Pausing to catch my breath

I was out with Geoff and Sandy today to check a section of Geoff's walk on the last day of the Autumn Festival. We did the recce in August on a wet day with poor visibility.

Today the sky was brilliant blue and we could see for miles. It was quite a revelation to see the countryside around us! We started in the tiny village of Garigill and climbed up onto the moors above. The first 3 miles of this 14 mile walk are the toughest.

My legs were like lead today; no idea why and I was glad when we ended today's recce in Nenthead, having sorted out a tricky section of route and done about 5 miles.

Leaden probably came to mind because in the 19th century the moors here were full of the activities of the lead miners. Nenthead was purpose built as a town for the workers. It was built by the Quaker Lead Company, but the workers were almost all Methodists. A school was provided for children, night classes for adults and there were small holdings to tend on  Saturdays and chapel on Sundays.

Falling markets destroyed the community, with cheap imports leading to a collapse in prices, and many families emigrated to the USA and Australia at the end of the 19th century. Zinc mining continued until the 1940s and Nenthead Mines eventual y closed its last pit in 1961.

Whilst on a cruise recently, Geoff was reading a book on lead mining in the north east, so he will have all the facts at his finger tips when we do the walk!


Folk in both Nenthead and Allenheads – the next port of call – claim to live in England’s highest village. Nenthead is 500m above sea level and has a colder climate than Aberdeen. It does seem incredible that only 300 million years ago it was on the equator.