Pretoria Chert Mine opened in 1902 with commercial extraction finally ceasing around 1969. The chert was removed by undercutting the underlying limestone and allowing the chert beds - sometimes many metres thick - to collapse under their own weight. The useful stone would then be removed to surface, with the "dead" material being used to make packwalls to help support the excavated chambers.
You can read more about the mine in PDMHS Bulletin "Mining History" - Volume 6, Number 3 - April 1976 in the article entitled "The Pretoria and Greenfield Chert Mine, Bakewell, Derbyshire" by Ivor Brown.

The photos here were taken on an PDMHS "Sunday trip" - a guided tour of the mine led by Tony Wood in January 2007.

Photographs by Martin Long.

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