Comments on: Carrock: The Mine, the Fell, the Fort – and Nowt http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/ ...and a few more reasons for climbing mountains Sun, 03 Jan 2016 18:45:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: McEff http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-24205 Thu, 30 Jul 2015 07:10:52 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-24205 On the upside, I think a corner might have been turned because Force Crag Mine, which closed in the early 1990s, has been preserved in its entirety. Let’s hope so.
All the best, Alen

]]> By: McEff http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-24204 Thu, 30 Jul 2015 07:08:48 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-24204 Hi Bernie. Yes, I totally agree. That’s what it is, sheer vandalism.
Regards, Alen

]]> By: bernie http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-24202 Thu, 30 Jul 2015 02:53:22 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-24202 To see such an area of industrial heritage bulldozed to anomimity is heartbreaking. Many areas of the Lake District have been demolished by Philistines who have no emotional contact with the industrial history of the Lake District. It should’nt be allowed!

]]> By: bernie http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-24201 Thu, 30 Jul 2015 02:48:03 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-24201 It brings tears to my eyes when I think of such vandalism.

]]> By: ALan mattinson (spats) http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-18122 Fri, 24 Oct 2014 08:48:21 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-18122 hi collette. I was lucky enough to have worked at carrock as a miner right up to the very end. I worked with a great bunch of fellas some of wich are sadly no longer with us. i spent part of my time there working a stope on the harding vein. This was probably the richest ever part of the mine. we were drilling a quartz vein about 7 foot wide. It was loaded with wolfram and sheelite. It was realy easy to drill like drilling butter my mate used to say old jim matty in the mill would allways say when are you going tp send us some more of that good muck spats. Allthough we extracted all of this lucrative ore out from above there is still lots of it left below. However this would be difficult to extract as it would involve the sinking of a shaft wich would be very costly also there would be a problem with all the water it would have to be constantly pumped out. So to answer your question collette yes there is a lot of ore left in there but it would probably be to costly to extract right now

]]> By: McEff http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-18040 Thu, 23 Oct 2014 00:19:23 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-18040 Hi Collette. I can’t help but feel that the Lake District, despite its beauty, is being turned into a theme park or caricature of itself. The original vision of a national park that preserves the living and cultural environment has been lost and the emphasis now is, sadly, on tourism and recreation.
Thatcher still makes my blood boil all these years after she was turfed out of office by her own party. She did irreparable damage to this country, not only in the way she destroyed heavy industry, but in the mindset of greed she instilled in an entire generation and her complete lack of belief in the community. We are still suffering.
I often think about the miners walking to work when I visit places like Mosedale. They were hard times indeed, and poverty and poor health were rife, but I think it’s true to say that people’s values and morals were different in those days, and that they valued each other and their communities more.
Hope you return to Carrock soon. All the best, Alen

]]> By: Collette http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-18025 Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:02:05 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-18025 I was in Swineside for 4 days recently during the appalling weather, but the landscape was stunning. I particularly liked the mine’s remains, my father was a Lancashire miner, and i tried to imagine the first miners walking the 2 miles from Mosedale in the pitch black morning and night in the winter – never seeing daylight till the weekend. Why do “views” have to take precedence over change which involves technology ? Unless we stop being so prissy about ‘visual amenity’ (whatever that might mean) we will not be able to sustain our lives with home-produced power and work provided by local employers. Thatcher had no concept of the value of community – folks working together for the common good – common good should include beautiful views, but views should not be the major consideration. – If there is ore still in Carruck is it feasible to get it out now ?

I will for sure return to this beautiful place and revisit the mine… it reminds us of where our ancestors toiled so hard for us.

]]> By: McEff http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-7712 Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:12:59 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-7712 Thanks very much for that information. You have filled in some blanks for me, too. I never had the opportunity to visit the mine while it was working, and by the time I got around to taking a serious look at it the whole site had been flattened.
But things move on, I suppose. Mind you, the same thing happened to me at Haig Pit in Whitehaven. I actually had the chance to take a tour of the workings, three miles out under the Irish Sea, but couldn’t get a day off work. Next thing you know, the pit has gone – along with nearly ever other in the country.
Thanks for sending me your comment. All the best, Alen

]]> By: S Moore http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-7710 Mon, 14 Apr 2014 13:42:16 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-7710 Hello –
This was a fascinating read. I was brought to the Lakes for an A Level Geology field-trip, back in about 1987, all the way from Cambridgeshire (there is no geology in Cambridgeshire…).
We stayed in a Youth Hostel somewhere near Carrock Fell, and one day walked through the site of the mine. We had been told all about the economic realities of mineral extraction, and the real meaning of the word ‘exhausted’, but the lessons were left hanging in the air somewhat (I think the lesson drawn by most of us was that the people in charge were evil capitalists… of course they are, but it’s more complicated than that).

At that time the mine buildings were intact, but no-one knew for how long the mine had been closed. I managed to get into one of the workshops, and was amazed that all the machinery was intact, and seemed merely to have been switched off at the end of a shift (when? 5 years previously?), with minerals left where they were on the grading tables, conveyor belts, whatever – a real Marie Celeste.

I went back there a few years ago, and of course it has all changed – gone. Now, thanks to the internet, I can fill in the blanks. Thanks again.

]]> By: McEff http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-3546 Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:16:41 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-3546 Hi Alan. Thanks for that.
All the best, Alen

]]> By: AlanR http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-3545 Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:09:01 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-3545 A very nostalgic read of real life in a harsh environment. I enjoyed it immensely.

]]> By: McEff http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/02/01/carrock-the-mine-the-fell-the-fort-%e2%80%93-and-now%e2%80%99t/#comment-3286 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 20:57:19 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com/?p=2414#comment-3286 Hi Ron. Thanks for that. I remember Force Crag working back in the seventies and reopening briefly in the 1980s. There’s nothing left now in the Lakes except a few slate quarries. You’re right – nothing must disturb the silence.
Cheers, Alen

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