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Star trails and shooting star in the Lake District, with a disused mine shaft tower in silhouette.

Disused Mine Shaft and Star Trails

Location Lake District, England

After a day of extremely heavy rain while I was staying in the Coppermines Valley near Coniston, the sky cleared for the first and pretty much only time during my visit to the Lake District. I decided to head back to this disused mine shaft, The Old Engine Shaft, to try and capture some star trails. I was curious what exactly the tower was used for. Apparently it held a trough feeding a huge water wheel which powered the pump and winding gear used in the shaft. Well done if you spotted the shooting star. This occurred within the first few frames so I was lucky enough to see it with my own eyes. Later I would have been too busy alternating between trying to sleep and trying to keep warm to notice it. Neither with much luck.

More details
  • Location Lake District, England
  • Date taken 29th October, 2014
  • Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark III
  • Lens EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM at 16.0mm
  • Exposure details 20s at f/4, ISO 1600
  • Keywords
    • Astronomy
    • Coniston
    • Copper Mine
    • Coppermines Valley
    • Cumbria
    • Dark
    • England
    • Lake District
    • Mining shaft
    • National Park
    • Night
    • Old Engine Shaft
    • Park
    • Shaft
    • Silhouette
    • Sky
    • Slow Shutter Speed
    • South Lakeland
    • Star
    • Star Trail
    • Stone Tower
    • Stones
    • Tower
    • UK
    • United Kingdom
    • Valley