My childhood trip into the sewer system, underground...

[Inkey]

3. Not a sewer but an old mine shaft

We had discovered a hole in a hillside while wandering
around the local woods. It was a muddy opening that
led us into a 5x5 foot shaft into a coal seam.
We could feel fresh air circulating, so we thought
we were safe enough to explore this unusual cavern.
We found a few paths that were filled with knee high
depth dark water, but explored further out of
curiousity. We didn't have flashlights but we did
have candles to light our way. There were notches along
the walls where would place a candle to mark our
trail. A few mining tools were found along the way.
Several years later there was some mine subsidence
under a few homes over this area.
A few of us talked about this adventure twenty
years later, filling in some of the history of this
shaft. During the the Depression people needed
the coal to heat their homes. Being that was
right under their feet, they thought it was easy
pickings. The mine extended about a mile.