WABANA, N.L.
The tunnels stretch deep inside the belly of Bell Island in a network as vast as the streets of St. John's, N.L.
Oil-stained men began drilling these caverns more than a century ago to extract deposits of iron ore.
Today, one of the six mines here is the primary tourist draw on Bell Island, situated in Conception Bay less than an hour from the provincial capital. The site offers a glimpse into what life would have been like for the hundreds of miners who toiled in these dark, damp corridors from 1902 to 1949.
"People would wonder why these men were tough and hardened,'' Karen Seward says as she guides a group through the No. 2 Mine.
"My God, they had to be. There were times during the year when they wouldn't see the light of day for months on end.''
Iron ore mining in the island town of Wabana began in 1895.
Six years later, after all of the surface ore had been taken, the miners went underground.
The operation grew, and with it so did the population of Bell Island. By 1923 the island was the second largest centre in the province, and at one point had 15,000 residents, about five times the number now.
"The place here was booming then,'' says Linda King, who runs a nearby gas station and restaurant. "Over the years, we've seen it quiet down quite a bit.''
Bell Island, nine kilometres long and three kilometres wide, was once one of the world's largest suppliers of iron ore. There were 78 million tonnes of iron ore shipped from the mining site until its closure in 1966.
Aside from crushed stone bedding and modern lighting, the No. 2 Mine has largely been left untouched since the days of its operation. Visitors must wear hard hats and are encouraged to bring a sweater or light jacket -- the temperature in the mine can get as low as 8C/
Seward also advises people against rubbing or digging out pieces of the wall to bring home a souvenir, at the risk of weakening the mine's ceiling.
"A little piece could be holding up a big piece, and you don't know which piece is holding up the whole thing,'' she warns.
The mine extends four kilometres beneath Conception Bay, but the tour only goes as far as 200 metres.
At that point, parts of the mine are flooded with fresh water that has seeped through the rock.
Last year, a group of international cave divers led an expedition through a nearby underwater mine shaft in the hopes of establishing a full-time cave-diving operation in the area. A member of the group suffered an air embolism and died, but the expedition continued and there are some who remain optimistic that the site can become a tourist attraction for divers.
Remnants of the mine's history are scattered throughout -- picks, drills and a stable where horses were once kept.
There were 80 horses working underground at one time, pulling ore cars. Some of them worked in the mine for 20 years.
"Many of our ex-miners will tell you that there were many times when the horses were actually treated better than the men,'' says Seward, whose grandfather worked at the mine.
About 10,000 people tour the mine annually. It's open from June until September.
Outside, the shores of Bell Island attract scuba divers because of nearby shipwrecks. In fact, the island is one of the few places in North America to have suffered a direct hit from German forces during the Second World War, when four ships were sunk by U-boats.
Bell Island makes for a quick detour off the beaten path of the Avalon Peninsula. It's about 45 minutes from St. John's, including a 20-minute ferry ride across the tickle from Portugal Cove.
ON THE WEB:
www.bellisland.net