Golfers hoping for a relaxing round at a picturesque Cornish club were left stunned by the addition of several holes — but not the kind that would improve their handicap.
A 30ft shaft has opened up at Perranporth Golf Club after heavy rain caved in a mine running beneath the site.
Storm Chandra’s persistent downpours, which prompted an amber warning from the Met Office last week, caused gaping holes to appear at the oceanfront club on the north coast of Cornwall.
The shaft leads to a network of old mining tunnels
SWNS
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Drone video shows a sinkhole at roughly six-and-a-half-feet wide and 25ft-30ft deep, which leads to a network of old mining tunnels.
Although the sinkhole is not on the golf course, the shaft is in an area where people sometimes walk their dogs — despite not being allowed to.
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“Areas like this are not designated footpaths and therefore we are not always looking at them or maintaining them,” the club said on the Perranzabuloe Community Facebook page.
“Given that three sinkholes have been generated within the area [over] the last week it is imperative for people’s safety that they do as we request.”
Several other deep shafts have opened up in the area after the storm, including behind the Perranporth Surf Lifesaving Club, the dunes and a nearby footpath.
Dog walkers and families with young children have been told to watch their step while specialists have been called in to make the area safe again. Some of the holes that opened up have been fenced off but they can be easy to miss, according to locals.
Nathan Gilpin, the club’s general manager, said: “From what mining specialists have been able to decipher, the one on the golf course’s land is a ventilation shaft. It doesn’t show up on any mining surveys and it’s not big enough for people to have climbed up and down it.”
Cornwall has a rich mining history and was crucial for producing tin and copper. But the maze of disused tunnels can become “unstable during prolonged wet conditions” and pose a danger to residents, according to Amanda Coleman, the clerk of Perranzabuloe parish council.
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She added: “We are treating this as a volatile and potentially dangerous situation. The parish council is currently working closely with Cornwall Mining Consultants, the Duchy of Cornwall and other relevant authorities to assess the extent of the issue, make the area safe and undertake appropriate remedial works as a matter of urgency.”
Simon Johns has tagged the locations of some of the holes using the What3Words app. He said: “Be aware anyone walking in the dunes, a deep shaft has opened up. It’s easy to miss, disguised and very dangerous at the moment, especially for kids or dogs.”