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 CONTENTS
The Lake District landscape has been fashioned by its geology.
Rock is everywhere to be seen - not only forming the fells
and dales, but also visible in the buildings of the towns
and villages, in farmsteads, walls and in the ancient monuments.
Rock, stone and minerals, hewn and quarried from the fells,
have been part of the livelihood of the region for centuries.
Even today, rock and stone products are still an important
part of the rural economy. This trail takes you to key sites
where you can see the main rock types and understand the part
they have played in shaping the heritage of the Lake District.
The trail has been designed to take advantage of different
means of transport: on foot, by bicycle and by using local
bus and ferry services. It can also be undertaken by car,
but to get the most out of it and to see all the locations,
you will need to leave your car behind. There are two main
parts to the trail, both starting from Keswick:
1. A circular route to Threlkeld and back.
2. A second trail into Borrowdale and to Honister Slate Mine
on a linear route.
GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT
Along this trail it is possible
to see the three main kinds of rock to be found in this area
and to recognise the impact each has made on the local heritage.
Around Keswick and along the trail to Threlkeld are rocks
of the Skiddaw Group - dark grey, slaty rocks that
readily break into thin flat fragments. They form fells with
smooth, rounded outlines and are the oldest rocks in the Lake
District at almost 500 million years old.
Next are rocks belonging to the Borrowdale Volcanic Group.
These are the products of violent volcanic eruptions that
occurred around 450-460 million years ago. They vary from
dark lavas to light green slaty rocks and are found down the
eastern side of Derwentwater, in Borrowdale and over the rugged
central Lakeland Fells.
The third kind of rock to be found on the trail is far less
obvious. Beneath the whole of the Lake District is a huge,
bulbous mass of granitic rock called a batholith. This
granite dome lies about 2 km beneath the surface, but occasionally
parts appear at the surface; one site being near Threlkeld,
where the outcropping granite created an important quarrying
industry. Another location is Castlehead, just south of Keswick.
During the last 2 million years, the Lake District has endured
periods of severe cold (glaciations). Ice covered the
landscape and left its mark by eroding the terrain, scouring
rock surfaces, excavating lake basins (like Derwentwater)
and steepening many slopes. When the ice finally melted around
10,000 years ago, it left behind thick deposits of boulder
clay and sand, visible in parts of Keswick and Borrowdale.
KESWICK to THRELKELD and back
via CASTLERIGG STONE CIRCLE
(16 km/10 miles)
(Please
click here for a map of the walk)
|
The best way of doing this trail is by bicycle or
on foot. The trail begins at the old Keswick Railway
Station next to Keswick Leisure Pool. The first section
of the trail follows the picturesque railway footpath
and cycle route to Threlkeld. From Threlkeld the trail
follows minor roads back to Keswick.
There is a limited bus service (no. 87) from Keswick
to Penrith via Castlerigg Stone Circle. Contact Traveline
for more details.
|
1. The old station and adjoining Keswick Hotel are both built
of 'Lakeland Green Slate' from the volcanic rocks of
Borrowdale, using 'imported' sandstones for the mullions,
door jambs, sills and corner stones.
2. The former railway line was known as the Cockermouth,
Keswick and Penrith Railway. It was built to transport
iron ore from west Cumbria and return with coke from the north-east,
and also brought tourists to the Lake District during Victorian
and Edwardian times. The Keswick Hotel was built to accommodate
these visitors arriving by train. Work started in 1862 and
was completed in 1864. However, as with many minor railways,
the line could not compete with competition from roads and
closed in 1972.
3. The large rounded boulders have been transported here
by ice from the Thirlmere Valley and are known as erratics.
4. Just before the bridge carrying the A66, look left to
the cluster of buildings at Brigham. This was an old
industrial site where, as well as water-powered mills, there
was a smelting and refining plant to process copper and other
minerals dug from the local fells.
5. The huge span of Greta Bridge can best be appreciated
from below and was voted the best concrete engineering structure
of the 20th century in September 1999.
6. The footpath/cycle route skirts round the deep gorge of
the River Greta, whereas the railway line had to tunnel
through the rock to keep on a straighter course. The entrance
to the 'Big Tunnel' is now blocked, but notice the huge irregular
blocks of dressed stone, fronting the entrance and the retaining
wall.
