lørdag 16. november 2013

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-






søndag 10. november 2013

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-  





lørdag 9. november 2013

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-