Another repost from the forum outage.
There are four old lead mines at the western end of Swaledale, strung out along the little road which winds down into Keld.
I’ve stopped a few times over the years to check one or other while driving through to larger attractions further east.
I knew there wasn’t likely to be much accessible underground since these are all shaft mines - the ore-bearing sediments slope down below the level of the river at around Keldside, so everything except possibly a few drainage levels will be flooded.
Indeed water was a major problem for all the mines and ultimately why they closed, despite ore still remaining underground.
The three in the valley (Lane End, Keldside and Little Moor Foot) were mostly worked as a group as they were on the same set of ore veins, which roughly follow the course of the river.
The information below comes from Gill’s book and Historic England records.
Lane End. This mine is near the junction of Birkdale and Great Sleddale Becks, which combine here to form the River Swale.
Although probably started in the 1700s it acquired a new 100 yard deep shaft in 1801.
However by 1815 the waterwheel pump was not powerful enough to keep it dry and was replaced in 1829 with a second-hand steam engine, said to have taken seventeen horses to haul it in.
But there was still too much water and the mine was eventually abandoned in 1839.
All that’s left are some ruins.
The shaft with water pouring in part way down.
The remains of the dressing floor with the wheel pit in front and some ore bins behind.
Old maps show another (unnamed) lead level in Great Sleddale valley behind the mine so since I was there I walked up to have a look.
A view of the valley with the Lane End ruins on the far left and the level out of sight round the corner on the right.
It turned out to be too wet and muddy to be easily explorable.
There’s also an old copper mine a bit further up, supposed to have been a 1908 trial, worked from a shallow shaft.
But nothing doing there either, just some man-made earthworks and a waste tip.
Little Moor Foot. Started in the mid 1700s, this mine operated mainly from a 94 yard deep shaft, with a connection to a level (Rumble Pool Level) further south opposite Keldside Mine.
It was probably pumped by a water wheel in the 1830s and 1840s until a hydraulic engine was installed sometime after 1847.
The engine was powered by water from Birkdale Tarn, and lifted mine water part way up the shaft to run out the Rumble Pool Level, also draining the Lane End shaft higher up the valley through the vein network.
The mine closed between 1854 and 1892 according to old maps.
General view of the area from a campsite on the opposite side of the river - the mine area is partly out of view on the left.
I was surprised to find that there was actually something hydraulic left here - a water turbine and generator.
I didn’t notice a makers name but it looks like a Pelton by C. L. Hett (taken over by Gilkes in 1895).
Pelton wheels were in common use by the 1890s - the wheel sticking out horizontally controls the spear valve.
The only writing I could find was the maker of the bearings, Ransome and Marles - must be good ones since the wheel still spins smoothly.
Immediately behind is a slab of concrete over a filled-in shaft along with rusty remains of what was probably the pressure pipe.
The original hydraulic engine would have been the reciprocating type, so the turbine was probably installed later, maybe in the 1920s, to make use of the existing water supply to generate electricity for the local farm.
This end of Swaledale is pretty remote and the mains didn’t arrive until the 1960s.
Birkdale Tarn. Since there’s mention of pipes still laid up to the tarn in some 1873 correspondence, I went to have a look - it’s apparently the third biggest lake in the Yorkshire Dales.
The path to the tarn goes through Hill Top sandstone quarry - these Dales ‘quarries’ sometimes turn out to be underground flagstone mines, but this one was just an opencast and looks as if it’s still being worked occasionally.
The original natural tarn was made into a larger reservoir for the mine by building a wall with massive sandstone slabs on top.
The stone seems to have come from another little quarry just visible behind the lake in the picture above.
The culvert in the wall where the water came out - old maps show a sluice downhill but that seems to have gone.
I didn’t see any more rusty piping, only a stone-lined culvert heading downhill and some modern blue plastic pipe for someone’s water supply.
Bad day for a stoat - you see these traps all over the fells to control predators of ground-nesting birds, but they rarely seem to catch anything.
Keldside. Said to have been started in the 1740s and closed by 1861, it was worked from two shafts north of the river, pumped first by horse and then by a water wheel which also drove a crushing mill.
There isn’t much left except some lumps and and shafts.
The Rumble Pool Level on the other side of the river is still there with plenty of water coming out, but walled up.
Since it’s on private ground and in view of a house I didn’t investigate further - there’s what looks like another completely blocked level nearby.
A view of the river bank nearby showing the sediments sloping down.
Keldside Smithy and Mill. Further down the river is a ruin marked as a smithy in 1854.
An inventory survives from a valuation in 1870 but it seems to have become just a house after the mine closed.
Downstream is the remains of Keldside Mill, where ore from the mines was smelted.
Built in the late 1830s and closed by 1868 this had a relatively short life.
There isn’t a great deal left - a former office on the left, attached to the front wall of the hearth room, both now sheds for sheep.
The middle section around the door looks like it’s been rebuilt.
Rear view from the leat which provided water to the bellows room, now gone completely - the ruin on the left was a peat store.
Flues from the three hearts combine leading up to the stump of a chimney on the hill behind.
