Honister Slate Mine, Cumbria, is located in the northwest Lake District at the southeast end of the Buttermere valley and is now the only working mine producing Westmorland Green slate. The mine has a long history which is covered in this concise and well-illustrated book. The slate industry had its origins in the medieval period, using surface quarrying to access the highly desired veins of slate, and packhorses to transport the products to their market. Mining into the rock faces started in the 17th century, and the 19th century saw a series of improvements to the transport issue, through the construction of improved packhorse routes (“Sam Wright’s Roads”), inclined railways and tramroads, and aerial ropeways. Substantial evidence of these systems survives.
In addition to its historical survey, the book describes the bumpy 20th century experience of the mine, going through long-term decline and closure, reopening under the leadership of Mark Weir, and its survival into the present as both an industrial site and a tourist and activity attraction. The book ends by noting the challenges of running a modern industry within a National Park valued by many for its rural and unspoiled nature.
These concerns may be allayed by the fact that when the Lake District was inscribed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, Buttermere’s significance included “continuity of traditional agro-pastoralism and local industry in a spectacular mountain landscape”, explicitly mentioning mining and quarrying, referring to Honister.
The book includes some excellent historic and contemporary photographs and is written in a lively way. The lack of citations is to be regretted; there is mention of industrial archaeology survey work but no indication of where this might be consulted, and similar the reader will want to have a map to hand.