Accommodations in Borrowdale near Honister Slate Mine (Borrowdale, United Kingdom)
Honister Slate Mine (Borrowdale, United Kingdom)
The Honister Slate Mine, or the Buttermere and Westmorland Green Slate Company Limited to give it its proper name, is “England’s only working slate mine”. After 300 years of working, it closed in 1986 but was reopened ten years later as a combined working mine and heritage/tourism centre. It uses traditional machinery, mining and cutting techniques which visitors can see at the visitor centre and on the factory trail. Underground tours of the mine are offered at three different levels depending on the ages and head for heights of the visitors. The Mine has also installed a Via Ferrata, which recreates the route the miners used as a quick way home. Popular in the Dolomites, it uses fixed rungs and cables as a way of climbing slopes and peaks usually only accessible by climbers. The route is guided and all equipment and safety instruction is provided. There is a minimum height limit of 1.30m (about 4’ 3”). The Mine is open 7 days a weeks from 9am to 5pm. The Via Ferrata operates daily at 9am and 12 noon. There is a shop and café on site and wheelchair access is possible to the visitor centre, stone garden, café and toilets. The attraction warns that this is the “wettest place in England” and advises visitors to come with appropriate clothing and footwear.
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