It’s off to work we go
Saturday, our good weather luck finally ran out and we woke up to a dreary, rainy day. Luckily, I had anticipated this and had booked a Honister Mine Tour for the day, figuring that the inside of a mine would be one of the driest places in the area.
Located about 15 minutes outside of Keswick, Honister Mine is a working slate mine that also has a variety of tours – a simple mine tour, a mine/hiking tour and the insane Via Ferrata tour. Originally, I had seen the Via Ferrata tour advertised and had wanted to do it back in May. However, after seeing some of the videos and photos on the Mine’s website, I have changed my mind. Most people who know me know how paranoid about heights I am. So a climb up a mountain face on metal rungs would probably not be a good idea.
Just looking at these photos makes me nauseous!
For the even more insane, why not add a zipline to it?
Kevin and I stuck to the boring yet safe mine tour, partly because I am a wuss and partly because it was raining. On a side note, mining always makes me think of the 7 dwarfs which makes me think of my rides to work with my dad when I worked at EB – he thought it was a fantastic idea to sing Heigh-Ho at 6 in the morning. Not FUNNY!
We got a funny old Yorkshireman as a guide and helmets on our head and headed down into the mine. Let me tell you – that mine was cold! My poor planning caused me to just be wearing a light jacket and sweater so my hands froze and became numb, which made my favorite activity – picture taking – difficult because I could barely push the button. However, I got a few good photo’s of the mine tunnels and caves.
The Entrance to the Mine
Watch your head Kevin!
One of the caves that’s not currently being mined with its lava sill above
Another cave with a lava sill above
Kevin is grumpy cause I hit him with my light
Ventilation Shaft with the old rail tracks and sketchy ladder
Blast Holes
Where we originally entered the mine
Honister Pass
Kevin is planning on heading back sometime to try the Via Ferrata because he is insane, but I would love to get back up to the area and hike around. It’s really beautiful here.
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