Museum of Lead Mining — Attraction in Scotland

This is an absolute first class and top attraction in the heart of The Lowther Hills that is dedicated to the history of Lead Mining and is unique in the sense of being the only Lead Mining Museum in Scotland. Visitors can see the museum full of interesting artefacts, tour down Lochnell Mine and tour of Strathsteps Miner's Cottages and Miner's Library all of which thoroughly enthralling and great places to see. The museum housed in the Visitor Centre talks about the Geology of Scotland and the different rocks that be found in the different areas of the Country and there is an interesting segment on how Scotland & England were geogically joined together. The museum also houses a lovely & interesting collection rocks which look magnificent and fascinating. The museum also talks about the miners and how they mined the lead out of the mine, the conditions they were in, equipment they used and also how the mine came into being in the area. The museum also talks about the social life of miners outside and their families along with and also how they got the lead out of the mine. There are also some interesting artefacts to see in the museum such as The Marriage Chair, Miner's Bucket and Sled used to carry the lead out of the mine. All the displays in the museum are thoroughly informative and interesting and are laid in a very easy to understand way. The tour of Lochnell Mine, Strathsteps Miner's Cottages and The Miner's Library is absolutely fantastic, riveting and informative and one of the best tours around learning further about the miners and how they worked down the mines and how they lived with their families. In the mine you can see the rock veins where they obtained and upon seeing the veins there are some beautiful dazzling colours to see and seeing the tracks they used to transport the lead out of the mine along with the holes where they stuck the explosives in to get the lead out and seeing the mine up close gives you an idea of what life was like for the miners in the mine and the conditions they worked in. The mine gives a full idea of the scale of the operation as well, which is great. The Strathsteps Miner's Cottages are another great aspect and inside the cottages there are rooms from different periods such as 1760, 1870 & 1920 and the cottages gives you a great glimpse of the living conditions of the miners and their families outside of the mineand how these improved and transitioned over time through the centuries and you some interesting items such as The Scottish Cabinet from 1920s sections and Wooden Spoon from 1760s section. The Miner's Library is also fantastic and is one of the oldest subscribed libraries in the world with many great books to see some of which are originals dating back to 1700s and also learn about how the Miners used the library to obtain books to read for them and their families as a means of learning but also a great distraction from the mining life. There is a great audio to hear between the librarian and one of the miners which is very insightful. Be advised to wear adequate footwear on the tour to the mine itself as it can be very muddy and slippery in places. There is a great gift shop selling a variety of gifts at very reasonable prices and also a cafe with a range of food and drink at reasonable prices. The staff on site are extremely welcoming and friendly probably the best welcome and friendliest of any attraction making you feel very welcome and wanting to be there. Overall this a magnificent and enjoyable attraction to visit making for a very exciting and enthralling day out and is definitely well worth a visit whilst in the Dumfries and Galloway area. Can't recommend this place thoroughly brilliant...

Our visit felt rushed.. the young man took no condoderation to age and we were practically running up hill to keep up. There was no time to look around the library after his talk.. disappointed as price has gone up.. So expected tour to be better or on par with tours before covid! Before covid the two older men were easy to listen too, great speakers and made you believe they wanted to be there, the cottages are still closed. The boy we had on our visit knew his information but time scale appeared to be priority.. hence the rushing uphill to library. Maybe in future you could take into consideration elderly people or people with unseen health conditions and give a little more time to reach the library. Although my review seems negative, it was just our experience that day! The mines are amazing and have been extended. The Library takes you back to that time. It's a shame the cottages arent open as that was always my favourite place because the atmosphere and your own imagination whilst listening to the story's of how it was is breathtaking... So when they reopen it will be give you the whole experience of life in the village. The museum is now my favourite part of the tour. Lots of written information, again in the past the tour guide hung around for questions and sharing his knowledge at different parts of museum... this can be a whole day outing. The walks around the mines are spectacular. There is also a Caffè at the museum. It appeared not to be home cooked food. But was OK, good choice of cakes though. The museum is still one of my favourite places. We will continue taking people who come to visit us there. Next time however I will tell guide if anyone has an unseen disability and to give a little extra time to...

Go here for the tour an a rest, staff or friendly an polite BUT DON'T go for the panning experience. This review is written here as this is where they sell the permits to use the local rivers to pan. As such they are responsible for the tourist that have caused the following after taking in the money, I've never seen any one checking for licences or checking weather people have been following the rules..

The many years of everyone else panning before hand has now taken it's toll. No gold flakes or pickers left in the pannable rivers. Small specks is all you're going to find. An the Mennock river has nothing but litter every where. From whole black bags left full at the side of the road by the disgusting selfish tramps who leave it behind after camping out. Cans, plastic bottles an i was even finding a worrying amount of broken glass in the river bed an in my pans.

The last decent gold bearing rivers or not accessible by car an would require about a 20 minute hike along uneven surface (steep rocky hills). They is some smallish gold you'd be happy to say is a days worth of hard work, 1 gram ect. But even that's only available in privately owned areas where You'd be extremely lucky if they let you pan.

So if your looking for a fun filled hobbie in Scotlands pannable area of Wanlockhead an the rivers around, expect to find nothing more then smashed up bottles of beer in your pans an about 5p of gold after going through a full bucket of concentrate...