clicked!
Black Sail is legendary. I've never yet built up the confidence to plan a stay there, but one day I will. I understand it still retains most of it's isolationist charms; but all small and high-level hostels can be a bit creepy when they get socked in by cloud.

YHA Honister Hause is a little similar - not too far away, at the top of Honister Pass; it used to be accomodation for a slate mine, which is the main reason for it's location high up, along a quiet single track road, through a quiet mountain* pass. Some electricity; but you sure notice the silence more, once the genny is shut off for the night - nothing but battery backup until morning!

YHA Coniston Copper Mines is another candidate, in an old copper mine management building; all the mains electricity in the world doens't mean jack when it's a long dark night, at the end of a long dark dead-end road, the outside visiblity is measured in feet, and it's so very very *quiet*, apart from that crunch of gravel or creak of metal you thought you just heard outside the window... There's a lot of old mine workings, holes in the ground, rusting machinery nearby; are there lost souls still clinging to the area, maybe still hoping for revenge for some old wrongdoing? Ah, the relief when you hear voices you recognise; it's that group who were here last night, just a little late back. You practically hug them as they enter, and together await the next creepy sound from the blackness and the mist; all of you feeling a little safer in numbers, no-one admitting they're glad to be indoors. (Damn, what is it about old mines?)

Or is it just me? After all, I've enjoyed these less-busy locations better than some of the better-frequented, better-equipped places I've stayed. I urge you all to try hostelling, I'm sure most of you will enjoy it; they're all a little bit different, and there's bound to be some you'll fall in love with.

* yes, technically a hill pass, but meh.

Clarification: When I say confidence, I'm referring to trust in my navigation skills and physical fitness; rather than a fear of the dark.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 23:36, Reply)