Then in 1962 - A warning was given this week to those choosing to explore the Great Ayton countryside. “What many people do not realise is that Great Ayton is traditionally a mining area,” said Mr. Leslie Martin chairman of the local parish council. “There are scores of disused shafts and old drift mines scattered around this district which to the unwary could spell disability or even death.

Mr. Martin was commenting on the number of recent police rescues of youngsters who had climbed down to explore some of these shafts. Last week a 16-year-old boy scout was trapped down a 100ft disused quarry when the sides crumbled and collapsed. A passer by alerted the police who dragged the boy to the surface using ropes and slings.    “One doesn’t want to squash the spirit of adventure but these shafts are extremely dangerous. They are a legacy of 100 years ago and if children are allowed to roam unsupervised they are asking for trouble.”

Mr. Martin highlighted one of the biggest attractions as the Blue Lagoon, a large disused shaft filled with 100ft of water. “For youngsters who cannot swim, this is a killer.” Another shaft is named Elephant Hole. Only last week two boys climbed down this 80ft drop using pig wire taken from a nearby fence. A local shopkeeper said youngsters regularly came into his shop asking directions to the old shafts, “I try to discourage them, but it has little effect.”
  
At Gribdale one resident was angered by the increase in these rescues, “If these kids get into trouble they expect us to risk our necks. But what happens if we get injured in the process. We are not insured for this sort of thing.”
  
In 1965 17-year-old Johnathan Reader, son of the then headmaster of the Friends School in Great Ayton, was awarded a certificate of merit from the RSPCA after he had been lowered 60ft into Hell Hole to rescue a collie dog with a broken leg.

This article originally appeared in the November 1998 issue of Now & Then