Hodge Close Quarry
A disused slate quarry situated in the Tilberthwaite Valley, near Coniston, Hodge Close is one of many such slate workings in the Tilberthwaite area. The mine was worked from the 19th century to the early 1960s and is now a site much favoured by divers.
The quarry, once worked as a open pit, is now now flooded by 150ft, with a chamber coming off the bottom. The green slate quarry walls rise straight up from the water 50m to the trees. The water has a maximum depth of approximately 28 metres. Inside the quarry there are a number of tunnels and caverns.
Signposted off Ambleside to Coniston road (map reference - Ordnance Survey map 'English Lakes SW area' 318017). The quarry owners will not grant permission for diving - but will not stop divers using the site at their own risk.
Access to the lower car park and tunnel can be obtained by paying £4.00 per car at the house with the A-Flag in the garden.
Access to and from the water is challenging! It is through a semi flooded tunnel and then down a scaffolding ladder.
Height above sea level - 155 metres.
Closest Air refills are Kendal High St (about 1 hour away) or from Capernwray dive site (about 50 minutes away).
Warning: Several divers have lost their lives in Hodge Close Quarry, mainly as the result of getting lost in the underwater caves / tunnels. Since BSAC training does not prepare members for cave diving, the Club advises divers using this site not to enter the caves unless they have received appropriate training from a specialist body such as the Cave Diving Group. Furthermore, because access to / from the water is so difficult, and because the rock slopes which make up the limited shallow areas are unstable, BSAC does not consider this site suitable for use by divers of less than Sports Diver qualification.
The quarry, once worked as a open pit, is now now flooded by 150ft, with a chamber coming off the bottom. The green slate quarry walls rise straight up from the water 50m to the trees. The water has a maximum depth of approximately 28 metres. Inside the quarry there are a number of tunnels and caverns.
Signposted off Ambleside to Coniston road (map reference - Ordnance Survey map 'English Lakes SW area' 318017). The quarry owners will not grant permission for diving - but will not stop divers using the site at their own risk.
Access to the lower car park and tunnel can be obtained by paying £4.00 per car at the house with the A-Flag in the garden.
Access to and from the water is challenging! It is through a semi flooded tunnel and then down a scaffolding ladder.
Height above sea level - 155 metres.
Closest Air refills are Kendal High St (about 1 hour away) or from Capernwray dive site (about 50 minutes away).
Warning: Several divers have lost their lives in Hodge Close Quarry, mainly as the result of getting lost in the underwater caves / tunnels. Since BSAC training does not prepare members for cave diving, the Club advises divers using this site not to enter the caves unless they have received appropriate training from a specialist body such as the Cave Diving Group. Furthermore, because access to / from the water is so difficult, and because the rock slopes which make up the limited shallow areas are unstable, BSAC does not consider this site suitable for use by divers of less than Sports Diver qualification.
