Burlington Stone and Zip World team up for Lake District tourist attraction
The Lake District National Park Authority has received plans from the two companies to introduce visitor access to Elterwater Quarry’s industrial heritage.
Elterwater Quarry is located in the centre of the Great Langdale Valley to the west of the village of Elterwater in Cumbria.
The six-acre site is accessed via an existing haul road, itself accessed from the B5343 through Elterwater Village, to the south of the bridge over the River Brathay.
Stephenson Halliday submitted the plans on behalf of Burlington Stone, who seeks to regenerate the existing active quarry site and renovate its facilities.
Proposals, drawn up by Dewis Architecture, include the improvement of the permissive pedestrian route to the upper quarry level, ‘The Quarryman’s Viewpoint’. This would allow panoramic views over the quarry and the Great Langdale valley.
The eastern half of the 14,500 sq ft former saw and dressing sheds would be renovated to improve their condition. A section of the shed would be repurposed as a registration and briefing area, with changing facilities, staff facilities, and toilets.
An existing 1,100 sq ft visitor centre would be refurbished to provide a resting point and electric bike facilities.
Externally, a heritage interpretation area would be built on an area of unused land currently used for slate storage, adjacent to the visitor centre.
The underground caverns, which comprise mine tunnels extending south into the hillside, are currently inaccessible to the public. Burlingtone Stone have partnered with ZipWorld to propose activity space.
An internal route would be fixed to the walls to facilitate access to the caverns. The smaller cavern to the south of the site would be used for training, while the larger cavern would be the main focus of the activity.
The existing parking at the site would be improved to provide spaces for three light goods vehicles, 39 cars, and 10 bicycles. Bike EV charging would also be installed.
Curtins is the consultant for transport and travel. BSG is the ecological consultant.
The application’s reference number at Lake District National Park is 7/2023/5012.
Fantastic idea, breathing new life into a much loved part of the lake district. Access may be a challenge along an already busy and narrow road, but all for a scheme like this to bring the Lake district into the modern era!
By South Cumbrian