Page 2

Over the years, as well as providing a rich source of slate, the mountain has also provided grazing for the village farms, One hundred years ago there were over 20 hefted flocks on the mountain and today there are still three - belonging to Hoathwaite Farm at Torver, High Ground south of Coniston village and Turner Hall in the Duddon Valley. ‘Hefting’ is the acclimatising of a flock of hill sheep to 'their' part of the hillside. A hefted flock is worth more to a farmer than one that has not been acclimatised as they roam far less and are easier to manage.

Many farms supplement the income by catering for tourists. Most visitors come to Coniston to walk on the mountains and fells. Coniston village is one of the most popular mountain walking venues in the North of England and Coniston Old Man in particular attracts many thousands of walkers each year. Many climb the mountain via the Old Man Slate Quarries, and then return the same way. Others use this route of ascent as the start of a much longer mountain walk round the ‘Coniston Group’, ultimately descending from the summit of Wetherlam back to the village. Most will be unaware, as they climb the final summit shoulder of the Old Man of the vast slate caverns beneath their feet.

The first recorded ‘tourist’ ascent of Coniston Old Man was made by a Captain Budworth in 1792 although, without doubt, Coniston farmers and quarrymen routinely ventured to the summit centuries earlier than this as part of their work.

Tourists climbing Coniston Old Man in the summer of 1922 step to one side to allow a slate cart to pass.