Shaft

The hills above Swanage are like Swiss cheese, riddled with the shafts and tunnels of the long gone booming industry which grew the town, only the remnants of which remain and don't reflect the real extent of what went before. According to some local elders, this shaft on the Townsend Nature Reserve was renovated some years back, the entrance stabilized with some beautiful dry stone walling and although an ironwork gate was fitted for safety, you could still view the interior. Though shortly after some vandals broke through the gate and trashed the inside of the mine, which still contained machinery and equipment. After that the site was fenced off, fell back into neglect and at one point the shaft could no longer be seen for invasive plants and shrubs; again a couple of years ago the foliage was cleared, but as you can see, it encroaches again.  It's sad when history is vandalized and neglected, it's sad that communities lose contact with their pasts. Eventually, the shaft, it's place in local history and the folk that toiled there will be forgotten.