#130: Goldscope – The wealth of Newlands

...in which we journey deep into Newlands to tell the remarkable story of Elizabethen copper mining, and the part it played in making Keswick the birthplace of modernity.

Leaving Little Town in the company of the inimitable Mark Hatton, we ascend the flanks of Hindscarth, and rewind time to the 1560s, to when England's war footing meant a domestic supply of copper was a matter of national security.

Entering the hand-picked addit that drives through Scope End, we learn about the pioneering German miners who – in the year of Shakespeare's birth – brought their skills to a backwater Lake District valley; and we seek out one of the most audacious engineering feats of its age: a stream, diverted between valleys through the mountain to power an underground waterwheel.

Suitably wowed, we trace the copper ore's ancient route – above the marshy bottoms of Newlands into Keswick – to reflect on the social impacts of an immigrant population, and the ensuing violence... and baby boom.

Arriving at the all-but-ignored former smelter site in Brigham (below the A66 flyover), we discover old tunnels and leats that channeled water to the most important industrial site of its age.

As we digest a lost Lake District history, we consider the fate of the Germans who stayed, and the legacy of an industry that shaped national economics, politics, law... and plenty of future Keswickians.

• Mark is on X at https://x.com/thehatton

Heading through lovely Newlands towards Hindscarth.

Our guest for the day (for the fourth time): Ambleside-based Mark Hatton.

Mark and Mark below the Goldscope spoil heaps.

Dappled sun in Newlands.

Spoil heaps below the Goldscope copper mines.

View north towards Skiddaw from the mine entrance.

Entrance to St George's Level.

Mark and Dave from inside the Level.

Mark in the remarkable wheel pit. Note the timbers above that once supported basins which controlled the water powering the wheel.

...it was polling day!

Below the Keswick flyover is this... tunnel through which water was diverted into a leat to power the Brigham smelter.

The A66 flyover, and the former mill buildings.

Miner's Way - in the heart of Keswick.

The Goldscope Cup – made from silver extracted from Goldscope. It is on display at Keswick Museum.