Former iron-stone quarry and range at Steel
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Former iron-stone quarry and range at Steel by Andrew Curtis as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Former iron-stone quarry and range at Steel
Image: © Andrew Curtis Taken: 19 Nov 2020
The ironstone mine at Broomhope closed in 1879 when the heavily worked deposits became uneconomic. The gun testing range in the former quarry was set up by the Victorian industrialist William Armstrong, and was used to proof test large gun barrels from battleships and cruisers which were built by Vickers Armstrong in Newcastle. The Range was served by a branch of the Wansbeck Railway from Steel Junction which allowed large guns to be transported by rail from Sir William Armstrong’s works at Scotswood on the River Tyne. Ridsdale Range remains in use today by BAE systems for evaluating and testing military equipment. The village pub, which was also owned by Lord Armstrong, bears the name the Gun Inn in recognition of the area’s connection with the arms industry.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.143488
Longitude
-2.165796