Report - Rhossydd Slate Mine June 2013

[Degenatron]

After exploring Wrysgan mine Myself and Trancentral headed up the mountain in search of more mine workings. I had spotted something on Google Maps and decided to navigate the mountain with my smart phone like some foolhardy tourist. Trancentral was at least professional enough to have brought a compass with him. After about 30 minutes of zig zaging about in thick cloud and very strong gusts of wind , shapes stated to appear out the mist which we now know to be Rhossydd Slate mine.

Some history from wikipedia

Rhosydd Quarry is a slate mine located north east of Porthmadog in north Wales. Small scale working of the site began in the 1830s, but was hampered by the remote location, and the lack of a transport system to carry the slates to markets. The Rhosydd Slate Company was formed in 1853, and became a limited company in 1856. Transport was made more difficult by the attitude of the Cwmothin Quarry, through whose land the most obvious route to the Ffestiniog Railway ran. A solution was found in 1864, with the opening of the Croesor Tramway, to which the quarry was connected by one of the longest single-pitch inclines in Wales. Huge amounts of money were spent on development work, and the company, unable to make adequate returns, went into voluntary liquidation in 1873.

The quarry was auctioned in 1874, and the New Rhosydd Slate Quarry Company Ltd. Unlike its predecessor, the directors were all Welsh, and three-quarters of the shareholders were also from the local area. The quarry prospered for a while, but then profitability declined, and in 1900, a large section of the underground workings collapsed. The job of opening up new areas was spearheaded by Evan Jones, who nearly succeeded, but was hampered by a slump in the slate industry and the onset of the First World War, when the quarry was "non-essential" and was mothballed. It reopened in 1919, but in a poor financial position, it was bought by members of the Colman family, better known for producing mustard. They kept it running until 1930, but failed to find markets for the finished product. It was mothballed until 1947, when it was sold, but new plans failed, and the pumps were turned off in 1948, after scrapmen had removed much of the machinery.

Lots more info here

After seeing nothing but grass, cloud and the odd sheep, other things started to appear.

Its the ghost village

We wont be getting in this one.

The low cloud really made it eerie.

This was once a the fireplace in a cosy upstairs bedroom.

This I nicknamed 'the well of death', although its not really a well.

Wet, loose slate, sudden strong gusts of wind and certain death below made looking down it safely very difficult so I used a technique I robbed of the Kwan and made a short video clip...............

[video=youtube_share;Z66YbZL9PKE]http://youtu.be/Z66YbZL9PKE[/video]

This one looks accessible.

The opening is about big enough to fit two Transit vans in side by side.

After sloshing your way along the tunnel for about 10 minutes it looks like a pin prick.

First up on the left is this chamber

On the right is a larger chamber with water in that has suffered a substantial collapse at some point.

The same spot only looking left.

Walking all the way to the end of the adit you get to a junction.

Old winding gear

Heading off to the right is a steep incline that is blocked off at the top by a collapse. I strongly suspect it was very recent too. It may be the reason that we did not find the large winding wheels seen in earlier reports.

Chamber with another incline at the far end.

Looking up, it looks blocked. I didn't climb up for a closer look.

Same spot again but looking left. What appears to be a way down is well and truly flooded.

Now we go in the other direction.

A series of chambers, one with a big collapse that has to be climbed over. This mine is a bit dodgy.

It looks like a lot of machinery was removed from this chamber.

At the very end is a small hole going down full of the usual blue mine water.

Anyone remember Tab Clear?.

After leaving the mine we descended down the path that most normal folk would have walked up in the first place, below the cloud line and the view opened up.

This waterfall was great

Finally we pass the remains of the old miners chapel on the way back to the car.

This was the first mine I have been down where I had a bad feeling about being in there. Perhaps it was all the collapses that have happened down there. One things for sure, I don't plan to go back in there again.

Thanks for reading