The Honister Slate Mine in Cumbria is the last working slate mine in England. Quarrying for Westmorland green slate has been taking place in the area since the late 17th century. Apart from the mining it is also a popular tourist attraction in the Lake District National Park.
Opencast quarrying had been carried out at Honister since the late 17th century. [1]
By 1870 Honister's underground workings stretched under Honister Crag with intermediate workings on the opposite side of the valley at Yew Crags. There were smaller-scale underground workings on Dubbs Moor, together with a small opencast quarry. Packhorse teams were used to remove the finished slate on sleds from mines. This involved bringing the loads down steep paths that traversed the cliffs to the top of Honister Pass (The Hause). Dubbs mine was known for its "smaller metal" (metal being the terminology for slate), in that smaller pieces of slate (thus smaller slates) were obtainable due to the geology; but this did give rise to some instability. [2]
In 1879 the mine's new owners - who also leased and operated other quarries in Borrowdale - installed self-acting inclines to serve both the Honister and Yew Crags mines. Despite the cost to build these feats of engineering, the financial outlay was justified as they improved efficiency in the mines. For instance the Dubbs Quarry incline allowed slate to be pulled up and then down into the valley to The Hause. [3]
By 1888 production had reached 2,598 tons a year. [4]
The mines reverted to care and maintenance for a while due to labour shortages in First World War. However it did not take long for production to recommence after the cessation of hostilities. By 1926, following a change of management and a new Resident Director, Robin Hoare, the mine's fortunes began to improve with significantly increased production. Considerable modifications were undertaken throughout the quarries, such as the works at The Hause being electrified with two Ruston 4-cylinder diesel generators. [5]
The new Kimberley Mine was started from the Road End Level, with a substantial 600-foot (183 m) long 14 ft × 14 ft (4.3 m × 4.3 m) electrically powered incline. Work also began to implement a proposal (that had first been suggested in the mid-1890s) to drive a level through to the Dubbs Quarries. About 100 m (330 ft) of level was completed before the project was shelved in favour of further developing the more significant workings under Honister Crag. In 1932, Dubbs Quarry ceased production largely due to the difficulties and slowness of transporting finished slate. [6]
Despite an enforced closure from 1943 to 1945 during the Second World War production continued through the 1950s and 1960s although Yew Crag mine closed at that time due to difficult roof conditions. [7]
In 1981, all the quarries of the Buttermere & Westmorland Green Slate Co. Ltd. were acquired by B. R. Moore and his father, R. D. Moore. [8] The pair introduced a programme of improvement and a large amount of capital investment was undertaken. This included the installation of rail-borne EIM-Co Rockershovels, battery locomotives, improved rolling stock and increased specialist underground mechanisation and systems (the Moores were helped by their General Manager, Jim Peart, of Weardale mining - previously manager of the Burtree Pasture, Rookhope, and Stanhope Burn lead and fluorspar mines). [9]
In 1985 the Moore family sold the company and its quarries to Alfred McAlpine plc which also owned Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda, North Wales. McAlpine used an earlier planning permission to open a new opencast (on the Dubbs side of Honister Crag), on the Honister Vein some 200 m (660 ft) from the Hopper Opencast (Kimberley Vein), which was then infilled with waste from the new workings. [10] In 1989 McAlpine ceased operations at all the quarries. Only care and maintenance was undertaken. [11]
In 1997 the mine was reopened by local businessman, Mark Weir, who redeveloped the mining side - producing small quantities of roofing slate - and who also turned the site into a tourist attraction. [12]
A 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) narrow gauge industrial railway was used to assist in the slate extraction process. [13]
Attractions around the mine complex include a visitor centre, underground tours of the workings, and England's first via ferrata, where participants use a safety harness to scale a cliff path. This attraction proved to be very popular and in 2011 was awarded winner of “Best Tourism Experience in The Lake District" by Cumbria Tourism. Using the original miners' track up the steep outer incline of Fleetwith Pike, is both physically and mentally challenging. [14]
Honister Mine featured in the 2011 BBC television programme Tales from the National Park. It followed owner Mark Weir, and his attempt to open a zip wire from the top of Fleetwith Pike to the mine below. Weir died in a helicopter crash in March 2011 (during the making of the programme). He had been trying to obtain planning permission for the proposed zip wire. His business was also facing a prosecution on the part of Natural England in respect of damage to plants within a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (Honister Crag SSSI). The damage was related to an unapproved extension to the via ferrata which Weir had initiated. [15]
A 2012 planning application for the zip wire was refused by the Park Authority on the grounds of impact, despite support from explorer and Lake District resident Sir Chris Bonington and notable business and tourism organisations. [16] [17]
Permission was granted for the 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long zip wire in 2018. [18]
The Old Man of Coniston is a fell in the Furness Fells of the Lake District in Cumbria, England, and is the highest point of the historic county of Lancashire. It is at least 2,632.62 feet (802.42 m) high, and lies to the west of the village of Coniston and the lake, Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the alternative name of Coniston Old Man, or simply The Old Man. The mountain is popular with tourists and fell-walkers with a number of well-marked paths to the summit. The mountain has also seen extensive copper and slate mining activity for eight hundred years, and the remains of abandoned mines and spoil tips are a significant feature of the north-east slopes.
