GETTING used to retirement isn’t easy so a group of recently retired Coniston quarrymen jumped at the chance to visit the site of one of their biggest competitors.
Coniston quarrymen, who had formerly worked for Burlington Slate, visited the working Honister Slate Mine for a tour.
The men from Coniston are some of the most skilled slate-quarrymen in the country and the methods of working slate at Honister were very familiar to them, apart from the fact that, at Honister, slate-rock is obtained by deep mining rather than from surface quarries.
Following a tour of the slate processing site at Honister Hause the group was taken up to Honister’s Kimberley Mine in the mine Landrover.
Both Kimberley No 5 and No 6 levels were visited and the method of face-working discussed at length.
Joe Weir, a partner at Honister, explained in great detail the methods they used to extract the valuable rock and to maintain a safe working environment in an underground site.
After leaving the working mine the group was briefly shown the visitor side of Honister’s operation and all agreed that the via Ferrata facility was extremely impressive - but probably better suited for those of a slightly younger age than themselves.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here