This was a visit that was planned for a whole ruck of us, but for all sorts of reasons it ended up with just me and Trancentral, but it is always good to see this place regardless of numbers and we ended p in the pub...its the code 
The visit
I have been here more than a few times and it is now active again, a joint venture to blow the lid off it and start production of sorts is in the offing but presently there seems to be a small scale operation to process what looks to be slate chippings for whatever reason, possibly decorative or for construction..I just dunno.
I have to say that the workshops are now empty, every single battery cart or personnel cart has gone, even the poor old 22ZE59 has gone from the turners shop, it is really sad to see and I have no clue as to what happened to them but they are no more.
some history
Maenofferen was first worked for slate by men from the nearby Diphwys quarry shortly after 1800. By 1848 slate was being shipped via the Ffestiniog Railway, but traffic on the railway ceased in 1850. In 1857 traffic resumed briefly and apart from a gap in 1865, a steady flow of slate was dispatched via the railway. The initial quarry on the site was known as the David Jones quarry which was the highest and most easterly of what became the extensive Maenofferen complex.
In 1861 the Maenofferen Slate Quarry Co. Ltd. was incorporated, producing around 400 tons of slate that year. The company leased a wharf at Porthmadog in 1862 and shipped 181 tons of finished slate over the Ffestiniog Railway the following year.
The quarry was purchased by the nearby Llechwedd quarry in 1975 together with Bowydd, which also incorporated the old Votty workings: these are owned by the Maenofferen Company. Underground production at Maenofferen ceased during November 1999 and with it the end of large-scale underground working for slate in north Wales. Production of slate recommenced on the combined Maenofferen site, consisting of "untopping" underground workings to recover slate from the supporting pillars of the chambers. Material recovered from the quarry tips will also be recovered for crushing and subsequent use.
This fantastic place is now closed as of 2014.
firstly, this video is mildly NSFW because we saw a whole collection of page 3 papers from 1992 that were still in surprisingly good nick, and probably have fared better than the gals themselves over the last 24 years
watch it at your peril but we did also find a daily mirror from 1958 too.
incline is still mega,
and the main incline is impressive looking up it as well as down it
A blinding tunnel with a few carts
Trancentral on one of the inclines over the tunnel
There were some Bonza artifacts and stuff
Thats all folks, this place needs Many MANY visits to cover it properly.
The visit
I have been here more than a few times and it is now active again, a joint venture to blow the lid off it and start production of sorts is in the offing but presently there seems to be a small scale operation to process what looks to be slate chippings for whatever reason, possibly decorative or for construction..I just dunno.
I have to say that the workshops are now empty, every single battery cart or personnel cart has gone, even the poor old 22ZE59 has gone from the turners shop, it is really sad to see and I have no clue as to what happened to them but they are no more.
some history
Maenofferen was first worked for slate by men from the nearby Diphwys quarry shortly after 1800. By 1848 slate was being shipped via the Ffestiniog Railway, but traffic on the railway ceased in 1850. In 1857 traffic resumed briefly and apart from a gap in 1865, a steady flow of slate was dispatched via the railway. The initial quarry on the site was known as the David Jones quarry which was the highest and most easterly of what became the extensive Maenofferen complex.
In 1861 the Maenofferen Slate Quarry Co. Ltd. was incorporated, producing around 400 tons of slate that year. The company leased a wharf at Porthmadog in 1862 and shipped 181 tons of finished slate over the Ffestiniog Railway the following year.
The quarry was purchased by the nearby Llechwedd quarry in 1975 together with Bowydd, which also incorporated the old Votty workings: these are owned by the Maenofferen Company. Underground production at Maenofferen ceased during November 1999 and with it the end of large-scale underground working for slate in north Wales. Production of slate recommenced on the combined Maenofferen site, consisting of "untopping" underground workings to recover slate from the supporting pillars of the chambers. Material recovered from the quarry tips will also be recovered for crushing and subsequent use.
This fantastic place is now closed as of 2014.
firstly, this video is mildly NSFW because we saw a whole collection of page 3 papers from 1992 that were still in surprisingly good nick, and probably have fared better than the gals themselves over the last 24 years
watch it at your peril but we did also find a daily mirror from 1958 too.
incline is still mega,
and the main incline is impressive looking up it as well as down it
A blinding tunnel with a few carts
Trancentral on one of the inclines over the tunnel
There were some Bonza artifacts and stuff
Thats all folks, this place needs Many MANY visits to cover it properly.
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