Article

2007-11-09 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Mystery surrounds the sudden appearance of a 60ft (18m) deep hole on farmland in County Durham. A youngster almost fell into the 1m-wide hole at Highfield Farm, near Bishop Middleham, on Bonfire Night.

Some local people believe nearby quarry workings may be the cause - a claim operator Lafarge Aggregates denies. Experts from Durham County Council have been drafted in, but admit that at the moment they are unable to come up with a reason why it has suddenly appeared.

Farmer Billy King said: "We put a rope down with a weight on the bottom and it measured about 60ft deep.

"It's not that wide, but it is quite scary when you look down. It looks more like something you would get if there was an earthquake and the ground opens up."

Horses that usually graze in the field have been moved to safer ground.

Durham County Council surveyors have examined the site, but have so far drawn a blank.

A spokeswoman for Lafarge, which operates a quarry about a mile away from the farm, said: "The area is riddled with old mine workings, there are also two disused quarries as well as an old landfill site within a few hundred yards of the farm.

"All our blasts are monitored by both by the company and by Leeds University and we see absolutely nothing that indicates there is anything wrong with any of those blasts.

"We are confident this has absolutely nothing to do with us."

A spokesman for Durham County Council said: "We are aware of the hole, but do not have any information on the cause of it."

Posted by anonymous5089 2007-11-09 12:25|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 Mystery deepens over 60ft chasm

I told youse SO!!

Posted by Al Gore">Al Gore 2007-11-09 13:32|| 2007-11-09 13:32|| Front Page Top

#2 We call em sink holes.

Posted by wxjames 2007-11-09 14:20|| 2007-11-09 14:20|| Front Page Top

#3 "Farmer Billy King said: "We put a rope down with a weight on the bottom"
if the weight at been at the top would he have been meauring how high the sink hole is?
And just think, these are the same people that bring us Lucas Electric, Prince of Darkness.

Posted by USN,Ret. 2007-11-09 14:51|| 2007-11-09 14:51|| Front Page Top

#4 Lucas Refridgerators - why the British drink warm bier.

Posted by Thomas Woof 2007-11-09 15:06|| 2007-11-09 15:06|| Front Page Top

#5 Bonfire night? How friggin PC can you get?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-11-09 15:09|| 2007-11-09 15:09|| Front Page Top

#6 Limestone, water -- end of mystery.

Dearman, W. R. & Coffey, J. R. 1981. An engineering zoning map of the Permian Limestones of NE England. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, London, 14, 4157.

Posted by Darrell 2007-11-09 16:06|| 2007-11-09 16:06|| Front Page Top

#7 Let's call it the monument to the Church of England, Bishop of Canteburry, and antisemitism in England.

These are the dukes of Edom.

Posted by newc">newc 2007-11-09 18:37|| 2007-11-09 18:37|| Front Page Top

#8 Bonfire Night suggests that water was NOT involved.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2007-11-09 18:54|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2007-11-09 18:54|| Front Page Top

#9 Vertical long hole/bore into the ground - water well? Old or unknown/secret, late nite mine boring?

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-11-09 19:20|| 2007-11-09 19:20|| Front Page Top

#10 It is obviously a hellmouth - a gateway to the underworld. When legions of demons appear, or even Old Scratch himself, don't say I didn't warn you. And no, I don't know you would tell them apart from the C of E.

Posted by SteveS 2007-11-09 19:26|| 2007-11-09 19:26|| Front Page Top

20:17 SteveS
18:44 magpie
18:44 magpie
18:33 Frank G
18:33 badanov
18:26 Hellfish
18:23 Hellfish
17:40 swksvolFF
17:34 Ebbuger Whuque4103
17:30 Ebbuger Whuque4103
17:02 Melancholic
16:27 Gravilet Snanter4154
16:20 Chaise Speaking for Boskone7897
16:02 Skidmark
16:01 Skidmark
15:46 Skidmark
15:41 Skidmark
15:37 swksvolFF
15:36 Skidmark
15:34 Skidmark
15:27 Skidmark
14:48 NoMoreBS
14:31 NoMoreBS
14:16 NoMoreBS