http://becausetheyrethere.com ...and a few more reasons for climbing mountains Mon, 17 Aug 2015 23:35:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png http://becausetheyrethere.com http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/27/days-like-this-no-21-eternity-in-borrowdale/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/27/days-like-this-no-21-eternity-in-borrowdale/#comments Wed, 27 May 2015 09:41:19 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9247 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/27/days-like-this-no-21-eternity-in-borrowdale/feed/ 43 McEff Borrowdale 1 Borrowdale 3 Borrowdale 4 Borrowdale 6 Borrowdale 5 Borrowdale 7 Borrowdale 8 Borrowdale 2 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/07/on-a-whim-to-william-gill/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/07/on-a-whim-to-william-gill/#comments Thu, 07 May 2015 10:25:01 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9206 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/07/on-a-whim-to-william-gill/feed/ 33 McEff william gill 14 william gill 2 william gill 3 william gill 4 william gill 5 william gill 6 william gill 12 william gill 12a william gill 12b william gill 7 Someone has tried and failed (not me, I add) to lob these great rocks down the shaft. Good job there was a grille on top or they might have ended up down there themselves william gill 9 william gill 11 william gill 13 william gill 15 william gill 16 william gill 10 william gill 19 william gill 20 william gill 21 william gill 22 william gill 1 image1 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/04/09/days-like-this-no-18-a-dip-in-goats-water/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/04/09/days-like-this-no-18-a-dip-in-goats-water/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2015 08:00:54 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9089 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/04/09/days-like-this-no-18-a-dip-in-goats-water/feed/ 40 McEff tarn 10 tarn 1 tarn 5 tarn 4 tarn 6 tarn 7 tarn 3 tarn 10a tarn 11 tarn 15 tarn 16 tarn 12 tarn 13 tarn 14 tarn 17 tarn 18 tarn 2 tarn 19 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/27/days-like-this-no-15-walking-from-penrith-to-ravenglass/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/27/days-like-this-no-15-walking-from-penrith-to-ravenglass/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2015 09:00:36 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8976 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/27/days-like-this-no-15-walking-from-penrith-to-ravenglass/feed/ 61 McEff ravenglass 1 Click map for full-size version ravenglass 2 Blea Water from near the summit of High Street ravenglass 4 ravenglass 6 Sunny Jim ravenglass 5 The beacon on Thornthwaite Crag A last glimpse back at High Street View down to Hayeswater ravenglass 10 Labouring through Langdale ravenglass 11 The bright blue waters of Red Tarn. Apparently, effluent from ancient iron-workings is responsible for the name. Crinkle Crags in the background Looking down Hardknott Pass into Eskdale ravenglass 15 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/17/arkengarthdale-moor-and-the-death-of-sods-law/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/17/arkengarthdale-moor-and-the-death-of-sods-law/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2015 09:00:50 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8899 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/17/arkengarthdale-moor-and-the-death-of-sods-law/feed/ 43 McEff tan hill 1 Tan Hill 2 Tan Hill 5 Tan Hill 4 Tan Hill 3 Click map for full-size version Tan Hill 6 Tan Hill 7 Tan Hill 8 Tan Hill 9 Tan Hill 10 Tan Hill 11 Tan Hill 12 Tan Hill 13 Tan Hill 14 The Peat Cart, a painting by George Walker, 1814, from his Costumes of Yorkshire series. The mountain in the background is Ingleborough Tan Hill 15 Tan Hill 16 Tan Hill 17 Tan Hill 18 Tan Hill 20 Tan Hill 21 Tan Hill 22 Tan Hill 23 Tan Hill 24 Tan Hill 25 Tan Hill 26 Tan Hill 27 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/08/done-on-great-dun-fell/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/08/done-on-great-dun-fell/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2015 17:50:37 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8857 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/08/done-on-great-dun-fell/feed/ 29 McEff great dun fell 1 great dun fell 2 great dun fell 3 great dun fell 4 great dun fell 5 great dun fell 6 great dun fell 8 great dun fell 7 great dun fell 9 great dun fell 10 great dun fell 11 great dun fell 12 great dun fell 13 great dun fell 14 great dun fell 17 great dun fell 16 great dun fell 15 great dun fell 19 great dun fell 20 great dun fell 18 Click map for full-size version great dun fell 22 great dun fell 21 great dun fell 23 great dun fell 24 great dun fell 25 great dun fell 26 Silverband Mine was worked by the London Lead Company for galena, the ore of lead, during the 19th Century, though in the middle of the 20th Century it was mined extensively by the Laporte company for the mineral barytes. As recently as 2011, Silverband was producing barytes as an opencast mine (see footnote for YouTube video). great dun fell 28 great dun