Old Man Quarries - Cumbria - March 08
I was trying to show someone these remains the other day but for some reason I don't seem to have posted them on this forum :p
These old slate quarries are on the east side of The Old Man of Coniston. Hundreds of walking folk go past them every year and wonder what they are and how they got there. The smaller sheds with the turbines and other old machines are harder to find as they are off the tourist trail.
Some info
Coniston has been Lakeland's centre for slate and copper mining for 500 years. The well known ‘Coniston copper mines’ are reputed to be some of the largest copper mines in Britain, with a vertical distance of around 2,000 ft (610 m).
The nearby slate mines on the North East flank of the Old Man, are known as "Old Man Quarries", though sometimes given the individual names of: Brandy Crag, SaddleStone and Moss Head. All the workings are more or less underground, apart from Low Brandy Crag, which was opened out into an opencast quarry in the 1980s by Burlington Stone, and is still operating today. Most of the lower levels in Saddlestone are blocked, though the Moss Head Quarries are still open.
Apologies to those who have seen this before but I did promise someone I would post them :thumb
Visited with Squirrel68
