Loes and I wanted a walk in a slightly different location today,
so we headed to the coast near Whitehaven.
The weather was overcast and very windy so we decided to walk
towards town rather than towards St Bees lighthouse.
This is the start of the "Colourful Coast"
path from Whitehaven to St Bees.
[black for coal, red for sandstone, green for
grass, blue for the sea]
Looking towards St Bees Head, but the weather
wasn't particularly colourful today.
However, when the sun came out the colours began
to show . . .
blue seas, greens grass, red sandstone and black
(from the hidden coal).
Okay that's cheating a bit but that building
down on the seashore did relate to the old coal mine.
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The walk proper started from the Haig Pit .
. . the restored pit head gear formed part of a Heritage Museum.
[ Sadly it is now closed I believe as it ran out of money.]
Looking down to the harbour light at Whitehaven
as the sailing boats leave the shelter of the
port for an afternoon's sail.
There were half a dozen or so but they all set
off in different directions, so I don't think it was an organised
event.
Sea marks, like this post defining an underwater
obstruction,
always make a nice point of reference to sail
towards . . . just don't get too close.
The footpath leaves the main track and heads
down towards an old house and the Candlestick Chimney.
The top track turns into an old incline which
joined the harbour to the old pits on top of the headland
and from here you can look down on the outer
harbour spread out before you.
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The old chimney was part
of the old Wellington Pit.
It was on the top of a ventilation shaft
and carried away the mine's coal gas (methane)
high into the air and out of harms way.
It doesn't really slope like that,
it is a vagary of the phone camera's wide-angle lens.
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Loes stops on the way down the path to watch
the boats . . . then she turned around for the camera !
The impressive mosaic tells the story of the
town.
Underground, the coal mine was a major employer,
above ground the harbour and the sea meant the town could grow
and export its wares.
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The headland
overlooking the harbour is quite steep . . . |
. . . but the fence
is made of strong stuff. |
Down below is a pyramidal monument to the mine
workers and a building site, the location of a new harbour re-development
project.
The coal mine closest to town was the Wellington
Pit, which produced significant amounts of coal from 1840 to
1932.
The mine was developed by the Lowther Family
and the main shaft was 600 ft deep, the workings extended nearly
4 miles out to sea.
The main buildings and main shaft were sited
on the flat area between the cliff and the harbour side.
Unfortunately the mine was prone to "fire
damp", what we now know as methane, seeping out of the
coal seams.
An explosion and fire in 1910 killed 136 men
and boys, despite frantic rescue attempts, each time beaten
back by smoke and heat.
The main air vent was closed late the following
day in order to to put out the fire.
The pit was only re-opened four months later
when the bodies of only some of the men were brought to the
surface.
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A memorial
to those that died stands above the old pit area. |
Down on the harbour
side now, where there's an old capstan post. |
The large jetty is empty now, cleared of all
the decaying redundant buildings and sadly any traces of the
old trades.
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However
the main light on the outer harbour has recently been
restored. |
A Regeneration Fund,
helped by Sellafield, has made it possible. |
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The pier
is a good place to fish and we chatted with this guy
for a while. |
Out at sea, the first
of the day-sailors were returning to port. |
The old light on what would have been the
original outer harbour wall
before the 'new jetty' was built on this this
side of the harbour.
The fisherman mentioned that he had seen dolphins
earlier . . . so we spent a little while searching for them
ourselves.
In a choppy sea, a wave or shadow could be
one but the phone camera had difficulty focusing.
However there was no doubt here as I captured
this shot of one of the school of dolphins breaking the surface.
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The shorter breakwater is known
as 'The old New Quay' |
All the buildings but two, have
been demolished to make the area safer. |
This was the scene back in 2017.
The earliest photograph on the poster showed
a large open skiff on the pier
so the idea has been carried forward in the
form of an upturned boat shape in approximately the same place.
This gave space to explain the story of the
harbour, the old Rocket Brigade Buildings and lifesaving in
general
and provided a sheltered seating area to stop
for a while if you chose.
From out on the pier we could look back at
the Candlestick and all the way down the coast to St Bees
Head.
While we were down on the harbour side we
could hear some music drifting across the moorings.
We passed the Beacon
Museum and cafe and though we didn't go in, the smell
of the food must have made us hungry.
Our attention was drawn to the Whitehaven
Harbour Festival which was in full swing today.
Under the shelter live music was filling the
place with atmosphere.
It must be just after 2pm because this was
the "Committed to Rock Choir" singing their hearts
out.
Click
here for a short video.
(back-click on the TouTube screen to return here)
You could join in and create your own sand
sculpture, buy lunch, watch the acts and listen to the music.
You could also support one of the many stalls
along the seafront.
[ Photo courtesy of the Times
and Star ]
The Lifeboat was also out and about on the
water.
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It came in to moor on
the pontoon . . . |
. . . while people stood under The
Wave sculpture and watched. |
As the afternoon progressed the clouds cleared
away
and the festival was blessed by several hours
of sunny weather.
The local Newspaper, the Times and star, ran
an article afterwards that you can read here
On the way back we checked out some of the
new chairs.
The writing says "In 1299 the Whitehaven
ship Mariote under captain Scot carries corn for Edward's
Army. (King Edward Ist)
Another seat commemorates a failed invasion
of Whitehaven by John
Paul Jones and some of the crew
of the new American Navy, as part of the American
War of Independence !
John Paul was born in Scotland and often sailed
out of Whitehaven, so knew the town well.
However he chose a dark, wet night and his
crew weren't a disciplined as they might have been, so the
attempt came to naught.
An artwork in the town shows John Paul's crew
spiking the town's guns in order to render them unable to
fire back at the invaders.
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The only invaders now are the cyclists
who cam start their Coast to Coast ride from here.
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We'll head back to the car
but first we have to climb back up that 200 ft cliff.
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Still, once you are a descent way up, the views
over the town are nice.
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More historical pit buildings.
This one held a large, steam driven air blower (fan)
designed to ventilate the mines
and try and reduce that firedamp problem.
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Back under the old incline to regain our earlier
path.
The building ahead is known as Jonathan Swift's
House (of Gulliver’s Travels fame).
I'm told (by viewer David H) that Swift definitely
lived in the house and could have even been born there.
Up the last of the incline . . .
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The beehive shaped cairn on the top of the cliff
marks the top of another deep shaft
that would have extended all the way down
into the mine, some 800 feet below.
In it's day is was the deepest mine shaft ever built
so at the time held a world record by virtue of its
depth.
All the land up here, where the pit infrastructure
used to be,
has been reclaimed and is now available for the public
to enjoy.
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Ahead was the old Haig Pit and the car park
where we started our walk.