7. Low Briery is the site of a former bobbin mill.
Wooden bobbins were required by the textile mills of Lancashire
and Yorkshire in vast quantities as spools for cotton and
other threads. The local woods were coppiced in order to provide
the poles for the bobbins.
8. This is one of five 'bowstring girder bridges' along
the trail. Most have the bow above the bridge, but in this
case it is slung below.
9. Wescoe Tunnel is where the railway has cut through
an outcrop of Skiddaw rock. At both entrances to the tunnel
you can see these dark, slaty rocks, which are easily broken
into thin irregular pieces.
| Continue to
the end of the railway footpath which leads up to the
busy A66. Follow the pavement round to the left into Threlkeld.
|
10. Threlkeld village is one of the few places where Skiddaw
rocks are used as building stone. You can pick it out by its
very dark colour, often with a distinct brown weathered surface.
The second building on the right (Valeview) is built of Skiddaw
rock. Further along are other examples - The Rectory, the
former village shop and the row of small cottages opposite.
| Turn right by the old village
shop down to the A66. Cross the A66 onto the B5322 and
follow the signs for Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum. |
11. Ahead are the remains of Threlkeld Quarry. Here
part of the great batholith that lies beneath the Lake District
is exposed at the surface, revealing a fine-grained granite
(called a microgranite). The quarry was opened in 1879 and
stayed in production until the early 1980s. It produced stone
blocks, railway ballast, and crushed aggregates. At its height
it employed over 200 workers and gave rise to a self-contained
community with their own school, chapel and housing. Threlkeld
Quarry and Mining Museum has samples of all the quarried rocks
in the Lake District and extensive displays on the mining
and quarrying heritage of the area. Other attractions include
an underground mine tour and a narrow-gauge railway trip around
the old quarry. Threlkeld Quarry Museum is open from Easter
to the end of October only. Admission charge payable. Contact
details overleaf.
| Return to the B5322 and continue
southwards. |
12. On the hillside to your left are other microgranite quarries,
now abandoned. Ahead is High Rigg formed of Borrowdale Volcanic
rocks - notice how the sheets of rock slope down to the left,
with the harder lavas standing out as ridges.
| Take the first minor road on
the right (signposted Keswick), cross over Wanthwaite
Bridge, and keep right at the next minor junction. The
road begins to climb and passes Shundraw farmstead. From
the top of this road, look back across the Vale towards
the Threlkeld quarries. The impact of man seeking the
riches of the rock from this landscape is all too obvious.
Continue along this minor road, following signs for Castlerigg
Stone Circle. |
13. Castlerigg Stone Circle consists of 38 stones
in the main ring, with 10 forming a rectangular enclosure
on the SE side and a single upright stone about 90 metres
to the SW. The stones are glacial erratics, transported from
the Thirlmere valley by glaciers and abandoned when the glaciers
melted. They are all composed of Borrowdale Volcanic rocks,
either black lavas or tuffs (rocks made of volcanic ash).
The stones must have been dragged, possibly on crude sledges,
and man-handled into upright positions around 3000 BC.
The siting of the stone circle commands a spectacular all-round
view of the landscape. To the north lie Skiddaw, Lonscale
Fell and Blencathra, carved out of the Skiddaw Group rocks
- these fells generally have smooth, rounded outlines, covered
with grass or heather. Southwards are the more irregular crags
and terrain of the Borrowdale Volcanics.
| Return to the road where you
first entered the site and continue (left) along this
minor road, down the steep hill and back into Keswick. |
14. Most of the central area of Keswick dates from
Victorian times when the local Lakeland Green Slate was used
extensively in the town. The houses in Southey, Blencathra,
Helvellyn and Church Streets are all built of this material,
which came from quarries in Borrowdale and Honister.
The Keswick Mining Museum can be found opposite Bell
Close car park. This museum has extensive displays on the
geology and mining history of Cumbria, along with mineral
samples and artefacts from the mining era. The museum is open
every day from 10.00 to 5.00 with an admission charge payable.
Keswick Museum and Art Gallery has good displays of
local rocks, minerals, fossils and various historical artefacts,
many collected in Victorian times. It also houses the musical
stones - a unique rock xylophone made in 1785. The museum
is open April to October but telephone in advance for opening
times and admission charges - see contact
details below.
