Middleton Mine.

Middleton Mine is the only underground Limestone mine in the UK, the mine itself is split over three levels and stretches a staggering 22 miles.

Its unclear when the mine originally opened but its origins date back to when one part of it was used for lead mining, it was only in the 1900s that the site turned to mining Limestone.

It is estimated that from 1959 to 2001 when the mine finally closed down, some 16 million tonnes of Limestone had been extracted.

The mine is currently decommissioned and all entrances are being sealed.

BAE Sytems also occupied the deepest level of the mine during the 1980s till the mine closed, this was strictly off limits to everyone except BAE staff.

The nature of what went on there was kept classified, but sources have indicated it was part of a secret testing program and experimental work was carried out there.

The mine is a very eerie place and extremely dangerous with huge drops all over the place, on top of this it is like a labyrinth and not paying attention to where you are going could result in you never getting back out.

Since the mine closed virtually all the original machinery and structures have gone, the only things which are still present are the various mine shafts and some old conveyor belts.

All the lighting remains sadly without power, as well as all the main fuse boxes and emergency and first aid points.

One section we came across still houses lime products and is still loaded up on pallets awaiting to be shipped to its clients.

The deeper you go into the mine the air does become a little thin so caution is advized.

Myself and The New Mendoza payed this place a visit after hearing it had been shut down, nothing could have prepared us though as to what to expect, when we eventually made our way in we stood in sheer amazement at the scale of the place.

It literally is enormous as well as pitch black in there, after our initial shock we got down to exploring, we stuck to the main road which runs through the site as straying from this without knowing what is ahead is very dangerous.

Anyway two hours later we emerged unscathed and very relieved, how ever a return trip is planned as we only covered a small section.