There’s a level marked in this area, Richardson’s Level, but I didn’t find it.
continued
There are four old lead mines at the western end of Swaledale, strung out along the little road which winds down into Keld.
I’ve stopped a few times over the years to check one or other while driving through to larger attractions further east.
I knew there wasn’t likely to be much accessible underground since these are all shaft mines - the ore-bearing sediments slope down below the level of the river at around Keldside, so everything except possibly a few drainage levels will be flooded.
Indeed water was a major problem for all the mines and ultimately why they closed, despite ore still remaining underground.
The three in the valley (Lane End, Keldside and Little Moor Foot) were mostly worked as a group as they were on the same set of ore veins, which roughly follow the course of the river.
The information below comes from Gill’s book and Historic England records.
Lane End. This mine is near the junction of Birkdale and Great Sleddale Becks, which combine here to form the River Swale.
Although probably started in the 1700s it acquired a new 100 yard deep shaft in 1801.
However by 1815 the waterwheel pump was not powerful enough to keep it dry and was replaced in 1829 with a second-hand steam engine, said to have taken seventeen horses to haul it in.
But there was still too much water and the mine was eventually abandoned in 1839.
All that’s left are some ruins.
The shaft with water pouring in part way down.
The remains of the dressing floor with the wheel pit in front and some ore bins behind.
Old maps show another (unnamed) lead level in Great Sleddale valley behind the mine so since I was there I walked up to have a look.
A view of the valley with the Lane End ruins on the far left and the level out of sight round the corner on the right.
It turned out to be too wet and muddy to be easily explorable.
There’s also an old copper mine a bit further up, supposed to have been a 1908 trial, worked from a shallow shaft.
But nothing doing there either, just some man-made earthworks and a waste tip.
Little Moor Foot. Started in the mid 1700s, this mine operated mainly from a 94 yard deep shaft, with a connection to a level (Rumble Pool Level) further south opposite Keldside Mine.
It was probably pumped by a water wheel in the 1830s and 1840s until a hydraulic engine was installed sometime after 1847.
The engine was powered by water from Birkdale Tarn, and lifted mine water part way up the shaft to run out the Rumble Pool Level, also draining the Lane End shaft higher up the valley through the vein network.
The mine closed between 1854 and 1892 according to old maps.
General view of the area from a campsite on the opposite side of the river - the mine area is partly out of view on the left.
I was surprised to find that there was actually something hydraulic left here - a water turbine and generator.
I didn’t notice a makers name but it looks like a Pelton by C. L. Hett (taken over by Gilkes in 1895).
Pelton wheels were in common use by the 1890s - the wheel sticking out horizontally controls the spear valve.
The only writing I could find was the maker of the bearings, Ransome and Marles - must be good ones since the wheel still spins smoothly.
Immediately behind is a slab of concrete over a filled-in shaft along with rusty remains of what was probably the pressure pipe.
The original hydraulic engine would have been the reciprocating type, so the turbine was probably installed later, maybe in the 1920s, to make use of the existing water supply to generate electricity for the local farm.
This end of Swaledale is pretty remote and the mains didn’t arrive until the 1960s.
Birkdale Tarn. Since there’s mention of pipes still laid up to the tarn in some 1873 correspondence, I went to have a look - it’s apparently the third biggest lake in the Yorkshire Dales.
The path to the tarn goes through Hill Top sandstone quarry - these Dales ‘quarries’ sometimes turn out to be underground flagstone mines, but this one was just an opencast and looks as if it’s still being worked occasionally.
The original natural tarn was made into a larger reservoir for the mine by building a wall with massive sandstone slabs on top.
The stone seems to have come from another little quarry just visible behind the lake in the picture above.
The culvert in the wall where the water came out - old maps show a sluice downhill but that seems to have gone.
I didn’t see any more rusty piping, only a stone-lined culvert heading downhill and some modern blue plastic pipe for someone’s water supply.
Bad day for a stoat - you see these traps all over the fells to control predators of ground-nesting birds, but they rarely seem to catch anything.
Keldside. Said to have been started in the 1740s and closed by 1861, it was worked from two shafts north of the river, pumped first by horse and then by a water wheel which also drove a crushing mill.
There isn’t much left except some lumps and and shafts.
The Rumble Pool Level on the other side of the river is still there with plenty of water coming out, but walled up.
Since it’s on private ground and in view of a house I didn’t investigate further - there’s what looks like another completely blocked level nearby.
A view of the river bank nearby showing the sediments sloping down.
Keldside Smithy and Mill. Further down the river is a ruin marked as a smithy in 1854.
An inventory survives from a valuation in 1870 but it seems to have become just a house after the mine closed.
Downstream is the remains of Keldside Mill, where ore from the mines was smelted.
Built in the late 1830s and closed by 1868 this had a relatively short life.
There isn’t a great deal left - a former office on the left, attached to the front wall of the hearth room, both now sheds for sheep.
The middle section around the door looks like it’s been rebuilt.
Rear view from the leat which provided water to the bellows room, now gone completely - the ruin on the left was a peat store.
Flues from the three hearts combine leading up to the stump of a chimney on the hill behind.
There’s a level marked in this area, Richardson’s Level, but I didn’t find it.
continued
