Honister Slate Mine

This is a review of the Via Ferrata Xtreme climb which is based at Honister Slate Mine (
).
After an induction in the equipment room, the climbing instructor provides everyone with a harness and helmet before the group (maximum of 12 people) walks up part of the miners’ track to start the guided ascent.
Via Ferrata means ‘Iron Way’ and you’ll soon see why as there are iron rungs, supports and a continuous metal cable all the way along the route. It’s certainly not for the faint-​hearted as you are high up on a cliff face but it’s extremely safe as you have two carabiners (strong metal clips) on your harness and you keep one locked to the cable at all times as you move carefully along. You climb independently and aren’t attached to anyone else.
The whole experience will take 2.5 to 3 hours and it’s a combination of short walks through pitch-​black mine shafts, cliff edge ladders, vertical climbs, a Burma Bridge (hanging wire bridge) and cargo net crossing. It’s quite tough-​going but you can take your time and the instructor was really encouraging of everyone, we had a great laugh with her the whole way. Our group had a big age and ability range.
After all this, the summit of Fleetwith Pike awaits (it’s over 2,000 feet high) and the views of the magnificent Lake District are breathtaking.
Thankfully you don’t have to go back the way you came (!!) and there’s a walking track all the way down to the centre.
You will feel fantastic (albeit knackered) after you complete this, so go for it!
Tip: no cameras or phones are permitted on the climb for safety reasons, but the instructor will take photos of everyone with their camera at key stages on the route. You can buy the CD of the photos for £15.

What a great visitor attraction this is, perched on the crest of Honister Pass. There is no museum as such but you can take 1 of 3 different mine tours lasting about an hour. You get the chance to go deep inside Honister Crag. Make sure you have a coat/​fleece as it tends to get rather chilly inside. Kids love it. The more adventurous can do a Farrata track accent with a guide. If you are in the north lakes give it a look, we enjoyed the experience.