Tindale, Cumbria

Tindale or Tindale Fell is a hamlet in the parish of Farlam in the Cumberland district of the English county of Cumbria. It is to the south of the A689 Brampton to Alston road. It is a former mining village – both coal and lead were mined here. Limestone was quarried here. Tindale is approximately 15 miles east of Carlisle. It was here that Stephenson's Rocket resided before it was donated to the Science Museum in London.

1. Mining and quarrying

Though often located in Brampton, the Gairs mine NY 585 554 is described as being in Hallbankgate in 1925. It had 55 working underground and 28 above, though two years earlier it had employed 148 underground and 44 above. It output 70,000 tons of household and steam coal. It was a safe mine and worked two seams, known as the Little Limestone Coal and the Little Limestone seam. It was abandoned in 1936. It was operated by the Naworth Coal Company. There were other mines in the area notably the Tindale Drift Mine and the Black Syke Mine in Haltwhistle, and Roachburn and Bishops Hill Colliery at Brampton and the Naworth Colliery and drift mines at Midgeholme. Limestone was quarried at the Silvertop Quarry.

1. Lord Carlisle's railway

Hallbankgate stood at the top of a railway incline on 'Lord Carlisle's Railway' which linked Brampton Junction with the various mines and quarries in the vicinity of Hallbankgate. The Brampton Railway originated as a wooden wagonway on Tindale Fell. The mainline to Brampton Coal Staithe was built in 1798, and it was in operation in 1799. In 1808 the track was relaid using wrought iron rails, This was the first place where they were used commercially. In 1836, the route below Hallbankgate was realigned to it could link with the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway at Brampton Junction station. The rails were re-spaced to Stephenson's 4' 8 1/2¨ gauge. The line was worked by steam, and the engine used was Stephenson's Rocket, bought for £300. There was a passenger service but the line was mainly used to get the coal from the neighbouring mines to Brampton. There was an engine shed built at Hallbankgate, and above the village lines were laid to each pit. The line continued to Halton Lea Gate, but was extended to Lambley and Lambley Junction in 1852. The line finally closed in 1953. Blacksyke junction is just to the east of the village and the site on a level crossing to the west.

1. References

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Geltsdale RSPB reserve

Geltsdale RSPB reserve is a nature reserve in Geltsdale, Cumbria, England. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has managed land at Geltsdale since the 1970s, protecting upland birds such as the hen harrier and black grouse. In 2025 the RSPB announced a major expansion of the reserve. The reserve is within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) called Geltsdale & Glendue Fells. Along with other SSSIs in the North Pennines, it is designated a Special Protection Area under the Birds Directive. The reserve is managed within the context of a commercial hill farm.

Landmark Park

Midgeholme

Midgeholme is a hamlet and civil parish in the Cumberland district, Cumbria, England. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 67. The parish is bordered to the north by Farlam; to the east by Hartleyburn and Knaresdale with Kirkhaugh, both in Northumberland; to the south by Geltsdale; and to the west by Hayton. Cold Fell, at 621 metres (2,037 ft), is on the boundary of Midgeholme and Geltsdale parishes. The hamlet of Midgeholme and the disused Midgeholme Coalfield are in the north east of the parish, near the A689 road between Brampton and Lambley.

Industrial Landmark

2.3 km

Midgeholme Coalfield

The Midgeholme Coalfield is a coalfield in Midgeholme, on the border of Cumbria with Northumberland in northern England. It is the largest of a series of small coalfields along the south side of the Tyne Valley and which are intermediate between the Northumberland and Durham Coalfields to the east and the Cumberland Coalfield to the west. Like the other small coalfields to its east, this small outlier of the Coal Measures at Midgeholme occurs on the Stublick-Ninety Fathom Fault System, a zone of faults defining the northern edge of the Alston Block otherwise known as the North Pennines. It is recorded that coal was being mined at Midgeholme in the early seventeenth century. In the 1830s, coal trains were being hauled from Midgeholme Colliery along the Brampton Railway by Stephenson's Rocket. The early workings have left a legacy of spoil heaps, bell pits, shafts and adits. There is no current coal production. However in January 2014, Northumberland County Council gave planning permission for the open-cast extraction of 37,000 tonnes of coal at Halton Lea Gate. This may open the way for other applications to mine the coalfield. In 1990 a proposal to mine reserves of 60,000 tonnes of good-quality coal at Lambley, Northumberland was rejected, but the prospect for a successful application has now changed, since the Planning Inspector allowed the development to proceed at Halton Lea Gate on appeal. The following coal seams are recognised from the Pennine Lower Coal Measures within this coalfield. The list is organised stratigraphically, with the uppermost seam first: Bounder Craignook Upper Craignook Lower Little Threequarters Half Threequarters Quarter Wellsyke High Main Slag Low Main Ganister Clay (Kellah) Gubeon

Industrial Landmark

Hallbankgate

Hallbankgate is a village in Cumbria, England, 13 miles (21 km) east of Carlisle. A former coal and lead mining village, it straddles the A689 Brampton to Alston road. Limestone is quarried here and it once had a gasworks and a forge. The village has a primary school, a village shop and tea room and a pub. There are three other hamlets in the civil parish, Farlam, Kirkhouse and Tindale.

Neighbourhood School