fell 29 The Laporte company installed an aerial ropeway for transporting barytes from the mine to the dressing plant near Dufton, several miles down the fell. This pylon is about all that remains . . . great dun fell 31 great dun fell 32 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/12/16/moor-prance-neath-the-cover-of-december-skies/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/12/16/moor-prance-neath-the-cover-of-december-skies/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:03:12 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8643 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/12/16/moor-prance-neath-the-cover-of-december-skies/feed/ 42 cropped-masthead4.jpg McEff baysdale 1 baysdale 2 baysdale 3 baysdale 4 baysdale 5 baysdale 6 baysdale 7 Shooting butts make a very useful shelter in a strong wind baysdale 9a baysdale 10 baysdale 11 baysdale 12 baysdale 13 baysdale 14 baysdale 15 Armouth Wath is a pleasant place to stop on a warm day Ruin at Armouth Wath The view into Westerdale Shooters' bothy. Locked against vagabonds and robbers Bothy water supply. Or perhaps it's where they wash their wellies. Christmas trees always brighten a place up baysdale 23 baysdale 24 baysdale 25 baysdale 26 baysdale 27 baysdale 28 baysdale 33 baysdale 29 This is the downcast shaft. That doesn???t mean it was sad all the time ??? it???s primary function was for ventilation purposes, to deliver fresh air into the mine. The bad air escaped through the upcast shaft. Click on picture below for more details. baysdale 31 baysdale 32 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/12/09/almost-picture-perfect-in-the-coniston-fells/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/12/09/almost-picture-perfect-in-the-coniston-fells/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:00:14 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8636 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/12/09/almost-picture-perfect-in-the-coniston-fells/feed/ 29 McEff wetherlam 9 wetherlam 1 wetherlam 2 This row of houses, stuck on the slopes of Wetherlam in Coppermines Valley, is known as Irish Row. It was built for 19th Century miners, many of whom came from Ireland. The highest mine in the valley is called Paddy End. You couldn???t get away with that now. Just as well. wetherlam 4 The view along Coppermines Valley towards Coniston Old Man and Brim Fell. The white building is the Coppermines Youth Hostel. It used to be the mine manager???s house. The white building to its right was the mine stables, but is now the Barrow Mountaineering and Ski Club Hut. wetherlam 10 Sunrise over Coniston from the spoil heaps of the Low Blue Quarry wetherlam 7 wetherlam 8 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/11/27/not-everything-is-black-and-white-on-barningham-moor/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/11/27/not-everything-is-black-and-white-on-barningham-moor/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2014 08:51:56 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8552 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/11/27/not-everything-is-black-and-white-on-barningham-moor/feed/ 47 McEff How Tallon 2 How Tallon 3 How Tallon 1 How Tallon 17 How Tallon 5 How Tallon 6 How Tallon 7 How Tallon 10 How Tallon 8 How Tallon 11 How Tallon 14 That's the trouble with traps . . . How Tallon 18 How Tallon 21 If you were hoping to park a car or camp for the night and spied these two signs hovering above the grass verge, and you were feeling bolshie and fancied yourself as what people used to call a barrack-room lawyer, you might fancy taking a risk and challenging the authorities. NRCC stands for North Riding County Council, which disappeared in the local government reorganisation of 1974. Further along there???s a sign written in Latin banning chariot racing. Just kidding. walkabout 2 Crossing a field on a public right of way, I notice someone has placed a stone on top of a fence post. Closer inspection reveals the stone to be full of crinoid fossils. I???m not sure, but I think they were the stems of plants which inhabited this part of the world during the Carboniferous era. walkabout 4 The A1 is always good for a photograph. We???re right on Scotch Corner here, which along with Viking, Forties, Dogger, Sole, Fitzroy, Bailey and Hotton is famous for being one of those places that everyone has heard of ??? but has no presence in the physical world. This looks like it might be an Iron Age earthwork of the type incorporated into the nearby Brigantian fortress and Stanwick, but it???s the spoilheap of a 19th Century copper mine at Low Merrybent Farm. This part of the country is famous for its lead mines, but the copper-mining industry is very much a forgotten chapter. Diesel pump at Low Merrybent Farm walkabout 8 Just in case you were considering straying from the footpath . . . This is a section of Dere Street, the Roman road that runs from York to the end of the empire. Hadrian wouldn???t have approved. These terraces in the fields beneath the village of Middleton Tyas are the remnants of a mediaeval farming system We are still out in the country, but this wall surrounding a cottage garden has been capped with what appears to be furnace slag. More remnants