The best hikes from bus stations around Coniston Water

Around 1590, the Company of Mines Royal began extracting copper from the Coniston copper veins. The first work was carried out entirely by hand. With brute force, the rock face was broken and tunnels were excavated very slowly. Only enough rock was removed to allow one person to pass through the tunnel, and these access tunnels are called 'coffin levels' because of their characteristic coffin shape. Excavating a 17th-century tunnel like Cobbler's Level could still take three years. The Elizabethan Company of Mines Royal was led by German experts from the Tyrol and Bavaria. Their mines penetrated more than 55 metres into the earth. Work continued after the English Civil War, but perhaps not to a great extent. At the end of the 17th century, gunpowder was introduced, which changed everything. Work went much faster and mines could go much deeper than before, up to more than 90 metres below the surface. The charges were placed in a hole drilled into the rock using 'jumpers', iron rods made on site. You can still see hand-drilled shot holes. Gunpowder was replaced by dynamite in 1877 and jumpers by compressed air drills in 1883. (Lake district national park)

The Coniston Coppermines Waterwheel is a restored, fully functioning waterwheel in Coppermines Valley. Against the impressive backdrop of The Old Man of Coniston, it forms a central element of the area's 500-year-old copper mining history.

Levers Water is a small lake. It lies at the start of Coppermines Valley, above the village of Coniston. To the southwest of it lies Raven Tor, an outlier of Brim Fell, and to the northwest lie Little How Crags and Great How Crags, on the east side of the north-south ridge leading to Swirl How. A dam, built in 1717, enlarged the existing tarn to supply water to the mines and the village below. (Wikipedia)

Brim Fell connects Coniston Old Man with Swirl How, the two main fells of the Coniston group. Its disadvantage is that it is very close to the Old Man, only a short walk away.

To describe this mountain, here is a quote: "Although cruelly scarred and disfigured by the quarries, the Old Man has retained a dignified bearing and still lifts his proud and venerable head to the sky. His tears flow quietly into Low Water and Goats Water, two beautiful mountain tarns, whence they eventually... find their way to Coniston Water, bathing his ancient feet." Alfred Wainwright, "A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book Four: The Southern Fells"

The most spectacular angles for photographing Low Water are from above: it can be seen from the ridge between Brim Fell Rake and the Old Man, but also from the steep, rugged path between the Old Man and the village of Coniston. The shores of the Tarn can also be reached via this latter path. (Lakes, Meres, Tarns & Waters)

The ruins of Saddlestone Mill are fascinating, derelict remnants of the old "Coniston slate and copper mines" on the northeastern flank of the Old Man of Coniston. The site is located approximately 2 km west of the village of Coniston and includes huge steel cables, old railway tracks, winding gear, buildings, and abandoned quarry tunnels.

A beautiful waterfall, but difficult to view in the summer due to dense vegetation.