Hope Cement Works

The limestone quarry at Hope Cement Works

Before studying for a degree in geology, I took a year out after leaving school to work as a builder’s labourer in London and I became very familiar with various types of sand, gravel, aggregate, cement and clay products. 

An Industrial & Environmental Geology textbook

Having considered studying as a building surveyor in London, I decided to go to Nottingham University and, during my final year, I opted to study Industrial and Environmental Geology, which largely concentrated on the various bulk materials that I had got to know even better – when returning to London during the holidays. 

A textbook introduction to cement making

I never thought of working in this field but, when a trip to Hope Cement Works was placed on the itinerary of the Sheffield U3A Geology Group, I didn’t want to miss it. As a tourist to Castleton, when living in High Green to the north of Sheffield many years ago, and having worked briefly as a geologist for the Peak District National Park Authority – surveying its Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS) – I had passed it very many times and I was very curious. 

A Google Earth view of Hope Cement Works

Unlike the area around Buxton, where the quarrying of limestone has left scars to such an extent that it has been excluded from the National Park, Hope Cement Works has been here since 1929, long before the region was designated as a National Park. 

Hope Cement Works forms a distinctive landmark

Its stack forms a landmark that can be seen from miles around, but much of the industrial complex - which includes quarries for the limestone and shale and its own railway line - has had its visual impact reduced by careful landscaping and tree planting. 

A sculpture with the theme of "Safety"

The extent of the works was partly demonstrated with a trip to the limestone quarry in a minibus, during which we passed various very large pieces of plant and machinery and, from the quarry edge, we were provided with an explanation of the quarrying process. 

The geology around Hope Cement Works

The quarry cuts through the Monsal Dale Limestone Formation and the upper part of the underlying Bee Low Limestone Formation, and the variation of the chert content in these means that the chemistry needs to be continually monitored and the silica content adjusted to 5 % before the stone is moved on to the works. 

A reference to Hope Cement Works in the BGS Memoir

At the works, further information on Hope Cement Works was provided in a short presentation and the tour finished with a visit to the control room, where every aspect of the cement making process is managed using a vast bank of computer screens, which made a big impression on me.

The control room at Hope Cement Works