Elterwater.
Side by side with all the beauty of the Lakes and Autumn colour are many thriving industries...one of which is the quarry at Elterwater owned by Burlington Slate. The quarries have produced a characteristic blue-grey slate for hundreds of years, with large-scale production starting in the early 19th century when the Cavendish family organised small-scale quarrying activities by local farmers into a larger group of quarries, which then attracted others into the area to live and work in the quarries from the 1820s onwards. Many prestigious buildings all over the world keep the weather out with this slate.
Elterwater.
Wetherlam.
An early stop for Mountain Goat on one of it's tours......
The Britannia Inn....there won't be any empty seats by lunch time.
The road to the Quarry is on the right over the bridge........
.......up the road by Great Langdale Beck and the Langdale Timeshare.
One of the original test tunnels.
A background of the Langdale Pikes.
Original Quarry Cottages- still mainly occupied by the Quarry worker's families.
One of the best views in the world ...from a weighbridge...
....and not bad for a heavy industrial site.
Silver How....
A discarded stone saw....it's 6ft across.
The ill fated new visitor centre......
...subsidence from the mine workings caused the floor to collapse....
...repair now well under way. Bridleways and footpaths run right through the quarry workings.
The main sheds....
...and lots of big machines....
The main quarry......
A proper Tractor.
Back on Elterwater Common, walkers arriving in force.