KESWICK to HONISTER
(please
click here for a map of the walk)
| The recommended
means of transport are to use the local ferry, regular
buses and on foot. Alternatively, it can be done partly
by bicycle or by car, but you will miss certain locations.
The walking section is approximately 9.5 km/6 miles long.
If you are using the launch,
make your way to the Lakeside car park in Keswick. If
you prefer not to use the launch, take a bus (service
79 or 77/77A) from Keswick Bus Station or drive down
the B5289 to Bowder Stone car park, about 1 km south
of Grange-in-Borrowdale.
|
15. From the Lakeside car park you can see how the town of
Keswick is built on drumlins - oval mounds of glacial
material left behind during the last glaciation. The grassy
knoll in Crow Park is one of these drumlins. From the top
of the knoll, another drumlin can be seen towards Keswick
town centre, this time lined by a row of hotels and guest
houses.
| Take the launch from the landing
stage to Lodore (a clockwise route is shorter and cheaper). |
16. Just beyond the landing stage, notice the rocky promontory
of Friar's Crag with Castlehead behind. Both
are formed of dolerite, another igneous rock and probably
related to the great batholith at Threlkeld. On your right
is the drumlin forming Derwent Isle, and further down are
other examples - Lord's Island and St Herbert's Island.
17. As you approach Ashness, notice the steep rocky slopes
of Walla Crag, Falcon Crag and Brown Knotts
above. They are made up of thick horizontal layers of rock
formed from volcanic lavas. Note the contrast with the smoother-outlined
fells on the other side of the lake, formed from the Skiddaw
rocks. Ahead are the 'Jaws of Borrowdale' - where the valley
narrows and through which 18th century tourists were warned
to pass quietly and with speed (Thomas Gray's Journal, 1769).
| Disembark at Lodore and walk
up to the road outside the Lodore Falls Hotel. Take the
bus (Service 79) to the Bowder Stone car park and walk
up the track towards the Stone. |
18. On the left are the abandoned workings of Quay Foot
Quarry. This is a fenced-off area and must not be entered.
The quarry was one of the main sources of the green slate
seen in the buildings of Keswick. This was a valuable building
material not only because of its attractive greenish/grey
colour and even texture, but also because it could be split
into building blocks and sometimes very thin roofing slates.
It is not a true slate, but compressed volcanic ash. It occurs
here in a narrow band - extending from these quarries in a
SW direction to Honister. The band of green slate ends just
beyond the first gate further up the track.
 19.
Further on lies the Bowder Stone - a massive lump of
rock balanced on one corner. The Bowder Stone has been visited
by tourists for over 200 years. A local eccentric landowner
called Joseph Pocklington bought the site in 1798 and encouraged
people to come and see it. Apart from building Bowderstone
Cottage (for the resident guides), he also erected a Druid
Stone (opposite the cottage), a small chapel (now a climbing
hut) and a ladder to enable visitors to stand on top of the
stone. You may also notice a hole at the base of the stone,
where you could 'improve your luck' by shaking hands with
someone else on the other side - still just possible to do!
Although some people believe the stone was carried here by
ice, it is more likely to have fallen from the cliff above
in one catastrophic rock fall. There are many other large
blocks of stone littering the slopes, but this is the largest
and heaviest at almost 1250 tonnes.
| Retrace your steps to the car
park and proceed along the B5289 for a short distance
before crossing the bridge into Grange. |
20. Virtually all the buildings in Grange are made
entirely of green slate. The Holy Trinity Church has a slate
floor, slate roof, upright slates forming the roadside boundary
and even a font carved from the local slate. Next to the river
in the tea garden is a large whaleback-shaped rock (of Skiddaw
slate) that was smoothed and shaped by ice moving over it
- known as a roche moutonnee (literally 'sheep rock').
|
From Grange, the trail
continues on foot for approximately 5 km to Seatoller.
If travelling by car or bicycle, the trail can be picked
up again at Rosthwaite or Seatoller.
