Coppermines Valley and Red Dell

Well the wam summer weather has returned. Perfect conditions for walking this morning and good to have some blue sky and sunshine to add to the photography. We set off up into the Coppermines Valley, headed around the back of Irish Row, a small terrace of houses built to house miners.The track gradually rises up to Red Dell where there are some of the oldest mines in the valley, dating back to Elisabethan times. There is also the industrial remains of a large water wheel, the wheel has long since gone but the masonry is still there. This part of the site is likely to change in the near future as lottery heritage funding has been allocated to allow for a comprehensive survey and some restoration. So I thought it would be worth recording the site as it is now.

As you enter the hanging valley, the view opens out and it feels like you really are in the heart of the mountains.A beautiful valley with the added fascination of the industrial heritage.

Irish Row, where it is said that the miners slept top to tail in the beds and the beds never went cold, because as one shift got up to go to work the previous shift came back to get into the beds.

This view is looking over to Coniston Old Man and the disused quarries clearly show the line that the slate takes up the mountainside.

The wheel support and pit at Red Dell.

Looking down the valley towards the village and the lake, from Red Dell.

Heather growing around the old mines below Kennel Crag. These mines are now fenced off to dicourage curious walkers from venturing too near. Believe it or not, people have had to be rescued from this mine after trying to jump across and not quite managing a safe landing. The fall down the shaft could result in a 1,000 feet fall.

Looking back towards the mine workings, across Red Dell Beck.

Our path then followed the old water course. A small lavada, or canal, used to channel more water to the wheel at Red Dell.

An old sluice gate on the water course. No, I'm not referring to myself!

The path / water course contours under Grey Crag where I photographed this Hawk Bit, framed by Heather. Eventually the path arrives at Paddy End, a large area that was used for processing the copper ore. There is still much evidence of past work, but now is the site for the water treatment works, feeding the village and much of the surrounding area.

From Paddy End a path leads south west up a short incline to the Pudding Stone, in Boulder Valley, pictured above. This huge boulder being about thirty feet high is roughly the size of a house!

From Pudding Stone there is a path back to the Old Man road. This patch of Hawk Bit were growing on the banks of one of the old disused quarries. The Red Dell valley can be seen in the back ground.

More Hawk Bit and recently built cairns.

Our route back to the village took us back into the Coppermines Valley where Heath Spotted Orchids are still growing late in the season.