Mullon & Duddon Sands
So, last day, and where shall we go which is not too far away? So the choice was to the nearest coastal area, a few miles south and the town of Mullon, on the edge of the Duddon sands. The town looked a bit of a dump being dull and unkempt, having nothing particular to catch the eye. Parking? Prizes are available for finding anything!! First though, we carried on through the town to an RSPB site called Hodbarrow. In the past this area, the Hodbarrow mine at Millom was one of the most successful iron ore mines in Cumberland (now Cumbria) not only for the amount of ore that was excavated but also for the quality of the Haematite. Mining had been tried at Millom before 1855 but with little success. Two men Nathaniel Caine and John Barratt formed the Hodbarrow Mining Company in around 1855. One of the biggest problems at Hodbarrow was due to water and when the old workings collapsed the low lying areas flooded leaving the company with very little choice but to press on and in 1868 ...