IN commenting on pub names, Tony Kelly (HAS, Nov 17) may well be correct in saying that there has never been a copper mine in the Crook area – but that is not true of the North of England more generally.
Less than ten miles from Darlington, copper was mined around Middleton Tyas in North Yorkshire. The industry was seen as a source of traffic for the Merrybent Railway, built in 1870 to link Barton quarry with the Darlington to Barnard Castle line.
In what was the Furness district of Lancashire, copper was mined around Coniston, similarly prompting construction of a branch railway from Foxfield.
There were also copper mines in the Keswick area of Cumberland.
Steven Dyke, Hoylake, Merseyside
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