Visited this slate quarry in Snowdonia during some super sunny Sunday. I'd been hillwalking the day before and spotted the quarry from Nantlle Ridge, the slate tips being hard to miss! .
Reading the map, the name Pen yr Orsedd didn't ring any bells, so I tried to research it a bit but found surprisingly little info online, and the little info there was was a little confused, different dates mentioned on different websites etc etc. Anyway, I drove back to the area the following day, parked in the village and walked up to the quarry, unsure if was still being worked or not.
Spent a good few hours working my way up the levels, plenty of rusting equipment around and buildings in various states of decay, plus fantastic views over the local hills.
History;
Quarrying began around 1860, with processing mills opened in 1860, 1870 and a third in 1898.
Workshops, drum houses, engine houses, offices, a hospital, accommodation and other related buildings remain, some are grade II listed. One of the most notable remains would be the blondins.
Blondins were a type of aerial ropeway developed to connect remote terraces in open pits in Welsh slate quarries. They would transport railway wagons slung from cradles to the slate mills where the rock was processed. They were named after the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin.
The first known Blondins were at Penrhyn Quarry. Four were set up in Pen-yr-Orsedd, run by 'Bruce Peebles' motors.
Quarrying was scaled down in the 1970s and closed around 2000.
[ Sorry if I've put too many pics!]
Reading the map, the name Pen yr Orsedd didn't ring any bells, so I tried to research it a bit but found surprisingly little info online, and the little info there was was a little confused, different dates mentioned on different websites etc etc. Anyway, I drove back to the area the following day, parked in the village and walked up to the quarry, unsure if was still being worked or not.
Spent a good few hours working my way up the levels, plenty of rusting equipment around and buildings in various states of decay, plus fantastic views over the local hills.
History;
Quarrying began around 1860, with processing mills opened in 1860, 1870 and a third in 1898.
Workshops, drum houses, engine houses, offices, a hospital, accommodation and other related buildings remain, some are grade II listed. One of the most notable remains would be the blondins.
Blondins were a type of aerial ropeway developed to connect remote terraces in open pits in Welsh slate quarries. They would transport railway wagons slung from cradles to the slate mills where the rock was processed. They were named after the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin.
The first known Blondins were at Penrhyn Quarry. Four were set up in Pen-yr-Orsedd, run by 'Bruce Peebles' motors.
Quarrying was scaled down in the 1970s and closed around 2000.
[ Sorry if I've put too many pics!]
Gotta love mines