Take the track to the right
of Grange Café and then follow a footpath on
the left through the campsite. Thereafter follow the
signs for Rosthwaite.
|
|
21. Optional detour to High
Hows Wood Caverns.
| After
about 2 km, there is a wooden signpost on the left
at the top of a rocky slope. The smaller track on
the right leads to two huge caverns cut into the
rock (old green slate workings). Please note that
there is a risk associated with falling rock and
we advise that you do not enter these caverns. |
These caverns are associated with
one of Lakeland's great eccentrics - Millican Dalton,
the self-styled 'Professor of Adventure' - who made
his home here. He became a familiar figure around Borrowdale,
and survived in these woods until he died in 1947, at
the age of 80.
| Return
to the main path and continue towards Rosthwaite. |
|
22. This fine packhorse bridge is constructed of local
volcanic rock with river cobbles inset on its humped back.
| Cross the bridge
and follow the track alongside the stream. |
23. These 24 stepping stones are made of volcanic
rock and mark an ancient crossing point over the river. Notice
how the river banks are reinforced with huge slabs of volcanic
rock and gabions (metal cages filled with boulders).
| Follow the
track round to the left towards Rosthwaite. |
24. The two upright slabs of slate (stoops) originally formed
a slop-stone gateway. Each stoop is pierced with holes;
one stoop has rounded holes and the other square holes. The
gate bars were set in position by wedging the butt ends in
the square holes first and then flexing the thinner ends into
the round holes on the other stoop.
25. Rosthwaite village huddles around a rocky outcrop
of volcanic tuff called The How, which is a very large roche
moutonnee. The village is a collection of traditional Lakeland
cottages and farmsteads made from locally gathered stone.
The name itself is Norse for 'clearing with the heap of stones'.
There are some fine roofing slates here with graded courses
(largest slates at the bottom grading towards smaller ones
at the ridge). Many buildings have incorporated huge boulders
as foundation stones and use large slabs of slate as lintels
over doorways and windows.
| At Yew Tree
Farm, turn right and follow the road round to the right.
Just after the garage for Clare's Cottage, turn right
again and take the footpath towards Borrowdale (Longthwaite)
Youth Hostel over fields. |
26. At the top of the field, you are standing on a curving
raised ridge. This is one of three moraines found in
the valley floor here. The moraines mark positions where the
glacier's snout halted for a time before melting back around
10,000 years ago.
It is worth taking a look at the stone walls surrounding
the fields. They contain many large boulders at the base,
grading to smaller rounded cobbles and angular pieces of green
slate nearer the top. The top of the wall is 'finished' with
a jumble of cobbles resting on large slates.
| The path exits by a cottage called
Peat Howe. Either turn left and follow the directions
to the Church of St Andrew's (optional detour) or turn
right and follow the road into the grounds of the Youth
Hostel and along the riverside path. |
|
27. Optional detour to the
Church of St Andrew's.
| Turn
left, and a little further on is a house appropriately
called 'Moraine'. Immediately after the house is
a narrow slit in the wall, which leads to a path
along the top of the middle moraine and then onto
the main road (B5289). Turn right for 50m and then
take another path on the opposite side of the road
to Stonethwaite Road. This brings you out by Chapel
House Farm. One of the barns is built into the side
of the third moraine - easily seen from the front
of the church. |
The church of St Andrew's is built
of green slate (largely rendered over) with imported
sandstone for the window and door surrounds. The roof
is of graded green slate. The older headstones are of
sandstone or dark grey mudstones, but more recent headstones
are of green slate, with some made of granite.
Behind the graveyard you will see
a number of large boulders on the sloping field. These
are erratics - boulders brought here by the ice and
deposited as the ice melted.
| From
the Church continue to the road, turn left and back
to the B5289. Cross over and follow road back to
Peat Howe. Continue down into the grounds of the
Youth Hostel, bearing left along the riverside path. |
|
28. Here the river has eroded the middle moraine, revealing
a jumble of large and small boulders and finer material.
| Follow the
footpath through oak woodland and fields to Seatoller. |
29. Seatoller lies at the foot of the steep road up
to the Honister Pass and the Honister Slate Mines. It is little
more than a collection of farm buildings and quarry workers'
cottages; many dating back to the early 17th century. These
were originally built to house miners brought over from Germany
during the reign of Elizabeth 1. There are still many families
in the valley (often with anglicised surnames) that can trace
their ancestry back to these miners.
Honister Yew Tree restaurant was formerly a pair of
miner's cottages that date from 1628. Slate is used extensively
for the floor, walls and roof. From here you can book tours
to Honister Slate Mine. Opposite is Borrowdale Information
Centre (open April - October only) with tourist information
and displays on the local area.
| From Seatoller,
the trail continues to Honister Slate Mines and Quarries.
