A perfect day for walking

Yes, it's Wednesday today and the Haltwhistle Intermediate Walkers set off from a spot near Thornley Gate for a walk up to the Allendale Chimneys.

We could see for miles and miles and miles. It was perfect weather and visibility for walking. Although wet underfoot, there was relatively little mud and nothing we could not cope with.

In my blip, you can see part of the flue which stretches from the lead smelter near Allendale up to the chimney on the top of the moor. The flue ran over 2 miles from the smelter below and the toxic gases were released well away from the population.

It would be good to think that this was an early (19th century) form of health and safety. In reality, lead and small amounts of silver, were deposited on the walls of the flue. Small boys worked hard to scrape off the precious metals. 

The flue you see here has mainly collapsed, but it allows you to see the arched construction. Every so often there is a doorway so that deposits could be collected by horse and cart.

Read more about the industry of the area here.

I have heard it said that children sometimes slept in the flues for the warmth, but that meant that some also died there. The life of an adult smelt worker was not expected to be a long one either.

We loved the 360 degree views and had a great day out. Arth is moaning a little, but he enjoyed himself really!!

The conversation today was almost inevitably heavily weighted towards the coronavirus and the consequences.