of the Middleton Tyas and Merrybent copper-mining industry? And finally. Back to the allotment for a sit-down at the close of another dank and dismal November day . . . http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/11/07/faggergill-out-of-the-fryingpan-into-the-mire/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/11/07/faggergill-out-of-the-fryingpan-into-the-mire/#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2014 12:12:58 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8502 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/11/07/faggergill-out-of-the-fryingpan-into-the-mire/feed/ 27 McEff faggergill 1 faggergill 2 faggergill 3 faggergill 4 faggergill 5 There should be a telephone number on this because I'd like to hire it faggergill 30 faggergill 7 faggergill 9 faggergill 10 faggergill 13 faggergill 14 faggergill 11 faggergill 12 The humble Belfast sink is one of Britain's most enduring inventions. I wouldn't be without one ??? and today I'm not faggergill 16 faggergill 17 faggergill 18 faggergill 19 faggergill 20 faggergill 21 faggergill 31 faggergill 22 faggergill 23 faggergill 24 faggergill 25 faggergill 26 faggergill 27 faggergill 29 faggergill 8 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/09/17/black-gold-tan-hill-tea/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/09/17/black-gold-tan-hill-tea/#comments Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:09:41 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8263 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/09/17/black-gold-tan-hill-tea/feed/ 23 McEff tan hill 1 tan hill 3 tan hill 4 This might look like a band of grass in the heather but it???s actually an old colliery roadway. Old roads like this are not uncommon in the area tan hill 6 These conical depressions are quite common on the moor. They are collapsed colliery shafts. The shafts were quite narrow ??? about five feet (1.5m) in diameter. But without regular maintenance they just collapsed in on themselves, the result being the surrounding ground disappearing egg-timer fashion. Not a good place to be standing at the wrong time Old boundary stone Old survey of the Tan Hill mines on the wall of the Tan Hill Inn tan hill 9 tan hill 10 Horse gins marked on the Tan Hill survey, one shown as coming into production in 1829 Old colliery road crossing the moor to a pit Horse gin on the horizon beneath a moody sky Colliery shaft tan hill 14 tan hill 15 tan hill 16 tan hill 17 Flooded colliery shaft. Not suitable for paddling in, no matter how hot your feet get You had to watch where you put your feet up here two hundred years ago. No telling what you might stand in. Colliery shaft craters are everywhere This one's got a fence around it. Must still pose a threat Closer inspection reveals it's only a few feet deep. Still, enough to break a leg or worse I could have spent a few fruitless hours wondering how these circles had been formed if it hadn???t been for the timely appearance of a retired gamekeeper from an estate in Wharfedale who was on what he called a ???busman???s holiday??? day-tripping on the northern grouse moors. This is the modern way to burn old heather to promote fresh shoots for the grouse to feed on. You drive a quad bike in a circle, cutting the heather to produce a circular fire break, then burn the centre. Apparently, during the London 2012 Olympics it was fashionable to link these heather circles to form the Olympic rings ??? public art on the moors. Can???t say I noticed them myself, but the grouse were really impressed and cheered on Team GB gold medal winner Peter Wilson in the shooting events tan hill 24 tan hill 25 Yes. It burns tan hill 30 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/08/05/green-hurth-where-the-big-wheel-turns/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/08/05/green-hurth-where-the-big-wheel-turns/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2014 07:30:25 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8118 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/08/05/green-hurth-where-the-big-wheel-turns/feed/ 41 McEff Green Hurth 1 green hurth 34 Green Hurth 2 Green Hurth 3 This building is believed to have been the powder house. It is situated a fair distance from the rest of the mine for safety reasons Green Hurth 5 The remains of Swan's Shaft. The hole was originally 231ft deep One of the ruined buildings at Swan???s Shaft has a slot in the wall that has been blocked up. Perhaps a winding cable or machinery belts once passed through it. That???s just a guess, by the way Green Hurth 8 Green Hurth 9 Green Hurth 36 Green Hurth 37 green hurth 35 Concrete engine beds for a steam engine at the top of Swan???s Shaft Green Hurth 15 Green Hurth 14 Green Hurth 16 Green Hurth 17 Green Hurth 18 An old level, or tunnel, beneath the spoil heaps A bundle of buddles ??? or what's left of them . . . Piece of a 19th Century bottle Green Hurth 20 Green Hurth 22 Green Hurth 23 Green Hurth 24 Green Hurth 26 Green Hurth 27 Entrance to the main level. No room for a horse these days View from the main level. This is what the miners would see after a day's work underground Green Hurth 28 Green Hurth 31 The old tramway from Swan's Shaft to the main mine Green Hurth 33