A slice of Cornwall within The Peak District?

Located between the town of Bakewell and Monyash within the Peak District is something which resembles a “ghost of industrial past” A shell that is a reminder of the old industry that once operated in this somewhat desolate area. It is a place though that I had always wanted to visit but never got the chance to. But that all changed when the week before Christmas I took the plunge and decided to explore this fantastic and mysterious location.

Magpie Mine from a distance looks quite eerie, alien almost and does not fit in with the surroundings of the rest of The Peak District Landscape and upon the first sighting of it from the road which approaches the mine, my first thoughts were the following,

“Hold on a minute but that looks like an old Cornish tin mine”.

Yes from afar when you first see it from the road or even looking at photographs of Magpie Mine, it looks Cornish, you could almost be forgiven for thinking that this mine and it’s buildings have been lifted up from either The Cornish Coastline or the heaths and moorlands of Cornwall and placed within The Peak District. But this mine was used not for the mining of Tin but instead Lead, however Magpie Mine does have links to Cornwall though and this can be discovered with the history of the mine.

https://pdmhs.co.uk/magpie-mine-peak-district-history/

The engine house reflects that of a Cornish Tin Mine - why you might ask, well that is because in 1839 the Cornish Engineer, John Taylor was bought in to re-open Magpie Mine which now incorporated The Great Redsoil Workings.

However nowadays all that remains of this mine are it’s buildings and a replica Horse Gin located on The Redsoil Engine Shaft.

Parking at the mine is quite easy and it is a short walk up a gently winding path which leads to the first building that you will see, this to the untrained eye looks like a farmhouse which so happens to have a former Lead mine in the farmyard, but this unassuming building which still stands today is actually the former site office for the mine. Now it is used as a small shop that sells information about the mine. However due to the COVID crisis that is happening, it was closed.

Not that this mattered as being in the open is the perfect way in which to enjoy and explore this fantastic former industrial structure in all of it’s grandeur. And what with the dramatic peak district landscape as the background along with the big open skies for that extra dramatic atmosphere I just had to compose some shots.

A hybrid mixture of both landscape and architecture? Quite possibly and that is the joyful thing about Magpie Mine, that a lot of other locations within The Peak District do not have the ability to do, yet here it is all about thinking outside of the box. Yes you have the landscape surrounding you. But you also have an abandoned lead mine to contend with, but work with the environment and you can get some truly fantastic and interesting photographic results.

So what was the first photograph that I took? Well it was an old piece of rather small machinery, that was on the ground - abandoned but not moved since it was left, and low down was the best composition for this, the sky itself was slightly grey, surreal almost but with a truly stunning light to it. Well winter does have a habit of making interesting light conditions. So I had to take these photos using a slow shutter speed to blend the clouds together.

When the machines stopped working.

When the machines stopped working - (Black and White).

The silent parts.

The silent parts - (Black and White).

But those images are just merely scratching the surface. For walking around the land that this mine is located on reveals some interesting features that become revealed and you get a sense of this slightly lunar landscape that really should not exist in The Peak District, but does. Visible are the old heaps of rocks that are abandoned now with grass on them, some even exposed. And the next shots well they show the scale of this abandoned former industrial ghost.

A silent ship - (Black and White).

A silent ship - (Colour).

The ghost of the magpie - (Black and White).

The ghost of the magpie - (Colour).

Magpie Magic - (Black and White).

Magpie Magic - (Colour).

If you listen you can still hear - (Black and White)

If you listen you can still hear - (Colour).

Like a silhouette this old abandoned mine is perfect for any photographer who is wanting to challenge themselves, and you only have to look on Flickr, to see what others have also achieved. It really could be described as,

“A photographer's playground that just invites you to get creative. To work upon new ideas, angles, views and perspectives that can help you become a better photographer”.

And it really is a photographers playground, I just kept coming across new compositions all the time, some that were quite challenging, others that needed patience, but then this happened, a gorgeous light occurred and I had just had to take the following photographs,

Cornwall in The Peak District - (Black and White).

Cornwall in The Peak District - (Colour).

Atmosphere of light - (Black and White).

Atmosphere of light - (Colour).

The engine is on - (Black and White).

The engine is on - (Colour)

The other world - (Black and White).

The other world - (Colour).

The engine house of Magpie Mine, is one that is incredibly photogenic, it has a certain quality to it, and the light was just spectacular, attempting to break through the clouds and it had been trying to do this all day, but had failed. However that did not stop it looking dramatic, and a dramatic location deserves dramatic photos.

Perhaps these photographs are the best ones of 2020 that I had taken, I sure think that they are,

Again I continued to walk around this impressive location, and once around the other side of the main engine house, the old remains of the mine became more visible, old machinery which at one time stood proud, now remains silent, but you can still hear them somehow, mysterious yes but magical at the same time, and I had after taking the photos of the old engine building decided to take a short walk up to a flat piece of land, that had many other interesting elements to it, including old buildings now abandoned that at one time would have been buzzing with life and looked incredibly different from today.

The view from here - (Landscape).

The view from here - (Portrait).

The view from here - (Landscape/Black and White).

The view from the mine is rather impressive and the vista towards Monyash in the west is something to behold, I can imagine that the mine workers, when they came up to the surface admired the stunning vistas around them and had a minute to take it all in.

But even the smaller industrial scars including a rather small but perfectly formed headstock remain photogenic, and I just had to capture this.

The time machine - (Black and White).

The time machine - (Colour).

The technology from yesteryear - (Black and White).

The technology from yesteryear - (Colour).

A sense of awe is something that I experienced at Magpie Mine, and it is a location that I shall definitely return to for more photogenic adventures. But it is also a location for photography that has taught me to experiment more within photography and actually work with angles and perspectives to capture something unique.

Still though it really is a slice of Cornwall within The Peak District, and that in itself is something unique, for anyone visiting The Peak District should seek out these unique hidden places, they make for some truly unique photographic challenges that are sure to challenge any photographer.