Dale Head is a fell in the north-western sector of the Lake District, in northern England. It is 753 metres or 2,470 foot above sea level and stands immediately north of Honister Pass, the road between Borrowdale and Buttermere.
Robinson is a fell in the English Lake District, its southern slopes descending to Buttermere, while its northern side is set in the Newlands Valley. Paths lead to the summit from the village of Buttermere, from the nearby summit Dale Head and from various locations in the valleys to the north.
Haystacks, or Hay Stacks, is a hill in England's Lake District, situated at the south-eastern end of the Buttermere Valley. Although not of any great elevation, Haystacks has become one of the most popular fells in the area. This fame is partly due to the writings of Alfred Wainwright, who espoused its attractions and chose it as the place where he wanted his ashes scattered. Its large, undulating summit contains many rock formations, tarns and hidden recesses.
Honister Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5289 road, linking Seatoller, in the valley of Borrowdale, to Gatesgarth at the southern end of Buttermere. The pass reaches an elevation of 1,167 feet (356 m), making it one of the highest in the region, and also one of the steepest, with gradients of up to 1-in-4 (25%). The saddle at the watershed is known as Honister Hause, using the Cumbrian word hause for such a feature.
Coniston is a village and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,058, decreasing at the 2011 census to 928. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is in the southern part of the Lake District National Park, between Coniston Water, the third longest lake in the Lake District, and Coniston Old Man.
Fleetwith Pike is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria which reaches a height of 648 metres. The fell is a well-known feature of the area as it casts an imposing presence over Buttermere and the Honister Pass on the B5289 motor road between Borrowdale and Buttermere.
Dow Crag is a fell in the English Lake District near Coniston, Cumbria. The eastern face is one of the many rock faces in the Lake District used for rock climbing.
The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a slate quarry or reached by tunneling in a slate mine. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring material, gravestones and memorial tablets, and electrical insulation.
Coledale is a valley in the northwestern region of the Lake District in Cumbria, England.
Whiteside is a fell in the north-western area of the English Lake District. It stands at the western end of the Grisedale Pike- Hopegill Head ridge overlooking Crummock Water.
Brandreth is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands between Great Gable and Haystacks in the Western Fells.
Honister Crag SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria, England. It is designated for both biological and geological interest. The site covers an area of 302.9 ha on Honister Crag, from which it takes its name, and Fleetwith Pike, an adjacent fell.
Rhosydd quarry was a slate quarry in the Moelwyn mountains, northeast of Porthmadog in North Wales.
Oakeley quarry is a slate quarry in the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, north Wales. It was the largest underground slate mine in the world, and had 26 floors spanning a vertical height of nearly 1,500 feet (460 m).
The North Western Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Including such favourites as Catbells and Grisedale Pike, they occupy an oval area beneath the Buttermere and Borrowdale valley systems. The North Western Fells are characterised by soaring east-west ridges and an absence of mountain tarns.
Little Langdale is a valley in the Lake District, England, containing Little Langdale Tarn and a hamlet also called Little Langdale. A second tarn, Blea Tarn, is in a hanging valley between Little Langdale and the larger Great Langdale to the north. Little Langdale is flanked on the south and southwest by Wetherlam and Swirl How, and to the north and northwest by Lingmoor Fell and Pike of Blisco. The valley descends to join with Great Langdale above Elter Water.
Cwmorthin quarry was a slate quarry west of the village of Tanygrisiau, north Wales. Quarrying on the site started in 1810. In 1860 it was connected to the Ffestiniog Railway. In 1900 it was acquired by the nearby Oakeley quarry and the two were connected underground. In 1970 it closed along with Oakeley. There was small-scale working in the 1980s and 1990s, and the mine finally closed in 1997.
The geology of England's Lake District is dominated by sedimentary and volcanic rocks of mainly Ordovician age underpinned by large granitic intrusions. Younger sedimentary sequences outcrop on the edges of the Lake District area, with Silurian to the south, Carboniferous to the north, east, and west and Permo-Triassic to the west and east. The entire area was covered by a Mesozoic sequence that was eroded off during the Paleogene uplift related to the opening of the North Atlantic. During the Quaternary the area was affected by repeated glaciations, which sculpted the current mountainous landscape.