On 10th January something happened deep inside the old "Gold Mine" at Lea Bailey in the Forest of Dean causing a sudden deluge of mud and water to flood down the adit causing chaos outside.

The cause is not certain but the adit is known to have contained a series of roof falls that were holding back a large volume of water. Either one of these dams burst or there was a new roof fall, but whatever the cause the flood pulse was strong enough the rip the substantial steel gates off their hinges and deposit a number of locomotives and wagons that had been stored in the adit in a heap outside the mine - a bit like something out of "Indiana Jones". Its worth bearing this incident in mind when next exploring old mine drainage adits!