There are several social groups in the valley, some based on walking, some based on exploring local history, or of many other interests.

Today two of those interests combined to provide the opportunity to walk into the 'history' of the Newlands Valley.

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The Cumbrian Fells are famous nowadays for classic grassy open fells, mountain views and fell walking

but in the olden days they were a hive of industry and Keswick for a short time was the copper, lead and graphite capital of the world.

Our history group of a dozen or so folk meet in the Newlands valley to learn about that local history, with the assistance of two brilliant local experts.

Newlands Church on a beautiful Sunday morning.

We were to meet at the Church Bridge parking area but it's holiday time so it was hard work finding a space.

Our group of thirteen were organised into some sort of order by our two guest leaders, Mark and Mike.

After a quick explanation of the plans for the day and the offer of hard hats if you hadn't brought one, we were on our way.

Mark Hatton and Mike (both in red) are members of a Cumbrian mine exploration group CATMHS, Cumbria Mines History Society,

and have spent many hours exploring old mine workings in the Lakes.

They were to guide us round and impart their knowledge so that we would end the end the day much better informed

about what we would normally pass by, hardly noticed on a fell walk or on outing into the hills.

Our walk would take us up the valley track to the head of the first Newlands Valley.

To the left is Dale Head, then Hindscarth with Scope End (and Goldscope Mine) facing us centre photo.

To the right is Robinson, with High Snab Bank being the ridge with the white building at this end of it.

First we would walk up the valley to "discover" the oldest working in the area, which date to the sixteenth century.

These were dug by the German miners brought over by Queen Elizabeth 1st in the 1560's.

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She created a consortium called "The Company of Mines Royal", a joint stock company in collaboration with German expertise.

The German Company that supplied the men and technology and much of the finance was called “Haug Langnauer & Co”

and records still exist back in Germany of all the original work reports and employment records from 350 years ago.

On the home front Britain needed copper wire to make wool-carding combs, to support the important wool trade of the day.

Queen Elizabeth 1st also needed the copper to make brass for weaponry, to protect against the possible invasion by Phillip of Spain.

What was worse, Britain's supplier of all modern weapons at that time was also Spain, so her defence capabilities were at risk.

She needed copper !

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First stop were the workings of the later Castle Nook Lead Mine,

which had tunnels (adits) higher up the fellside and spoil heaps that lay either side of the track.

Our main objective at the end of the valley was the Pluckhor mines, the spoil heap from which can be seen ahead.

These were thought to be the first, but not the most productive copper workings in the valley.

[ It is possible that small traces of copper was found here in the 1200's, during the rein of Henry III. ]

An ancient sheep fold post-dates the even older workings, the spoil from which shows that classic red copper tint.

Water was always a problem, especially if it rained.

This excavation has filled due to Cumbrian rainfall and lack of drainage, but it has preserved the wooden props for us to see.

The Pluckhor Mine can be seen across the way as we explore Long Work.

This excavation has been incorporated into a more recent sheepfold, the high sides saved on building dry stone wall to enclose sheep.

A 'conglomerate boulder' was pointed out by Mark, so we went over to explore.

He asked us what we thought it was ?

It was made up of standard size, richly coloured rock, quite small in nature.

This contrasted markedly from the surrounding spoil heaps.

The answer was that this is pure copper ore, broken by hand and stored in a heap ready for transportation to Keswick to be smelted.

It was estimated to be about 15 tons of ore but why was it never taken away and used, after all the effort in extracting it ?

The answer is possibly that a fall in the market price made it uneconomic to transport . . . or the company digging it went bust !

Some historians believe the Keswick Smelter was destroyed in the 1640’s by Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War.

As a result the Copper Ore could no longer be processed so this ore and mining in general was abandoned.

Still it made a good place for a group photo today,

the one above with Mark in it and this one taken by him, with myself in the photo.

Suffice to say to would-be prospectors, this copper ore is now worthless as the copper content will have leached out

due to the intervening 400 years of rainfall !

The 1560's mines explored, we started back down the valley by walking across to join the miners sled track

which has zig-zagged its way down from more workings high on the face of Dale Head.dale head mines

	- - - o o o - - -   Another archive photo of mine from 2009   These are the old workings and mine buildings at the head of Far Tongue Gill, on the way up Dale Head, at the top of the sled track we're using today.   - - - o o o - - -

 

Back down the valley past an old mine building that has a new lease of life

as a climbing hut for the Carlisle Mountaineering Club

The gorse is in bloom and smelling sweetly as we cross the river

on the path to Low Snab Farm and the Goldscope Mines

An old farm implement for harvesting hay, lies rusting alongside the track.

We climb the spoil heaps to reach the top of the "German Level" of the mine area.

We're on the outdoor processing floor where the rock was broken and refined, the waste material being cast aside into spoil heaps 

that cover the valley floor.  The metallic nature of the waste has prevented re-growth of the grass in this area.

The view down the valley to the distant Skiddaw Fells, across the top of the spoil heaps.

Generally the fine spoil is hand processed waste (16th century), the larger rock pieces tend to be later, post Elizabethan,

bigger pieces being created once explosives became more commonly used in mining.

	- - - o o o - - -   Here the second half of our adventure started !     We were invited to join Mark and Mike underground.   Hard hats and torches were made ready ready and checked to be working   then we ventured into the tunnel known as The St George's Level.     - - - o o o - - -

To the untrained eye it looked like an ordinary tunnel

But with Mark's expert help we were shown the symmetrical, smooth, hand chiseled rock of the 16th century German workers.

The tunnel would have originally been no wider than was needed to extract the ore vein and carry the rock out in bags.

Later widening of the tunnel to allow a rail track improved efficiency destroyed much of the early German surfaces.

Left is the hand cut tunnel walls.	Right is the later widened tunnel.

The gully to the left would have carried a continual stream of water to the outside . . . more of that shortly.

Railway sleepers set in the floor, survive due to the water.	A carved out nook, possibly a trial exploration in the side of the tunnel.

This tunnel took ten years to dig and was very disappointing due to the poor nature of the vein of copper,

but suddenly a wide and prosperous seam of ore was found and profits soared.

The ceilings were dug out and ore extracted in quantity.	Mark Showed us some of the remaining small ore veins.

Pit props from various ages could be seen above.	He shines his torch up to reveal a sheen of copper sulphate colour.

We are into a large cavern that once held a twenty foot waterwheel.

This was fed by a water leat carved through the mine, feeing a supply of water to provide motive power for the machinery in the mine.

From here the mine went down six levels so rag and chain water pumps and hauling lines were needed

to keep the lower levels dry and to extract the ore.  The excess water was drained by the tunnel we had walked along.

	Mark shone his torch up a beautifully carved, curved rock section. This is where the water wheel would have stood. The shape of the curve outlined the size and the rust marks gave clues as to the bolted wooden support structure.