AN Ironbark woman has her slow-draining bath to thank for revealing an unfilled mine shaft under her house.
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Ruth Black, determined to get to the bottom of the bath mystery, called a plumber last week.
When the tradesman told Ms Black there was a mine shaft under her bathroom, she wasn't surprised.
"I knew there was one, it was on the plans for the house," she said.
What Ms Black didn't know and what surprised her was the shaft had subsided over time and posed a risk.
"When he told me it wasn't filled I got quite a fright. I think it's terrific as long as it's filled and safe," she said.
Ms Black said the house was bought by her family in the 1950s from a man who purchased the land from the mines department for a cheap price in the late 1930s.
"He bought it cheaper because it had the mine on it and shale. He filled up the mineshaft with the shale and I don't know for sure but he capped it and then built the house," she said.
"Then we bought the house at the beginning of 1952 and we knew there was a shaft but we knew it had been filled."
Ms Black said she assumed the shale had gradually settled or subsided over a period of time.
"It might have been like this for years. I don't know," she said.
She said the mineshaft was less than a metre deep but stretched about three metres wide.
"They said it used to be a tunnel," she said.
The mineshaft was expected to be filled with concrete on Tuesday. Ms Black said it was a good story to share with her friends.