My
Lake District Camping Trip 2007
[Page 1] Page 2
One thing I did was venture into the
subterranean world of Honister Slate Mine. The Honister mine is situated
in the centre of the Lake District, the terrible weather we had on the
day of our visit, made us think of the working condition that the poor
miners had to work and live in, at the top of the Honister Pass. It was
a very atmospheric place but very much exposed to the elements.
It was very exciting and provided a wonderful insight into the history
of this real working mine. We had to put on special safety helmets with
cool twisty lamps at the front, which I loved turning on and off, I was
very grateful for the lamps and the helmet, as I banged my head twice
and also, I don't think I have ever been anywhere so dark or cold in all
my life, but it was well worth it.
There were more than eleven miles of tunnels inside which open up into
beautiful caverns, that the miners had made – just with a few hand made
tools! (Remember, all those years ago, we’re talking about the 1800s,
people didn’t have all these high-tech diggers that are used today, oh
no, all they had was a hammer, and a chisel and some explosives. So what
they achieved was quite simply amazing.
We spent about two hours in the Kimberly Mine named after the South
African diamond mine, we also got to take two pieces of slate home with
us, (and just to tell you, the slate produced at Honister is called
“Green Gold.”) And I am very proud of the slate I got from deep inside a
real working slate mine.
I like writing, and while I was in the Lake District I took the
opportunity to go to the homes of two very famous people in the world of
writing and poetry. First, we went to Dove Cottage, once the home of the
famous poet William Wordsworth who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.
William lived with his sister Dorothy, whose journal is still available
to buy today, and the house was beautiful but very small with low
ceilings. We got to see some of the original furniture that was there at
the time.
We also went to Beatrix Potter’s house, Hill Top Farm, where this famous
author wrote most of her charming little best – selling children’s
books. In this house, Beatrix got the inspiration to write “The Tale of
Samuel Whiskers” and “The Tale of Tom Kitten” and many more. Like Dove
Cottage, Hill Top Farm contained some very old furniture that Beatrix
used, even the old doll’s house used in the recent film about Beatrix’s
life, Miss Potter starring Renee Zelweger and Ewan McGregor.
The best part of my two weeks in the Lake District, was when my Dad and
I, armed with our map and compass, our waterproof jackets spare clothes,
and enough food to feed us for three days, climbed Cat Bells. It is
called Cat Bells because 'Catt belde' is Old English for the 'den of the
wild cat' we didn't see any cats though. It was a long, 3 hour trudge up
the mountain, we didn’t rush it because it was a rather hot day and we
wanted to admire the views as we walked, (well that was our excuse when
we kept stopping, and conversed with people as they passed us at a
furious pace.)
It was my Mum’s last climb in the Lake District, she completed it twelve
months before she died, so it was sort of a memorial walk for the two of
us. It was lovely on top, the views were spectacular, especially looking
towards the Newlands valley which lies to the west and it has several
impressive summits. Our visibility soon disappeared altogether when the
clouds descended so all we could see was a rolling mass of what seemed
like cotton wool all around us, it was damp and being in the clouds, and
a little off putting for me at first, as it was my first time walking
this high, but was fun when I got used to it. It took us even longer
coming down, as we could hardly see where we were going, but it was
really a great day, and we didn't have to call the mountain rescue team
out either!
Back
