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Report - - Goldscope Copper and Lead Mines (Cumbria, Dec, 2021) | Mines and Quarries | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Goldscope Copper and Lead Mines (Cumbria, Dec, 2021)

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urbanchemist

28DL Regular User
Regular User
This was a quick visit with junior on Christmas morning since the house elves were being slow with food preparation and the weather was good.

I hadn’t done much research, just had it pinned as ‘interesting?’ probably because there was some mention of water-power when I first looked it up.

In fact this a well known site and it’s slightly surprising there’s no report on here - there are a couple of reports for Goldscope Slate Mine, which a different place altogether, near the summit of the Old Man of Coniston.


History. You’ll find plenty online e.g. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1019945?section=official-listing

Briefly this pointy little ridge called Scope End …


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..has been attacked by miners for centuries, first scraping out ore from the surface then tunnelling in to get at more.

The interesting bit is the hydraulic setup - water was pumped out of the lower levels by a water wheel inside the mountain as shown below (W = wheel).

Underground water wheels are of course nothing new although only two survive in the UK.

This wheel has gone but I hoped it might be possible to make the through trip, following the dotted line.


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Heading in the most obvious entrance above the spoil heaps, which is where the water came out.


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Winding tunnel for a bit…


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…then a tall narrow area where ore has been hacked out - note the climbing rope just visible at the back.


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Recent-looking candles.


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Not far beyond is another void which is where the wheel lived.

I forgot to get a picture of the remains of the wheel pit but it doesn’t look like much, just a smooth arc carved in the rock (the top bit is visible in both photos below).


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We were now about half way through the mountain, but couldn’t get any further at ground level and place was a bit too dangerous to go climbing around.

So back out to the entrance…


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…and round the mountain to try from the other side where the water went in.

The first two holes we looked at didn’t go anywhere, or not far.


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But the third one was better - an ancient hand-carved ‘coffin level’ - note the 6’3’’ child inserted for scale.


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This eventually leads to a hole with a channel for the water to run down - if you carried on down there you should get to where the wheel was.


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Immediately to left was another big sloping void with a neat coil of rope and fixings at the top.


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And this was as far as we got before heading back for xmas dinner.


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I expect there’s plenty more to see - people obviously climb around in here, maybe those adventure centres who seem to get everywhere, and there’s supposed to have been a second wheel somewhere in the lead workings.

There are also a number of other potential entrances we didn’t have time to visit, including an old lead level in a field near the head of the ridge and several more things higher up the slopes.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Lovely stuff. What a way to spend Christmas morning. If I lived anywhere near this kind of thing, I would too. Liking the coffin level too. Funny as "note the 6’3’’ child inserted for scale. " pmsl :thumb
 
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