Lead Mines Clough Spout

Great weather for a walk around Anglezarke Moor including Lead Mines Clough. It is possible that Mesolithic hunting camps existed on these moors but evidence is rare. The area was then covered by forest which Neolithic and Bronze Age settlers began to clear. More forest was cleared by the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and the place name Clough suggests that it is Norse in origin.

Lead was mined for at least two hundred years along the Limestone Brook of Lead Mines Clough. Remains of the workings have recently been unearthed including the water wheel shaft and slime pit which could well form the basis of a future blip.

The earliest record of mining in Lead Mines Clough dates back to 1692. After years of stop/start ventures the mines reached their peak of production in the late 1700s. During this period the locality became famous for the discovery of witherite which was used secretly by Josiah Wedgwood at his works in Eturia for the production of Jasper ware. Even in recent years witherite, because it contains arsenic, was used locally as a rat poison. The mine ceased working in 1837.

Well that's the weekend over - five days to go :)