During the construction of the Settle & Carlisle Railway, a quantity of limestone was extracted from a strip of land to the west of the railway near Colt Park, in the area now known as Salt Lake (on either side of Bridge SAC/63). The quarried limestone was crushed on site, then initially used as ballast on nearby sections of the railway.
It has often been suggested that the stone blocks used to construct Ribblehead Viaduct were quarried from this site. However, the stone is significantly different (in terms of appearance and structure) to that used for the viaduct and the claims are also contradicted by reliable historical accounts.
In 1876, the Craven Lime Company asked the Midland Railway Company to install a permanent railway connection to serve a small network of sidings at the quarry site. The quarry and sidings operated for at least a decade, but map evidence suggests that the sidings and their mainline connection were removed at some point between 1893 and 1907. The sidings are not depicted on the Midland Railway land plans surveyed in 1911/12 and map evidence suggests that no significant extraction has taken place since 1907.
Part of the quarry site is now a two hectare nature reserve that is managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
