England’s last working slate mine, which diversified into tourism to stay in business, is now in the running to be named best tourism experience in the country. The Via Ferrata Experience at Honister slate mine in the Lake District, has been shortlisted as the country’s Best Tourism Experience in the national Enjoy England Awards 2012, to be revealed in Leicester on May 22. Via Ferrata (Iron Way in Latin) takes place high on the crags of the spectacular 650 m Fleetwith Pike, in the Borrowdale Valley near Keswick.
It involves people secured by harness and watched over by trained mountaineers edge along an historic cliff-edge miner’s “route-to-work” using metal ladders, hand rungs and bridges to reach a stunning summit viewpoint over Buttermere and Crummock.
Via Ferrata were established in the First World War to help troops with no climbing experience, get quickly through the mountains in the Alps and Italian Dolomites. There are Via Ferrata experiences in Switzerland and Austria, but Honister’s is the only one in England.
Last summer it was named Best Tourism Experience in the Lake District at the Cumbria Tourism Awards.The Via Ferrata was introduced at Honister by the late mine owner Mark Weir, to help people who don’t climb, enjoy the drama and exposure of mountaineering. Weir, who rescued and revitalised the mine in the mid-1990s after it had lain derelict for a decade, was tragically killed when his helicopter crashed in high winds at the mine back in March 2011.
It meant his partner Jan and mother-of-his three children were left to keep the business afloat with his elder brother Joe Weir, and mum Celia Taylor-Weir.
The Via Ferrata has links back to the hardships of the original Victorian miners who used the same high altitude walkways as a route to get to and from work.
As well as being popular with visitors, it has been widely acclaimed, with BBC presenter Julia Bradbury declaring it “brilliant.”
Jules Brown, writing in the Rough Guide to England, said: “I’m a scaredy-cat as far as exposed heights are concerned – so edging along metal rungs on a rock face over 2,000 ft up, is probably the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.”
“I went with a friend who has walked in the Dolomites and has been on one of the original “iron ways” over there. He reckoned Honister is just as amazing, tough and exciting. Our Rough Guide verdict? The Lake District’s biggest thrill – don’t even think of coming to Honister and missing the Via Ferrata.”
Honister has already received an accolade from national tourism body Visit England, which sent out an undercover tourism inspector to road-test the business on behalf of customers. It passed with flying colours and was praised for its excellent standards. They found: “No other English attraction is quite like Honister mine. This is a unique experience and has great development potential.
“The owner’s vision has done so much for the area and can be seen as a perfect example of how pro-active visitor experiences can be linked to industrial sites. Honister is not in any sense Disneyfied. Tunnels are damp, the floors are uneven but the experience is quite outstanding. There can be no doubt whatsoever that the insight into the Lake District’s industrial world which still exists in a modified form, but was once a major industry, is fascinating.”
Honister Slate Mine is situated over 300 m up a mountain pass in the Lake District on the fourth highest road in England. It officially opened in 1643 but mining is believed to have taken place there since early Roman Times.
The mine and visitor centre, is also homage to all things slate in what was once one of the Lake District’s traditional industries. In particular, you can see products made from the beautiful “Westmorland Green,” slate which is over 450 million years old and renowned for its high quality, hard-wearing distinctive olive-green colour.
In addition to the Via Ferrata, you can also take a fascinating guided mine tour inside Fleetwith Pike to
discover the history of the miners of old.
In a sign of the times for slate mining in England and the Lake District, a slate quarry at Kirkstone in nearby Ambleside recently went into administration with the loss of 40 jobs – leaving just Honister and the Burlington Slate Quarry at Kirkby-in-Furness, Cumbria, flying the flag in the Lake District.
Honister will compete against tourism experiences in Cheshire, Worcester, Yorkshire and Kent.