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Wanlockhead, Scotland National Lead Mining Museum

© Blair Logie

Wanlockhead is Scotland's highest village standing 1541 feet above sea level in the dramatic countryside of the Lowther Hills. In this small village stands the museum of Lead Mining which pays tribute to the harsh and spartan life of the miners from the 18th to the 20th century. The museum bills itself as the place to "explore the past" and you certainly have that opportunity here.

The lead mining museum is run by the Wanlockhead Museum Trust and comprises five main areas which make up the attraction. The visitor centre is where you will start the tour of the attraction and it is here that you will be able to view a collection of rare minerals, mining artefacts and working models of mining machinery. The visitor centre, whilst small, is certainly worth taking some time to look around and you could easily overlook what it has to offer by rushing off to start the tour.Within this building you will also find the usual gift shop and the tearoom which is well stocked and reasonable in price.

It is worth mentioning at this stage, that before venturing out or indeed before you set off to visit this attraction you shoudl be prepared for inclement weather. I visited the museum in July and you would have thought that it was Winter (highest village in Scotland remember), so go prepared for this weather and take some money for the tearoom!

Normally the next place to visit from here would be the Lochnell mine but you are free to visit the different parts of the attraction in any order that you wish. The mine is a hard hat area and is very much a guided tour for safety reasons. The very knowledgeable tour guides take you into what is a remarkably well preserved mine, where you can see and hear how the miners toiled underground in often harsh conditions.

The next place that I visited was the miners cottages, which are set up as they would have been in the 1740's and 1890's. Again, the scene is set by the very knowledgeable guide who highlights the contrast between the two eras and whilst the talk is a little "scripted" she was certainly able to answer any questions raised.

From here you can visit the miners' library, which is the second oldest subscription library in Scotland. Established around 1756, the library contains over 3000 rare books many of which were donated by "the great and the good". Unfortuantely it is not located in the original building and whilst small, should be of some interest.

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