2019

NY2926 : Blencathra Mine

taken 4 years ago, 3 km from Threlkeld, Cumbria, England

Blencathra Mine
Blencathra Mine
An intriguing long sunken pit alongside the Glenderaterra River that’s been conveniently used as a dump for rusting stock fencing. It looks like a waterwheel pit to me and probably used to provide power to pump out the shaft of the Blencathra Lead Mine which was last worked in 1875. This is the southernmost working of a series of 30 fathom deep shafts (180 feet) to work the mineral vein which ran roughly down the bottom of the valley. The main ores were those of lead but copper and baryte were also present.

The mine was not particularly successful although the problem seems to be financial rather than operational or geological with several changes of ownership. The proximity of the river would suggest that keeping the workings clear of water would have been a perennial problem hence the need for pumping powered by the force of the water,

A few hundred metres up the valley the Brundholme Mine was comparatively more successful working the vein up into the 1920s.

From my photo-diary for 30th December 2019 LinkExternal link

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Mick Garratt and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Rivers, Streams, Drainage Quarrying, Mining Derelict, Disused Primary Subject: Ruin other tags: Lead Mining Lead Workings Lead Mining Heritage Wheelpit River Stream Beck Rust Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Blencathra [7] · Rough [3] · Water [3] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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NY2926, 45 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Mick Garratt   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Monday, 30 December, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 3 January, 2020
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NY 2966 2672 [10m precision]
WGS84: 54:37.8412N 3:5.4674W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NY 2966 2672
View Direction
North-northwest (about 337 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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