During my recent visit to the Isle of Man I drove* up to Laxey to see the Great Laxey Wheel and the Great Laxey Mine Railway.
* I did consider taking the Manx Electric Railway but alas I was visiting on the last day of my trip and was rather nervous about timings with my ferry.
The Great Laxey Mines
Traces of lead mining go way back to the 13th Century but mining really took off in the 1800s when the then Duke of Atholl and his rich friends backed the mining project. In the 1830s the mine was producing lead and zinc ore but due to the lack of funds the ore was being shipped out of the Isle of Man to Swansea to be smelted.
At one point the mining operation was so large that it produced more zinc than all the other mines in the UK put together!
However as the mines grew so did the flooding problems. In 1836 a thunderstorm caused the Glen Mooar River to to swell and workings under the river bed collapsed into the mines and drowned 5 men. There was so much water that it took 10 days to clear the water to retrieve them.
The Great Laxey Wheel
Prior to the Great Laxey Wheel’s construction there were numerous water wheels servicing the mine and it has been said there was approximately 20 waterwheels operating in various points.
By November 1849 the mine’s name was changed to the Great Laxey Mining Company with George Dumbell as it’s chairman. Dumbell was clever enough to see that flooding would continue unless they found a solution. The company’s engineer Robert Casement suggested that the only way to solve the problem once and for all was to build a supersized waterwheel – twice the size of the current waterwheel.
And so The Great Laxey Wheel, also known as Lady Isabella was born. Construction started in 1850 with iron castings being made by the Mersey Steel and Iron Company. By 1854 the the Lady Isabella had been completed and opened on 27th September to much pomp and ceremony. Thousands of people turned out to witness this momentous occasion.
At almost 170 years old and is the largest surviving waterwheel in the world. To this day it still carries the iconic black, white and red colours with the Three Legs of Mann adorning the front. Dumbell wanted to create an iconic structure which he and Robert Casement surely did. I don’t think anyone can miss The Great Laxey Wheel when travelling through the village. It’s an iconic sight on the Isle of Man.
(For info, the Go Explore Heritage card I mentioned in my previous post gave me access to this site at no extra cost as it’s now operated by Manx Heritage)
The Great Laxey Mines Railway
The Great Laxey Wheel is not the only thing I wanted to see. I also wanted to see the Great Laxey Mines Railway! It’s a 19 inch narrow gauge railway and is so cute!
Originally built to carry the zinc ore from the mines down the glen to the washing floors. What is unique about the railway is that it passes through a tunnel under the Manx Electric Railway. The railway went into the mines and wagons were originally hauled by ponies. However in 1877 two little steam engines were built – Ant and Bee – purely to serve the mines.
The mine closed in 1929 but the railway stayed open for another 6 years finally closing in 1935. On closure all of the railway – tracks and rolling stock (including Ant and Bee) were scrapped.
In the 1970s the mine was explored and a section of underground railway was found in tact. What was even more brilliant is that there were 6 wagons still in situ and these were brought to the surface to be restored.
Ant and Bee
As mentioned, the original Ant and Bee locomotives were both scrapped (shameful!) so the current locomotives are replicas that were built for the railway’s reopening in 2004. No plans or drawings of the locos survived so the replicas were built from photographic reference. An amazing feat for sure!
On reopening only the above ground section was restored. This in itself was a big job as the portals to the tunnel under the Manx Electric Railway needed to be cleared. Whilst one portal was accessible, rubble and waste blocked the other. In order to assess whether the tunnel was also blocked, the volunteers sent smoke into the tunnel and at the exit portal the smoke came out and they knew the tunnel itself was clear of rubble.
The current route of the railway runs from Valley Gardens (just above the Washing Floors), runs under the Manx Electric Railway (and the A2 road) and up to Mines Yard not far from the Great Laxey Wheel.
Today you can travel along this route behind a replica of the steam engines or behind a little electric battery powered engine (named Wasp – I see a theme developing here). On the travel the guide tells you about the history of the railway and the mines. Fascinating stuff! During my visit we couldn’t travel over the whole length due to a broken culvert but it was still a good little train trip! Very cute!
