‘The Poo Lagoon’: Farmers dump slurry at quarry-turned-tourist-attraction to deter lockdown visitors

‘Action has been taken after a huge amount of people trespassing and travelling from all over the country,’ say local residents

Toxic water at Hoffman Quarry, near Buxton (Simon Harrod)

Farmers have been forced to spread manure around a disused quarry in Derbyshire to deter thousands of tourists who believe they are visiting a “blue lagoon”.

Thousands of people descended on Hoffman Quarry in the village of Harpur Hill, near Buxton, during the recent sunny weather, attracted by pictures online of a sparkling sky-blue pool.

But the water’s pH is high enough to cause skin damage and the pool is full of rusty metal from wrecked cars, a local councillor told The Independent.

Despite attempts by High Peak Borough Council, the fire brigade and police to keep people away, they still came amid what Keith Savage described as a “perfect storm” of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown and exceptionally good weather.

Some had driven up to two hours to see the so-called lagoon, which is on private land, Cllr Savage said.

Now residents have persuaded farmers to spread a mix of cow and pig waste around the pool to make it less attractive. A local news reporter wrote that “the foul stench of slurry hits you as soon as you reach the first gate”.

Residents subsequently dubbed the site “the poo lagoon”.

In a Facebook group post, they wrote: “Action has been taken after a huge amount of visitors trespassing and travelling from all over the country to see the quarry, also an allegedly illegal rave was planned for this weekend.

“And with locals receiving abuse and continued drug use, and visitors also leaving huge amounts of litter residents have had enough.”

Cllr Savage said that although “that’s not something that the council initiated, suggested, recommended or in any way endorsed”, he could understand residents’ frustrations. The problem has been rumbling on for more than a decade, he said.

A recent image of the quarry, and, inset, a sign warning that animal waste has been spread on the ground (Cllr Keith Savage)

“From the residents’ point of view, it’s not a tourist attraction, it’s a disused quarry. There’s no facilities there, no shops, car parks, no toilets. They feel as though they’re under siege, to an extent.”

While most visitors are reasonable and merely curious, he added, others left behind burnt-out barbecues, nitrous oxide canisters and other waste.

At the end of May, the council poured black dye into the water to make it less Instagram-worthy and put up new signs warning of how dangerous the site is.