Ulpha Slate mines
We knew there were some old slate mine workings near our cottage, so on thursday we went for a walk in the woods near our cottage to explore these disused slate mines. I believe this one was called Common Wood Slate Mine, Ulpha.There is a group of these old quarries north of Ulpha. They may have been worked from the 17th century until about 1925. The road up to the quarries is built of slabs of slate on edge set into clay. As you climb the road(!!) you can see there was a stream running down it - probable in the wet weather. The path/road was lined by carpets of Wild garlic and on the descent, by bluebells as well. At the top of the track, the first thing you see is the ruins of the manager's house where William Casson moved in after his marriage in 1896. It may have been an early barn conversion. William Casson managed the quarries for the Ulpha Slate Company and the Ulpha Green Slate Company and finally on his own behalf as a slate dealer after the quarries wer