More of a revisit than anything, myself and Lenston went to see Wrysgan but it was so misty that we couldnt find the adit and decided to go see the ghost village and Rhosydd. it is always a pleasure to meet up with Lenston, he is a gentleman and great company but just occasionally his judgement can be a bit impaired and on this trip his suggestion that we exit via the twill was too good to pass up, but it was not so straight forward. Rhosydd is still a death trap but that is old news now.
some history from my visit in 2012
Slate was first discovered here in the 1830's when quarrying commenced on a very small scale. Operated by a string of different owners each developing and enlarging the workings. But the story is not one of steady expansion. The ups and downs of the slate trade, the difficulties of raising capital, geological problems and dangerous underground working practices also brought periods of closure and industrial unrest. Peak output occurred in the 1880's when over 6000 tons per year of saleable slate was mined. This was also the period of greatest employment when over 200 workers were engaged. A major blow to the quarry occurred in 1900 when the "Great Fall" occurred underground, in the south eastern section of the workings. This destroyed a large part of the most profitable reserves. From this major blow the quarry never fully recovered.
The first world war brought about a period of complete closure followed by reopening in 1919 and a brief flurry of activity. A slow lingering existence followed until final closure in 1930. However in the hope of the market for slate improving it was decided to keep the underground pumps working. This proved to be a futile gesture and the pumps were finally turned off in 1948 causing much of the underground workings to flood. The life of the quarry had ended and the scrapmen moved in. The final ignominy being the wholesale demolition of many of the quarry buildings to recover the workable slate. This accounts for the ruinous state of much of the surface remains today.
The walk up is one of the best bits, it is absolutely glorious.
This is the old chapel/school house, these shots were taken on a samsung S5 so the aspect ratio is a bit off but I love this new phone for pictures and video, and it is waterproof.
Lenny Boi Lenston on the walk up and it is a MONDO walk, anyone who has ever walked it knows exactly what i mean
We bumped into this formation extending from the wall in adit 9
We happened upon the monster Pulleys
Lenston here giving it large
the incline from the bottom
Pulley selfie
We found that we had to do some climbing to get out, it was interesting to say the least, here Lenston is balazing a trail, the climbing was interesting but it was so misty that the walk down was even more intersting.
a counterweight cart that was full of steel blocks and used to balance the carts up and down the incline.,,Lenson lighting it up big styee.
The Twill or twilight exit, we sat here and pondered whether or not to leave by this exit....WE DID
Thanks for looking and thankyou to Lenston for driving 3.5hrs plus to see this.
I took some video of Lenston posing for the camera
some history from my visit in 2012
Slate was first discovered here in the 1830's when quarrying commenced on a very small scale. Operated by a string of different owners each developing and enlarging the workings. But the story is not one of steady expansion. The ups and downs of the slate trade, the difficulties of raising capital, geological problems and dangerous underground working practices also brought periods of closure and industrial unrest. Peak output occurred in the 1880's when over 6000 tons per year of saleable slate was mined. This was also the period of greatest employment when over 200 workers were engaged. A major blow to the quarry occurred in 1900 when the "Great Fall" occurred underground, in the south eastern section of the workings. This destroyed a large part of the most profitable reserves. From this major blow the quarry never fully recovered.
The first world war brought about a period of complete closure followed by reopening in 1919 and a brief flurry of activity. A slow lingering existence followed until final closure in 1930. However in the hope of the market for slate improving it was decided to keep the underground pumps working. This proved to be a futile gesture and the pumps were finally turned off in 1948 causing much of the underground workings to flood. The life of the quarry had ended and the scrapmen moved in. The final ignominy being the wholesale demolition of many of the quarry buildings to recover the workable slate. This accounts for the ruinous state of much of the surface remains today.
The walk up is one of the best bits, it is absolutely glorious.
This is the old chapel/school house, these shots were taken on a samsung S5 so the aspect ratio is a bit off but I love this new phone for pictures and video, and it is waterproof.
Lenny Boi Lenston on the walk up and it is a MONDO walk, anyone who has ever walked it knows exactly what i mean
We bumped into this formation extending from the wall in adit 9
We happened upon the monster Pulleys
Lenston here giving it large
the incline from the bottom
Pulley selfie
We found that we had to do some climbing to get out, it was interesting to say the least, here Lenston is balazing a trail, the climbing was interesting but it was so misty that the walk down was even more intersting.
a counterweight cart that was full of steel blocks and used to balance the carts up and down the incline.,,Lenson lighting it up big styee.
The Twill or twilight exit, we sat here and pondered whether or not to leave by this exit....WE DID
Thanks for looking and thankyou to Lenston for driving 3.5hrs plus to see this.
I took some video of Lenston posing for the camera
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