Category: Coniston
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Coniston Water
A view of the north end of Coniston Water from an unfamiliar angle. The righthand most house on the far side of the lake is Brantwood, where the poet John Ruskin lived. Travelling north (right to left) we come to big houses now used as outdoor education centres, Thurlston and Low Bank Ground, good memories…
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East Bonsor Copper Mine
Copper has been mines in the valley west of Coniston since Elizabethan times but it is only below ground can remains be found. Wooden false floors in the vertical voids that a rotting away make exploring quite a hazardous pastime. Above ground most of the remains are 18th-century. At East Bonsor the remains of the…
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Blackarse sheep
Spotted near Coniston. You will have heard, of course, of blackface sheep, well these are blackarse sheep, a truly rare breed. Those were my first thoughts but then noticed the patches were of a material “sewn” onto the fleece. Ah, must be a sheep’s chastity belt. Hasn’t stopped the tups trying. A farmer fellow confirmed…
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Coppermines Valley
A small reminder of what man has done to the planet. Elizabeth I was Queen of England when mining for copper began in this valley above Coniston. Heavy mechanical hammers driven by huge water wheels crushed and broke the ore. A cacophony of bangs, rumbles and growls. Women and children picked over the rock separating…
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The Pudding Stone
And so summer ends. Above the heavily scarred landscape of the Coppermines valley in Coniston is a small dry valley called the Boulder Valley on account of its numerous boulders, the largest of which is the Pudding Stone. A huge boulder that tumbled down millennia ago from the heights of Brim Fell. Some idea of…
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Coniston Hall
It’s eighteen years since I was last at Coniston Hall. A National Trust tenanted farm run as a campsite on the side of Coniston Water. Very little changed, still as popular. The vernacular architecture of the Lakeland chimneys still intrigues me. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Brim Fell Ridge
View north from the Old Man of Coniston. Brim Fell and Swirl How. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Susanna Beever Drinking Fountain
An intriguing elaborate drinking fountain at almost the highest point on the Coniston to Hawkshead road. A Grade II listed building it is made of local slate and has two sections with a central pillar. The left-hand bay is a horse drinking trough with the inscription above: A RIGHTEOUS MAN REGARDETH THE LIFE OF HIS…