Lake District, England

Author: Gordon T.
Date of Trip: September 2010

An interesting excursion from Coniston can be made to a disused quarry at Hodge Close, about two miles from the village – take the A593 road towards Ambleside, and look for the sign-posted road on the left to Hodge Close. This takes you to a large car-parking area, close to the main part of the quarry which is a huge and deep pit with sheer sides and deep water in the bottom. You can see two openings, and the remnants of a rail line, in one side of the quarry, and you can fairly easily descend to these and be right next to the water, which was absolutely still and makes for some nice photos with the rock reflections. You need to be careful and sure-footed around the quarry, but it is an interesting and atmospheric place, and I recommend spending an hour or two there. I gather it is popular with rock climbers, and with divers, as it has flooded chambers, and indeed whilst we were there we saw two people in wetsuits appear in the quarry and jump into the water – apparently they came through a tunnel from the other part of the site. I have found some websites with more information, and some photos – https://www.opencountryprints.co.uk/hodge.htm https://www.english-lakes.com/hodge_close.htm http://www.ukdivers.net/sites/hodge.htmhttps://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/hodge-close-quarry.htm

Coniston is surrounded with disused mines and quarries, and there is a good one to see on the Old Man. Walking up from the village (take the lane past the Co-op shop), you can climb a good path beside a stream up to a copper mine. There is lots of old abandoned machinery just lying around up here. You can go further past the mine, and a water industry installation, and take a more rugged path across the valley to link up with a better route down the other side, completing a loop to the path back to Coniston. This is not a long or difficult excursion at all, and well worth it for the things to see and the pleasant mountainside environment. I found these websites with lots of photos of the copper mine areas – http://www.aditnow.co.uk/album/Bonsor-Dressing-Floors-and-Mill/http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/view_picture.asp?id=4621

Another good walk which you can start from Coniston itself is to Tarn Hows. I didn’t go on this walk myself but some of my group did and they said it was excellent. It is only about five miles there and back, and apparently affords one of the best views in the Lake District – quite a claim. Here is a detailed description of the walk – https://www.knowledge.me.uk/walks/tarn_hows.html I also like to cycle, and a stay in Coniston affords plenty of opportunities for rides of all distances amongst beautiful scenery. Beware, though – some of the busier roads are quite narrow, and to my mind are dangerous for cyclists – motorists driving too fast see them too late as they come round bends and over crests. You can find some lovely safe cycling on the many quieter roads in the LD. I noticed sign-posts for an off-road track from Coniston all the way to Ambleside, which would be much appreciated by cyclists as this stretch of road is particularly narrow, bendy, and undulating, especially towards the Coniston end. I did not go on any part of this path, but I imagine that it is not tarmac and best on an MTB or hybrid bike. I had a “racer” (i.e. narrow high pressure tyres) with me and was looking for an excursion around Coniston Water on the public roads. This was easily achievable, a round trip is only about 18 miles, and if you are starting from Coniston, you could continue on south to Ulverston to make it a longer trip – about 30 miles, this one.

I also like to ride a MTB on forest trails, and there is an ideal venue for this a short drive east from Coniston, at Grizedale Forest. There is a bike hire shop, with a sales and repair shop next door, and we received excellent and friendly service here. There is also a smart cafe close by. Bike hire cost £15 for up to 4 hours, no deposit required if you can provide a credit card number. The bikes we got were not top quality but they were good enough – but I believe you could get a better class of bike if you advise them that you are going on the more “technical” tracks – i.e. where more skilful and adventurous riding is required. My companion and I stuck to the main forest track, which was about a ten-mile circuit on good, wide, smooth surfaces. It was not muddy at all, despite it being a murky day, and there having been some wet weather in the proceeding days. The circuit was quite hilly, though, with some quite demanding climbs, but some long and fast downhills. We cycled the main track – marked in green on the provided map – in an anti-clockwise direction, which was for the best in my view, as the first two thirds had all the climbing, and the last third was almost all downhill. There were very few other cyclists, or walkers on the tracks, but then it was a rather grey weekday in late September. I imagine it is rather busier in the summer. I recommend a visit to Grizedale if you are a cyclist of any ability, there are fairly easy and shorter ways if you prefer, and it is very pleasant in the forest with good views at the northern end, looking down on Coniston Water and across the lake to Coniston village itself. And you are, of course, completely away from any motor traffic.