THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Nowhere in the dales, unless it is in the neighbouring Hard Level Gill, are there to be seen more dramatic settings for the devastation wrought by lead-mining than in Gunnerside Gill.  Both cleave majestic purple and black fells, slashed with patches of rushes, springy turf, tufted bents, and grey outcrops of limestone where slowly the scars of mining heal, and where now the tinkle of a peaty stream, the bleating of sheep, the whistle of a shepherd to his dog, and the cries of the moor birds break the silence.

Hartley/Dales, 1956