Banishead Quarry

A consequence of man’s thirst for slate flagstones. The site comprises two large quarries, Eddy Scale and Banishead, dug on either side of Torver Beck which was left flowing down a ridge between the two. Eventually, a section collapsed creating a waterfall into Banishead. With no apparent drain, the water level quickly rose creating a lake. But the bottom of the quarry is actually sandstone, a permeable rock, and in due course, the water level stabilised. Torver Beck still flows down the ridge (right to left at the top of the waterfall) with a small volume being diverted to fall into the quarry. One story is that the beck side was deliberately breached by two lads from the local farm in the 1950s.