Now we know

The number of times we have driven past this building and wondered about it. It had obviously not been a dwelling of any kind, nor a farm building, so what was it?

Last week Gordon went to a talk on Gypsum in Cumbria and he eventually tracked down a book all about it. And now we know what the building was.

In the area that is now wooded behind the building there was a lot of mining for gypsum; apparently below the surface it is riddled with tunnels . (The land was part of Acorn Bank, more of which later.) This building was the Engine Shed, which housed the machinery that worked the overhead ropeway system used to transport the gypsum the two miles down to the mill at Kirkby Thore. The mine here was closed in 1937 and the building stripped out and left.

The building is derelict now and all around there are bits of rusted metalwork, pieces that were obviously important at the time, but have now been left to decay – see extra.

   
We did quite a bit more exploring using the plans in the book. Amazing what you find, if you know what you are looking for. More later . . .