|Helen Harris (1994) |Phil Newman et al (1999)| |Todd Gray (2001)| |
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Phase 2, Haytor Quarry B
It would appear that Hay Tor Quarry was up and running by 1819 with
the tramway linking it to Ventiford opened in September 1820.
The main evidence for this is that the quarries at Hay Tor (site 6) were very
extensively worked and having studied the track it appears that the track
leading north from quarry B (Hay Tor Quarries) was later cut and not connected (site 5)
to the main trunk of the tramway. The track configuration will the have
looked like that shown below, in the schematics.
Greenwood's map of 1827 shows
only one quarry, that of Haytor Quarries. The surveying
for a map on such a scale will have taken many years. It is very likely that when the
original surveying was completed, only Haytor Quarry was up and running and connected to the
tramway.
Amery Adams 'Holwell Quarry' is most likely, Middle Quarry. This was mentioned in a
verse by Thomas Tavener describing the opening ceremony of the Quarries and Tramway in
September 1820. Adams tells us that Haytor Quarries and 'Holwell' were open at the time
of the opening ceremony.
The siding shown in the schematic below may have been
used for passing however M.C. Ewans mentions in his book, a suggestion by J.V. Somers
Cocks that this 'Manaton
Siding' may have been used in connection with the local practice of 'ripping'
stone; that is the collection of odd lumps of granite from the moor by
private individuals which they then sold to the company. The possibility
that the siding was used to unload stone for local building can also not
be ruled out. However because the siding is now almost completely obliterated
and because a second route was evidently used to enter the quarries, it
is most likely that the siding we see today was not in fact a siding but
part of the original track into the most easterly part of the quarries.
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When the second quarry (Quarry C, Hay Tor Quarries) was opened, a new section
of track had to be built to access Quarry B. The configuration
of the track at this point was thus changed again with the track diverted
towards the Quarrymen's cottages and into new Quarry C. The original track
leading to quarry B was obliterared by the spoil and digging of the later
Quarry C. The only evidence of this original track are the earthworks to
the south of the points on the southern side of the embankment.
Phil Newman (1999), states that a roughly
built wall defines the western side of the tramway where the earthworks
are seen. It is continuously broken by the spoil dumps but re-appears on
the southern side of the quarries near the ruined buildings.
Phil Newman (1999), also postulates that there were up to three tracks
in the viscinity of the earthworks. Spoil tips for the relevant quarries line up well with their original entrances, proving a useful tool in quarry and track chronology. It is possible that the track feeding the spoil tip at the northern side of Quarry B was in place before the northern track access was laid. This northern access route still only served for waste removal, the main track entering Quarry B at it's original entrance just above the western end of Quarry C. As Quarry C extended westwards this track was also lost under spoil and or removed by quarrying. The second entrance to Quarry B may well have then become the main entrance. It is certainly a late addition to Quarry B because it cuts Quarry B's spoil to the north of the quarry. Quarry A it seems was never joined to the NW loop of the tramway and possibly only served as a place where cutting and shaping took place. |
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The short spurs on the track as mentioned in the reconstruction section
were probably used to hold wagons prior to the passing of a train to Ventiford.
Many of the larger spoil tips also were crested with tramway to facilitate
dumping.
If work continued in Quarry B after the new line to Holwell was laid then access must have been through the track leading into the lower Quarry C. Granite may well have been pulled to the precipice between the quarries and lowered into Quarry C for further transportation. It is likely however that the entrance we see today as leading into Quarry C did originally feed Quarry C (as seen on T. H Williams 1829 print (Harris, 1994)). Eventually the entrance developed into a quarry in it's own right as the floor was under-mined. There is also Adams (1946) 'Interior Veiw' of Haytor Quarry B to consider. The Quarry was obviously still being worked by some means in 1825. This must have been via the track through quarry C. Before Holwell Quarries were developed, the northern access track to Quarry B and A (Hay Tor Quarries) was cut off from the main tramway at site 5. |
