Mining

Across the North – January 2013

January 15, 2013

It’s time for another news post. I haven’t done one for some time. Starting with the North West, the big news in recent days has been the Lake District National Park Authority’s rejection of an eighteen month trial installation of a Zip Wire at Honister Slate Mine, a centuries old industrial site on the side [...]

Buttermere and Haystacks; Fleetwith Pike and Honister Crag

July 31, 2012

Yesterday afternoon, using a free afternoon between meetings in Keswick, and following a wet drive from the Newlands Valley over to Buttermere I decided to pay a quick visit to the Honister Slate Mine. First, though, even in conditions far from ideal for photographing mountains, I could not resist a shot over the head of [...]

Keswick Mining Museum [SADLY, NOW CLOSED]

July 25, 2012

Yesterday morning I was sitting on a wall outside the big tent at the Keswick Convention drinking a cup of Tearfund tea when I got into conversation with the man sitting next to me, a visitor from Switzerland. He was interested in knowing what there was in the area that would interest his young sons. [...]

Ullswater and Patterdale in the English Lake District

February 29, 2012

This past weekend my wife and I took a short trip by Ullswater, mostly in the car. I wasn’t very energetic but wanted to be outside so we drove from Appleby to Glenridding and up into Patterdale as far as the Brotherswater Inn. It wasn’t an especially good February day weatherwise, but the Lake District [...]

What to do in Keswick … Indoors.

July 19, 2011

Keswick is a marvellous centre for Lake District outdoor pursuits, but also there are things to do and to see under the cover of a roof. Today, following a morning at the Keswick Convention, I walked past three very interesting places (well, more really, but I’ll mention three) all very close to the centre of [...]

The National Coal Mining Museum

February 22, 2011

Driving down the M1 south of Leeds I’ve often noticed the signs for the National Coal Mining Museum but until today had never taken the time to investigate. My wife and I were driving home from North Yorkshire and had nothing else planned so thought we’d take a look. We were not disappointed. The main [...]

Coniston Old Man

February 15, 2011

Here’s a nice photograph of Coniston Old Man, behind the village of Coniston, that I came across on Wikimedia. It all looks very pretty in the snow, but it’s worth remembering that not too long ago men would climb up, at all seasons of the year, to work in the Coniston coppermines. These mines were [...]

Another Lake District & Cumbria news trawl

January 11, 2011

Hoard of Roman coins near Silloth. A man with a metal detector was on his way home after finding nothing that day when he diverted to check on a freshly ploughed field near Silloth. He’s glad he did, as he found a hoard of Roman coins. See the story as told by the Whitehaven News. [...]

Coniston Coppermines

November 23, 2009

The copper mines around Coniston were worked from at least the middle of the 16th century and, with a number of breaks in production in between, up to end of the 19th when competition from high-grade ore imported from overseas killed this local Lake District industry. Coniston Old Man, the mountain behind Coniston village, was [...]