Either take the Honister Rambler service 77/77A (April
to November only) or walk uphill for 1½ miles (2½
km). |
30. Honister Slate Mines have been a major source
of green slate for centuries and continue to be worked to
the present day. The visitor centre has information on mining
and runs regular guided tours around some of the abandoned
levels. The newly opened Edge Tour is an old miner's route
around the side of the mountain that enters the mines on a
higher level. The tour ends with a visit to the slate finishing
works, where you may get a chance at making your own finished
slate.
| Service 77/77A
will return you to Keswick, or walk back to Seatoller
and catch service 79 instead. |
USEFUL CONTACTS
Keswick Tourist Information Centre
Moot Hall, Keswick, CA12 5JR
Tel: 017687 72645
Email: keswicktic@lake-district.gov.uk
National Trust (for information on Castlerigg Stone
Circle and the Bowder Stone)
Bowe Barn, Borrowdale Road, Keswick, CA12 5UP
Tel: 017687 74649
Keswick Mining Museum
Otley House, Otley Road, Keswick, CA12 5EP
Tel: 017687 79747
Email: coppermaid@aol.com
Website: www.keswickminingmuseum.co.uk
Keswick Museum and Art Gallery
Fitz Park, Station Road, Keswick, CA12 4NF
Tel: 017687 73263
Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum
Threlkeld, Keswick, CA12 4TT
Tel: 017687 79747
Honister Slate Mine
Honister Pass, Borrowdale, Keswick, CA12 5XN
Tel: 017687 77230
Email: info@honister.com
Website: www.honister.com
GETTING AROUND
Ferry timetable
From the lakeshore, the ferry (Keswick Launch) departs every
half-hour (every 15 minutes from mid-July to August), alternating
between clockwise and anti-clockwise sailings routes. The
quickest way would be to select a clockwise sailing, which
takes approximately 20 minutes to Lodore. Between December
and March, sailings are on Saturdays and Sundays only. Tel:
017687 72263 or try the website at www.keswick-launch.co.uk
for further details.
Bus services
Service 87 is an infrequent service between Keswick and Penrith
via Castlerigg Stone Circle.
The Borrowdale Rambler (service 79) is a regular service
along the B5289 to Seatoller. The frequency of the ferry and
the bus service means relatively easy connections between
the two. Please note that service 79 only goes as far as Seatoller
and then returns to Keswick.
The Honister Rambler (77/77A) takes a circular route from
Keswick to Honister via Seatoller or Lorton (depending on
direction travelled).
The local bus timetables will give you all the relevant information
or call Traveline on 0870 608 2608 (website: www.traveline.org.uk).
Cycle Hire
Keswick Mountain Bike Centre, Bell Close Car Park, Keswick,
CA12 5JD. Tel: 017687 75202/74407. Email: hire@keswickmountainbikes.co.uk.
CREDITS
Produced by Anna Gray at Voluntary Action Cumbria
for LEADER+ (Cumbria Fells & Dales)
Written by Dr Alan Smith (text copyright VAC)
Design copyright Andrew Lathwell Design Ltd.
Illustrated by Juliet Whitworth and ECCP.
Printed by Reeds of Penrith, 2004.
Sepia photograph supplied by Honister Yew Tree.
All other photographs by Anna Gray.
LEADER+ (Cumbria Fells & Dales)
The Old Stables,
Redhills,
Penrith,
Cumbria,
CA11 0DT
Tel: 01768 869533
Email: info@fellsanddales.org.uk
Website: www.fellsanddales.org.uk
Fells and Dales LEADER+ Programme is based at Voluntary Action
Cumbria, a company limited by guarantee, Charity No. 1080875,
Companyh No. 3957858.
This is one of a series of themed trails being produced
by LEADER+ (Cumbria Fells & Dales) to promote the area
and its local products.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the content
of this trail is accurate and up to date at the time of writing,
no liability can be accepted for any errors, omissions or
misrepresentations of fact contained herein.
 
This project is being part financed by the European Agriculture
Guidance adn Guarantee Fund of the European Union and the
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs through
the Cumbria Fells and Dales LEADER+ Programme.
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