Explore with Amie

Force Crag Mine is potentially my favourite location of the industrial and abandoned series so far. It is located just outside of Braithwaite, west of Keswick making it an easy location to get to if you’re staying in the northern Lakes area. As well as being not far from Keswick, this is also a short 4km from Braithwaite down a gravel track that is easy walking for less experienced hikers. Here is everything you need to know:

Force Crag Mine was the last working metal mine in the Lake District as it closed as recently as 1991. First, it was a lead mine from 1839 before moving to Zinc in 1867. The mill that remains on the site today was originally used to separate the metals from any other minerals and rocks that were excavated. It is thought that this infrastructure was built around 1908 but was redesigned some 30 years later in 1940. The building was restored in 2004 by the National Trust, who still own the building, and it is one of the only places in the country that a mining site has retained some of its processing equipment.

Admission to the mine must be booked in advance with the National Trust however, just a visit to the outside is interesting enough. You can see so much of the old metal structures and workings of the mine just by walking a short way.

The part that I found most interesting was the water treatment that is occurring in the valley. The water treatment scheme here was the first of its kind in Europe! The scheme was put in place as the mine was causing metal pollution in the river running alongside the mine and into Braithwaite village. Devised by Newcastle University and the National Trust, the plan included something called a ‘passive mine water remediation scheme’. From my very basic understanding, this involved altering the flow of the water to pass through a treatment pipe and a wetland membrane which aimed to remove any metals left in the water. This development is the reason why there is such a well maintained track to the mine; it was put in place to allow for the machinery used to put the filtration system in place to get to the site. According to data from 2016, the treatment which began in 2014, is working. However, I’ve been unable to find any more recent statistics.

You can’t see too much of the treatment other than two large bodies of water but there are signs in the area which give some information about what is happening there.

If you would like to see the mine for yourself. Here is the route:

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This could also be added to a larger route to bag a couple of wainwrights in the area. It would be great if we went back one day to do that!

We tend to judge a place like this on whether or not we’d bring our friends and family to see it and this is definitely one that we would. It is well worth the short and easy walk from Braithwaite to take in this industrial and abandoned site.

Amie x