Threlkeld Quarry And Mining Museum, Mining museum in Allerdale, England
Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum is a mining museum set within a former granite quarry located about three miles east of Keswick in the Lake District. The site displays historical mining equipment, heavy machinery, and geological samples alongside underground passages that reveal how the quarry once operated.
Operations at the granite quarry began in 1870 and supplied railway ballast to the Penrith-Keswick line for many decades before extraction gradually ended. The site was later transformed into a museum to preserve the story of local stone quarrying and the mining techniques once used there.
The site preserves the story of local mining through displays of heavy equipment and steam engines that show how workers once extracted stone from the ground.
The museum opens seasonally from Easter through October, with daily hours during school holidays and Monday closures during school term. Visitors should expect muddy terrain in places and wear comfortable footwear, particularly if exploring the underground passages and quarry floor.
The site operates a narrow gauge railway with a restored steam locomotive from 1926 that carries visitors on a 25-minute journey through the former quarry grounds. This working railway line adds an experiential element rarely found at other mining museums.
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