The Coppermines Valley and The Bell

About

The Coppermines Valley lies directly behind Coniston village cutting a deep gash between the long high ridge of the main Coniston Fells and the shapely outlying summit of Weatherlam. This impressively steep valley, as its name suggests, has been of great interest to miners from as far back as Elizabethan times and possibly further. Deep shaft entrances pockmark its length and high-walled quarries ring its enclosing slopes. The shafts are where miners have burrowed deep underground chasing veins of copper-rich ore and the quarries are the by-product of slate extraction. You might think all this carving up of the fellside would be the last place to visit for a walk, but nature is gradually mending the wounds and the contrasting high summits and crags are particularly impressive making a walk a fascinating experience.

The old mine and quarry buildings in the Coppermines Valley (now a YHA, holiday lets and climbing huts) are accessed by a gravel track which climbs out of Coniston alongside the dashing waters of Church Beck. This makes a perfect approach for a walk as it climbs at a nice steady gradient and gets you warmed up gently. From here there are a variety of route options but the most impressive is to continue up the access track and follow it up to the dramatic mountain hollow occupied by Levers Water. This beautiful tarn is right at the heart of the Coniston Fells and makes an ideal stop for lunch. From Levers Water there is an unusual natural feature called Boulder Valley which makes an excellent continuation of the walk. It descends from the southwest corner of the tarn and crosses the bottom of a steep sided corrie. As you descend Boulder Valley you pass by a number of large rocks and cross Low Water Beck. At the footbridge over the beck is the biggest of the rocks called the Pudding Stone. From the footbridge a pleasant terrace path leads to a col at Crowberry Haws from where, if you are still feeling energetic, you can make the short climb up the small but shapely hill called The Bell. This little hill gives fantastic views of all the walk so far. A simple descent along a well-trodden path then leads to the Miners Bridge over Church Beck which once crossed delivers you back onto the track to Coniston.

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