Harpur Hill Quarry

History

The site near Harpur Hill, south of Buxton, was worked as a limestone quarry.

The site was taken over by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1938 for use as a depot (RAF Harpur Hill) for the storage of chemical weapons. Poor weather delayed construction and the depot did not become operational until 1940.

During the Second World War it was the largest chemical weapons storage depot in the country, covering some 500 acres.

After the war the site was occupied by an RAF unexploded ordnance disposal unit, known as an X station, and used for storage and disarmament of captured German chemical weapons and V-rocket warheads. The RAF disposed of chemical weapons, including mustard gas and phosgene, by burning the substances with bleach on the surrounding hills. This proved unsustainable, as large quantities of smoke were produced and the destruction was incomplete. Some mustard gas escaped as a vapour and much of the nearby vegetation was killed. The site also housed an RAF Mountain Rescue team who attended air crashes across Derbyshire. The RAF depot closed down in 1960.

Blue lagoon

A quarry lake, officially known as Hoffman Quarry but also known as the Blue Lagoon, at the site became a tourist attraction owing to its vivid turquoise-blue coloration. The colour derives from the scattering of light by small particles of calcium carbonate that are precipitating within the water.

Signs at the site state the water can cause "skin and eye irritations, stomach problems and fungal infections such as thrush" and that the quarry is known to contain car wrecks, dead animals, excrement and rubbish.

Around 750 local people, concerned about the health risks, signed a petition to have the quarry drained and closed off. However the water was deemed too toxic to drain, as it would risk contaminating local water supplies.

In order to deter swimmers the water was dyed black in 2013 by High Peak Borough Council, who acted after being unable to get in touch with the site's owner. In March 2020 the lake was dyed again following reports of people gathering there despite social distancing instructions issued by the British government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. It was redyed by High Peak Borough Council and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue on 29 May after people flocked to the site for the bank holiday weekend (25 May). The police also coned off potential parking spaces in Harpur Hill. With people continuing to visit the site local farmers attempted to deter them by spreading pig and cow slurry across the surrounding land on 19 June 2020.

Incidents

Derbyshire Police found the body of a 44-year-old man at the quarry on 18 February 2019. The death was found not to be suspicious.

On 29 September 2019 two firefighters from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service were injured whilst carrying out rope rescue training at the quarry. One of them was hospitalised with life-changing injuries.

References

References

1. Small-scale [[lime burning]] had taken place near Harpur Hill since at least the 1600s, initially around [[Grin Low]] near [[Poole's Cavern]] to the north, using [[lime kiln]]s to produce [[quicklime]] by [[Calcination. calcinating]] the limestone (mainly [[Bee Low Limestones]]) quarried nearby (that is, heating calcium carbonate to produce calcium oxide). A site beside the quarry was used for large-scale lime production from around 1835 to around 1952, using larger [[shaft kiln]]s and then a multi-chambered [[Hoffmann kiln]], operated by Buxton Lime Firms Ltd (later [[Brunner Mond]] from 1918, and then [[Imperial Chemical Industries
2. (13 July 2011). "Tribute by Lancaster". Buxton Advertiser.
3. (28 July 2017). "Dara McGrath unearths dark landscapes with Project Cleansweep". British Journal of Photography.
4. (9 December 2019). "The Cork photographer taking pictures of contaminated weapons sites". Irish Examiner.
5. (30 May 2020). "Man defies warnings and swims in toxic black waters of 'Blue Lagoon'". DerbyshireLive.
6. (15 August 2012). "Warning over toxic 'Blue Lagoon'". BBC News.
7. (10 June 2013). "Toxic 'Blue Lagoon' dyed black". BBC News.
8. (25 March 2020). "Latest updates: East Midlands Live". BBC News.
9. (29 May 2020). "Authorities turn Buxton's "Blue Lagoon" black to deter visitors". ITV News.
10. (24 June 2020). "Day-trippers brave stench of slurry to gather at blue lagoon". DerbyshireLive.
11. (20 February 2019). "Death of man found in Buxton quarry not suspicious". Buxton Advertiser.
12. (1 October 2019). "Firefighter seriously hurt in training exercise". BBC News.