Swinden Quarry
{{Short description|Quarry in North Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox mine
| name = Swinden Quarry
| image = Swinden Quarry entrance.jpg
| width =
| caption = The road entrance to Swinden Quarry near to Rylstone in North Yorkshire. The rail fed sidings are on the left with the quarry face poking up on the top right
| alt = A road junction with limestone walls; a terminal railway is on the left beyond and the quarry entrance on the right
| pushpin_map = North Yorkshire
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| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption= Location within North Yorkshire
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| coordinates = {{coord|54.05063|-2.03117|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline, title}}
| place =
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| country = England
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| opening year = {{Start date|1899}}
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| official website = {{URL|https://www.tarmac.com/locations/swinden-quarry/}}
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Swinden Quarry is {{convert|1|km|order=flip}} north of the village of Cracoe, and {{convert|3|km|order=flip}} south-west of Grassington in North Yorkshire, England.{{cite map |title=Yorkshire Dales – Southern & Western Area |map=OL2 |year=2016 |scale=1:25,000 |series=Explorer |publisher=Ordnance Survey |isbn=9780319263310}} It is owned by LaFarge Tarmac. The former Skipton-Grassington railway line still serves this location, and in railway terminology, the site is known as Rylstone Quarry.{{cite book |title=Railway Track Diagrams – Midlands & North West |last=Jacobs |first=Gerald |publisher=Quail Trackmaps |year=2005 |isbn=0-9549866-0-1 |pages=33C}}
Swinden Quarry railway yard is near the village of Cracoe, at the northern end of the old Skipton to Grassington line built by the Yorkshire Dales Railway. It is now the terminus of the line as the portion north of there to the former terminus at Threshfield was closed in 1969 and subsequently lifted (the B6265 road now passes across the old formation just beyond the buffer stops).
Quarry details
Although quarrying in the vicinity of the modern day concern dates back to 1793, the current quarry works were started by P. W. Spencer in 1899, and greatly enlarged in 1902 with the opening of the adjacent railway.{{cite book |last1=Binns |first1=Donald |title=he Yorkshire Dales Railway: the Grassington Branch |date=1990 |publisher=Northern Heritage Publications |isbn=0907941354 |page=10}}
File:View of Swinden Limestone Quarry, Skelterton Hill to the left - geograph.org.uk - 419470.jpg
The quarry is set deep into the landscape and despite some surface workings being visible from the B6265 road, most of the site is hidden as a result of it being dug down out of a hill. Much of the industrial plant machinery was moved from the exterior of the plant and into the quarry workings, so that they are hidden by the high surrounding banks of the quarry itself.{{cite news|title=Quarry bosses keep promise to improve landscape|url=http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/8011106.Quarry_bosses_keep_promise_to_improve_landscape/|accessdate=12 September 2017|work=Craven Herald|date=8 August 2003}}
In 1971, production at the site was greatly increased due to the company (Tilcon) winning a British Steel contract. Two new kilns were brought in to operate 24 hours a day, but this had the side-effect of spewing calcium dust over the surrounding area, and in 1983, the company was ordered by the High Court to pay compensation and legal costs of £120,000 ({{Inflation|UK|120,000|1983|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-3}}).{{cite news |title=£70,000 for 'lunar landscape' farmers |work=The Times |issue=61489 |date=24 March 1983 |page=3|issn=0140-0460}}{{cite book |last1=Binns |first1=Donald |title=he Yorkshire Dales Railway: the Grassington Branch |date=1990 |publisher=Northern Heritage Publications |isbn=0907941354 |page=34}}
Products exported from the site include roadstone, agricultural lime, industrial carbonate, crushed rock aggregate & pre-cast concrete products.{{cite book |title=Directory of Mines and Quarries |last1=Cameron |first1=D |last2=Bide |first2=T |last3=Parker |last4=Parry |last5=Mankelow |publisher=British Geological Survey |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-85272-785-0}} A significant tonnage of the quarried material is exported from the site by rail, although there can be up to 42,000 lorry journeys on the B6265 per year. As part of a proposal to extend the life of the quarry beyond 2030, the owners have indicated a greater reliance on rail transport with a consistent reduction of lorry movements.{{cite web|title=Swinden Quarry Deepening Scheme|url=http://pacsplanning.yorkshiredales.org.uk/Cracoe%20C23/067/C_23_67K_ASS.pdf|website=yorkshiredales.org.uk|publisher=CRH Tarmac|accessdate=12 September 2017|page=16|format=PDF|date=January 2017}}
The site has been designated as an SSSI, as the quarrying has exposed the Carboniferous Limestone and shows how the stone developed through the different beds of rock.{{cite web |title=Swinden Quarry SSSI |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/2000323.pdf |website=english-nature.org.uk |access-date=12 September 2017 |format=PDF}}
The rail loading area is used as a park and ride facility for the annual Christmas festival at Grassington.{{cite news |title=Teamwork saves Dales festival |url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/teamwork-saves-dales-festival-1-2329225 |access-date=12 September 2017 |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=9 December 2008}}
Railfreight services
Limestone services from the quarry are operated to Dairycoates (Hull), Leyland and Marsh Lane/Hunslet (Leeds) by GB Railfreight.{{cite magazine |last1=Gee |first1=Chris |title=You are the quarry |magazine=Railways Illustrated |date=September 2023 |issue=247 |page=49 |publisher=Mortons Media |location=Horncastle |issn=1479-2230}} GB Railfreight also previously operated occasional services of limestone to Small Heath and Wellingborough.{{cite book |title=Freightmaster No 78 |last=Rawlinson |first=Mark |publisher=Freightmaster Publishing |year=2015 |pages=110, 113, 131, 143}}
{{rail start}}
{{rail line|previous=Skipton|next=Terminus|route=GB Railfreight
Freight only route|col=0A2882}}
{{Disused Rail Insert}}
{{rail line|previous=Rylstone|next=Grassington & Threshfield|route=Midland Railway
Yorkshire Dales Railway|col=964B00}}
{{end}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Swinden Quarry}}
- [http://www.tarmac.co.uk/SwindenThreshfieldQuarryproposedplans.aspx Tarmac official site on Swinden Quarry.]
{{Quarries in North Yorkshire}}
Category:Quarries in North Yorkshire
Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire