The Coldstones Cut

On the way up to Durham for last weekend's wedding, we stopped off at my parents and had a trip out to The Coldstones Cut near Pateley Bridge.  Mum has been talking about it for the last year, so we thought we should go and check it out!  From the road, it doesn't look there's a lot to see.  There's a short walk up the hill, and you can hear the rumble of the trucks and the machinery, as this sculpture is built within a working quarry. This amazing public art work was built in 2010.  It sits on the hilltop looking out onto the quarry and the heather moors beyond.  It has been described as part art, part tribute to the quarrying industry.  It was constructed by Andrew Sabin and it won the PMSA - Marsh Award for the best public sculpture of the year.  You enter the site along a limestone tunnel, with steep cold walls, and to get to the viewing posts, you walk along and up a spiral corridor.  Although you're sheltered, there were little pockets of wind and the echoes of people's voices in front and behind that led to quite an eerie walk up to the viewing points.

After taking in the views and filling our lungs, we took a little detour down to one of the old lime kilns before heading back home.  If you're ever in the area, I'd highly recommend a little trip up that hill!