Lecht Mine

Between 1730 and 1737, iron was mined in the hills near the Well of Lecht. The ore was taken by pack horse over the hills to Nethy Bridge for smelting. Later, in 1841, the mine was re-opened by the Duke of Richmond as a Manganese Mine,  local stories tell that the Minister of Corgarff had to lend his bull to help drag the heavy rollers over the Lecht Pass. However following the importation of manganese ore from Russia, the price fell from £8 per ton to an uneconomical £3 per ton, and the mine was closed for a final time in 1846.However in 1863  samples of Iron ore were sent to James Morrison, Manager of the Ferryhill Iron Works, Co Durham, for assessment, he would gladly have taken 50,000 tons per annum, all that was needed to   re-open and secure viability was a railway link to Tomintoul, but in that time of economic retrenchment no-one could be found to back the iron ore railway in the Highlands. At the peak of activity over 60 men and boys worked at the mine and it was, and still is, the largest manganese mine ever worked in Scotland. It is now empty of any machinery but there is an attractive walk alongside the burn from the car park to the mine. A leaflet on the mine is available from Tomintoul Museum and there is a small interpretive display inside the mine building.

Glenlivet welcomes you to explore its tracks and byways.