Don't want to upset any of our Cumbrian friends here but which slate is the best? Throughout the tour of Honister Slate Mine we were told that Cumbrian slate lasted longer but on the roofs of houses around the area the slate seemed to have been split into paving slab thicknesses. Welsh slate can be split into a fraction of a Centimetre and is still said to last 200-300 years. So which one wins?