Who would have thought slagheaps could be so interesting? From the train I’ve often noticed what I thought of (but without really thinking) as a broken wall – but it’s actually a line of slag heaps.
There was once an ironworks nearby, using limestone from local quarries to smelt iron ore from Furness, and the red-hot waste was taken along a single-track railway line and dumped in a long line beside the estuary. The works have been closed for a century and the slagheaps have become part of the landscape, protecting the low-lying land and providing a home to limestone-loving plants. I knew nothing about this, so it was all fascinating. I added even more to my mental maps by seeing the stock car track that I’d sometimes hear as I cycled that way. From the noise I’d imagined it was something on the lines of a speedway – but, no, it’s just an oversized Scalextric track.
Old Shoe Box 