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RSPB Geltsdale, New venture drift/Howgill colliery and Forest head lime works,Cumbria

Posted in Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria, fell running, Foggy, gairs, Kirkhouse Bricks, mine, Mine adit, Nature, Old mines, Old Quarry, underground with tags Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria, fell running, Foggy, Forest head lime works, gairs, Kirkhouse Bricks, mine, Mine adit, Nature, New venture drift/Howgill colliery, Old mines, Old Quarry, RSPB Geltsdale, underground on October 29, 2010 by jakeofwinterhill

New venture drift -wast tip

“Howgill Colliery – Another early Thompson project was the Howgill Colliery which was a drift connected to the Blacksyke Branch near Forest Head. Howgill was closed in 1880 but sections of it were worked many decades later to help boost the dwindling coal resources. In 1919 the Naworth Coal Company was again considering fresh mining activities closec to the old Howgill Colliery and the Venture drift was reopened beside the Gairs Branch south of Forest Head which entered the Howgill seam this was called the New Venture Drift. At its peak in 1923 it employed 46 below ground and 16 on the surface and finally closed in 1934”.
taken from http://www.cumbria-railways.co.uk/brampton_railway_mines.html

pipes from the mine -these are used to vent gases from tunnels

entrance to the drift mine -taken from the top of the drift entrance

we heard water which sounded like it was from a hollow tunnel -one of the other entrances to the drift mine!

railway cutting to Gains colliery disused

a wall – look carefully a pipe !

a pipe to fill the water tank in the steam trains ?

a water tank – pipe to the railway cutting + valve found to control the water flow

a rainbow

capped mine shaft

mine waste tip

red lichen flower found on mine waste tip

forest head lime works,

very windy and wet on the ground

lime kilns

info about Lime Kiln’s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_kiln

inside a lime kiln

mine ?

Railway loading bay

railway cutting disused

lime kiln waste

kirkhouse brick

RSPB Geltsdale -back at last

http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/g/geltsdale/

Weather: very wet ,windy high chill factor very strong winds which were very gusty visibility generally good though, very tiring to be out and about on the high fells so we kept to the lowland parts , we will come back to this area.

Links to local area

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/uk/respb-geltsdale.html#cr

http://www.northpennines.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=12999

http://www.northpennines.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=9091

Local places to shop

http://www.alstoncraftworkers.co.uk/

http://www.made-in-northumberland.co.uk/

http://www.madeincumbria.co.uk/

local photo

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1539500

route

http://www.sanoodi.com/routes/geltsdale-mines-and-quarries-302340/

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Coniston Old Man Mine or Moss head Slate Quarry -part 3

Posted in Coniston, Cumbria, fell running, Lake District, moss head mine, Old mines, Old Quarry, Tramway, underground with tags Coniston, Coniston Water, Cumbria, Donald Campbell, England, fell running, Lake District, moss head mine, Old mines, Old Quarry, Slate, Tramway, underground on September 25, 2010 by jakeofwinterhill

overlooking the mine -Coniston village in the background

down the slate along the slate track

having a rest

sunbathing -this is a doorway look carefully!

a very big wheel -part of the slate transport ?

the railway that goes nowhere -nickname railway of doom

in the mine -the torch has 1m candle watts of power only shows up a small part of the mine

in the big dark mine

a video of the trip inside the mine

exit from mine

looking at the view to Coniston lake from another railway track

across the slate waste with Coniston in the background

big pieces of slate

view of Coniston lake , the car park where we parked is just visable

nearly back to the car

see part 1 and 2 for further details – of the trip

Links :

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/united-kingdom/null/178128558938845890

http://www.sanoodi.com/routes/coniston-old-man-mine-299778/

use the 3 D display to see the complete route in mapmyrun

1341 feet climb in total , climb to the mine has a ranking of 1 which is the most severe climb rating without climbing using ropes , 4.21 miles total completed in 3.5 hours, pause time in mines exploring 1.5 hours,

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Coniston Old Man Mine or Moss head Slate Quarry Part 1, lake district

Posted in Coniston, Cumbria, fell running, Lake District, Old mine, slate mine, Tramway, underground, Youth Hostel with tags Coniston, Coniston Water, Cumbria, Donald Campbell, fell running, lake coniston, Lake District, Old mine, Slate, slate mine, Tramway, underground, Youth Hostel on September 25, 2010 by jakeofwinterhill

this is the youth hostel we stayed at

the view is beautiful

this hill is very hard to run up it became steeper later on !

a old truck?

slate waste-very hard to run up -see the video below!

a iron rope for moving the slate

we followed the iron rope to locate the mine up the mountain – Coniston Old Man

iron pole for sliding and for moving the slate -can you see the rail tracks ?

machine made in Leeds

the first mine site

this is a tunnel ,this was blocked after 40 feet

on top of the first tunnel

Links :

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/united-kingdom/null/178128558938845890

http://www.sanoodi.com/routes/coniston-old-man-mine-299778/

use the 3 D display to see the complete route in mapmyrun

1341 feet climb in total , climb to the mine has a ranking of 1 which is the most severe climb rating without climbing , 4.21 miles total completed in 3.5 hours, pause time in mines exploring 1.5 hours,

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