and everything that goes with it. (You could already tell we are going to explore those mines later on, couldn't you?) In the rest of Europe there is also a growing need for timber, cities burn to the ground and thus need to be rebuilt. Trading across the seas is expanding, so huge merchant fleets are being created. Norway, and Telemark in particular has lots of deep forests, so naturally (no pun intended) there is money to be made. Keeping this in mind, Skien being located right where these two waterways meet is in a very strategic position. The inland waterway is slightly more elevated than the river to the sea, so there are lots of waterfalls..perfect locations for sawmills. And there were lots!! So the timber would be floated down to Skien from the depths of Telemark, treated at the sawmills, before being shipped of to foreign markets. Skien, with all of it's sawmills, sawdust, timber, planks and so forth has been very prone to fire and has burned to the ground and rebuilt countless times. The map below gives you an impression of the area, although it's hard to overstate the completely changed nature of the landscape since then.

Map of Skien from 1681.

As a result of all the activity, building, rebuilding, drilling holes, infills, digging holes, carving out of tunnels and so on during the last 500 years..this former industrial area of Skien now offers a plenthora of tunnels and things to be discovered. We have only been here once, taking a quick peek, getting a feel of the area..but we will be back, because there are lots to be discovered and to learn here. I'll stop writing now, and just hit you with a few tunnel pics..

 

 

 

-Caveman 001-

CME Expedition 10

Location: Porsgrunn, Norway.
Members: 001, 002, 003.
Type: Infrastructure, Emergency Tunnel.
Status: Active / Open.

While driving between locations on our trip to check out some sites in Porsgrunn, 002 all of a sudden shouts out.. "Stop the car, I think I saw something!" I pull over and 002 heads on across the road where he has just spotted some concrete stairs leading down to who knows what. We were in the middle of a residential area, so there was no obvious reason for this being here. Still in the car, 003 and I were quite excited and waiting for 002 to show up again. It's hard to describe the smile on his face when he peaked over the concrete wall, so naturally I spun the car around and found a place to park.

The Spot

002 told me to go down and feel the door, and he didn't have to ask me twice. He held the camera, taking a few shots while he was at it. I headed on down the stairs already knowing that this had to be open, judging by the look on his face. I was soon to know why he had such a big smirk on.

001 In Action

Stepping inside we were quite stunned, thinking "what the hell is it we've just found here?" There were lights on in the ceiling and stairs headed further down.

002 & 003 Heading Down The First Flight Of Stairs

The other guys were headed down the stairs the instant we stepped foot inside, while I tried to get some photos of the process and the entrance itself. As seen in the picture above, the stairs continue on down to the right, beyond the corner. As soon as they hit the platform and peaked around they simultaneously said "You've got to come see this s**t!" Still having no idea what this place was I quickly followed. It's hard to describe the jittery feeling you get when you discover something like this. I'll just let the next picture give you an impression of what was around the corner.

Endless Stairs

This had to be amongst the cooler places we had found thus far. We carefully proceeded on down the stairs, after noticing the rocks that had fallen from the ceiling, scattered around the stairs. Next picture is a bit beyond halfway down to the bottom.

Midway Down

Running a scan of my mind, it was beginning to dawn on me what this place was, considering our geographical location, the direction of the stairs and the difference in elevation. But i'll get to that in a moment..

Bottom Of The Stairs

Reaching the bottom of the stairs we were quite cautious about the orange light you can see on the right hand side of the door in the picture above. For all we knew it could be some sort of alarm. None of us fancied running back up all these stairs after setting something off. Getting a bit closer we figured out that in all likelyhood this was no alarm, but we still have no idea of what it's function was. Hearing sounds coming from the other side of the door, my suspicions about the nature of this place were confirmed.

002 Checking Out The Door

Checking the door, we found it was locked from the other side. The place we had found here was an emergency exit tunnel from a traffic tunnel running beneath Porsgrunn. We could hear the cars rushing by at 40 mph. on the other side of the door, and felt no need to step any further. At least we had a new thing on our list while doing research for locations. I'll throw in a couple of shots of our ascent back up to the surface, just for good measure.

Midway Looking Up

Headed Back Out For More Adventures

-Caveman 001-
 

CME Expedition 9

Location: Skien, Norway.
Members: 004.
Type: Industrial/Waterworks?
Status: Partly Active.

I think I'll just have to start with this shot right here.

We've had a lot of theories about what might be hiding behind this hatch. Hinges to the left and a solid lock to the right.

I believe this might be a little lower than the hatch in the previous picture. It's located in the area behind the hatch on the opposite side of the mountain, with quite a simple wooden door. But still..just as locked as the hatch.

Yet more locks and fencing around the surrounding area by the door. Might have been cheaper to put up the fence insted of securing the hole with a proper metal door.

Large motors of some sort. Located inside the fenced off area by the door. Turning to the right reveals tunnels stretching further into the mountain behind a shopping mall in the center of town.

-Caveman 004-

CME Expedition 8

Location: Porsgrunn, Norway.
Members: 001, 002, 003.
Type: Train Tunnel.
Status: Inactive / Abandoned.

During our first trip to Porsgrunn, we were just snooping around visiting some of the sites we knew about. One of the targets for the day was an old, abandoned industrial train tunnel which runs underneath most of Porsgrunn. The tracks branch of from the main line, run a total stretch of 1883 meters, or 6177 ft. in tunnel before exiting to a large industrial port site.Caveman 003 had wanted to go to this place for a long time after hearing about it. I had been there previously and knew it was easily accessible. After parking the car, and trying not to attract to much attention from a few youngsters playing nearby, we carefully crossed what once would have been a fence, but was now torn down, halfway concealed by small plants. A few feet later our dissappointment was enormous when we saw they had fenced off the tunnel at this previously open end as well. Still bummed out we took some pictures before moving on.

The Tunnel

Locked Tight

Beyond The Gates

You would just love to see the inside of those gates wouldn't you? Well, we are not the first ones here, probably not the last either. Respect goes out where respect is due, so go check their pictures of this place. BarkUE , Olav XO, 28 Days Later . Great pictures by these guys.

Our journey to Porsgrunn would still turn out to be a major success though, 002 noticed something amazing by chance, but i'll keep that for a later post.   

-Caveman 001-