It’s amazing what you find not far from the beaten track.

Remnants of winch machinery

I went for a wander up the Old Man Of Coniston today. The summit was disappointingly cloudy and the views non existent.

On the way back down I soon dropped out of the cloud and I decided to get off the tourist track and happened to find a load of mine workings and a slate mine which I went in to explore.

Looking out of the slate mine

This was only one small part of what must have been a huge operation in it’s time. You pass a few old buildings and a little bit of machinery on the way up the tourist path but nothing like this.

The tram lines were mostly intact and ran all through the mine

Rail lines for the ‘Dolly Tubs’

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve walked up and down the path to the summit of the Old Man but never seen this site – it’s only about 100 metres away from the track

First light over the Copper Mines valley

Cumbria, January 2014

Black and White Photography Lake District Landscape Photography Sony RX1R