Wetherlam

Wetherlam has been called the most industrialised fell in the Lake District. Copper and slate were both worked on its slopes. Copper mining peaked in the 1850s, and the main Coniston mines closed in 1915. Tilberthwaite Mine on the east side kept going until 1942, and the Greenburn mine on the north sank shafts 700 feet deep between 1845 and 1865.

Coniston, Tilberthwaite and Little Langdale are the three main starts. In Coniston, use the free roadside parking just past the Ruskin Museum and take the track up Coppermines Valley. From there you can climb the south ridge over Lad Stones, or go up Red Dell and onto Black Sails. The Red Dell line passes waterwheel pits, levels and shafts on its way to the ridge, about 3.3 miles and 2,485 feet to the top. From Tilberthwaite and from Little Langdale, paths lead to Birk Fell Hawse, the col north-east of the summit. Wetherlam Edge then rises very steeply, about 200 metres in half a kilometre, to the top.

Most of the ground is paths and old quarry tracks. Black Sails has rock outcrops, and Wetherlam Edge is a steep, rocky climb. Near the workings, keep to the paths, as the old shafts are fenced off.

The summit is a gentle dome with a cairn. The Southern, Central and Eastern Fells are all in view, from the Old Man and the Scafells round to the Langdale Pikes, Helvellyn and Fairfield, with Coniston Water below. Little Langdale is perhaps the finest sight. Levers Water, under the west slopes, was raised to about 125 feet deep to serve the mines.