The headgear of the last North Pennines fluorspar mine can be seen from the road between Rookhope and Allenheads.

Lead ore was mined here from the 17th century until near the end of the nineteenth century. In the 20th century the mine was reopened for fluorspar which had become valuable in the steel and chemical industries. Groverake was the last large scale mine in Weardale and closed in 1999. The illustration shows what the mine looked like around the 1980s. The British Steel Corporation brought the steel headgear you still see here from a coal mine, and it is now the last surviving example in County Durham. Many local people worked at Groverake and are proud of the headgear as a symbol of their mining heritage, forming the Friends of Groverake who saved it from the threat of demolition.

Mineral riches
The mineral veins mined here and across the North Pennines formed around 290 million years ago. Hot, mineral-rich fluids moved through cracks in the rocks and as they cooled the minerals crystallised inside the cracks.
Several mineral veins containing galena (lead ore), fluorspar and other minerals meet near here. The remains of other mines can be seen up and down the valley.

Image:
Recreation of Groverake Mine in the 1980s. Illustration by Simon Edwards – HistoryRebuilt.com