Hello once again lads. Today I present you with a place that's very far from home for me.
Wrysgan Slate Quarry - FFestiniog
You're probably wondering how a southerner like me got up here. To put it simply, I was on a family holiday, where after using a bit of good old Google maps, I spotted this place. At the time I didn't even know this quarry's name, however a quick bit of research into the Ffestiniog railway found me everything I needed to know. So, on with the report.
THE HISTORY: Opening some time in the 1830s under a Mr. William Roberts, the land Wrysgan Quarry is situated on was leased from Cwmorthin Quarry across the valley. Production was never constant, with Roberts selling the mine to an unknown buyer who never managed to re-open it. A third owner, Methusalem Jones, also attempted to re-open it, but also failed. It was then bought by an unknown group in 1844 who bankrupted themselves attempting to build an incline for the quarry.
Only past 1850 did the quarry begin to develop properly, being bought by a newly formed company, Wrysgan Slate and Slab Quarries Co Ltd. An incline which reportedly went into Cwmorthin was hastily completed, along with a processing mill in 1854, the lower mill in 1865 and the infamous incline through the mountain into Tanygrisiau was completed in 1874. Despite all these efforts, problems never ceased to arise for this small quarry, with the water wheels powering the mills not getting sufficient water feed from the quarry's reservoir, Llyn Wrysgan. The steam engines powering the inclines (And eventually the mills) were expensive to run and negotiations failed with Cwmorthin quarry to gain access to it's unused cross mill. The main incline itself was also incredibly problematic.
The main incline was demolished in 1913 and then re-laid in 1923, with the quarry being acquired by the company New Wrysgan Slate Quarry Ltd.
Figures for the quarry's staff and output rate vary. 30 people were employed by the quarry in 1874, rising to 100 in 1897 with roughly 3000 tons of slate output. By 1945, the quarry only employed 11, with a mere 348 tons of slate output.
The quarry finally closed forever in 1946.
THE LOCATION: As far as surveys go, the mine has 8 levels spanning roughly 10 kilometres underground (a local told me this, take this with a pinch of salt), unfortunately I wasn't equipped to go deep into the mine, so I don't know how the deeper parts are doing, considering the last report on this place was 2013 I believe. I think I came across 6 adits, 2 of which had collapsed and 1 looked like it was going to. Most of the ruins are still standing and can still be made out, metalwork and even some machinery still remains.
Accessing the location itself was very tricky, since I walked up the zig-zag path from Cwmorthin... I use the word 'path' loosely here; it's narrow, slippery and in one area, slate from the waste piles has fallen onto it. The inclines are also doing fairly well and the Tanygrisiau incline could probably be climbed up if you have balls the size of a small planet.
THE EXPLORE: 2 words... The climb... Getting up to the site was the majority of this explore, slowly trudging up the path from Cwmorthin and trying not to down my entire water supply in one go. Apart from that, I didn't regret this one bit. My mum had convinced herself to come with me, which I personally find hilarious rather than embarrassing. The more particular finds such as intact machinery were also nice to see, as well as some of the smaller underground chambers I ventured into on the upper levels. The weather was on my side for this one too, something you don't get so much in north Wales. We were semi-surprised to see other trekkers up here, but I don't think they came the same bloody exhausting way.
THE PHOTOS:
Two small ruins at the quarry's lowest level, beyond this is the first adit I spotted, which looked highly unstable, unfortunately my dumb arse didn't think to take a photo of it. You can also spot remains of rails here.
I believe this is possibly a collapsed adit, one level up from the previous.
A small ruin next to said collapsed adit, with a dodgy looking slab stairway behind it.
The incline up to the lower mill, cutting through the slate spoils.
The lower mill:
Wrysgan's lower mill saw various levels of operation. Having trouble at first due to the inadequate water wheel system. Later being powered by a steam engine, a gas engine and then an electrical motor by the 1920s. It's original equipment comprised of 40 pieces of machinery: 18 saws, 20 dressers and 2 planers. Some machinery plinths still remain, along with one rather intact piece of workshop machinery.
A ruin at the end of the incline I came up from, likely where the winches were for the incline's carts. Some intact metalwork can just be seen attached to the right side.
A view of the lower mill ruins. The low walls of the slate stacking yard can be seen on the right, where it was sent down the Tanygrisiau incline. Spoil piles from Cwmorthin quarry can be seen on the other side of the valley.
Some of the intact brick plinths.
More brick plinths and a remaining piece of machinery.
This adit is on the lower mill level, going down into the mine at a rather steep angle. I wasn't able to venture in, sadly.
The main incline:
This incline sticks out like a sore thumb from the mountainside. It connected to the Ffestiniog railway and was powered by a steam engine at first, later being powered by internal combustion engines and a powerful electrical motor in the quarry's final days.
The exit from the incline's connecting tunnel. The remains of overhead winch system can be seen here.
Don't go into the light!
The engine that likely powered the incline winch at some point. I reckon she'll still run, right guys?
Up to the higher levels!
This incline is way ropier than the first one.
A similar ruin to the earlier one at the top of the incline.
The higher level:
The higher level overlooks the lower mill level and isn't far from the quarry's reservoir (which I missed). Some barracks can be found here, as well as an adit to a smaller cavern.
What remains of the barracks.
Some kind of ruin not far from the adit on this level.
The 'skylight' caverns:
Whilst I unfortunately didn't venture into the lower adits which led into the deeper parts of the mine, I did go into two of the smaller day-lit caverns, so here they are in their extremely photogenic glory.
I'll start with the highest cavern, not far from the barracks. This is the larger of the two, with it's main chamber being possibly over 70 metres across I'm going to guess.
The other cavern I found was around midway up the second incline (the one coming up from the lower mill level), branching off from it. It's a lot smaller, I estimate it's main chamber is only about 25 metres across. This cavern is actually connected to another chamber as well, which will be explained in the photos below.
Note the dark passageway above the entrance, this leads up to what I think is a collapsed chamber, since you can see light very far down said passageway and can make out the chamber itself if you have a torch on you.
More photos:
Another collapsed adit.
Drill holes in the side of the cavern.
That's about it from me on this one, picture heavy as always. I'm glad I was able to cease an opportunity to do this with the narrow window I had, and hopefully you enjoyed and maybe even learned a bit on this quarry. Thank you for reading, until next time.
- Rainey
Wrysgan Slate Quarry - FFestiniog
THE HISTORY: Opening some time in the 1830s under a Mr. William Roberts, the land Wrysgan Quarry is situated on was leased from Cwmorthin Quarry across the valley. Production was never constant, with Roberts selling the mine to an unknown buyer who never managed to re-open it. A third owner, Methusalem Jones, also attempted to re-open it, but also failed. It was then bought by an unknown group in 1844 who bankrupted themselves attempting to build an incline for the quarry.
Only past 1850 did the quarry begin to develop properly, being bought by a newly formed company, Wrysgan Slate and Slab Quarries Co Ltd. An incline which reportedly went into Cwmorthin was hastily completed, along with a processing mill in 1854, the lower mill in 1865 and the infamous incline through the mountain into Tanygrisiau was completed in 1874. Despite all these efforts, problems never ceased to arise for this small quarry, with the water wheels powering the mills not getting sufficient water feed from the quarry's reservoir, Llyn Wrysgan. The steam engines powering the inclines (And eventually the mills) were expensive to run and negotiations failed with Cwmorthin quarry to gain access to it's unused cross mill. The main incline itself was also incredibly problematic.
The main incline was demolished in 1913 and then re-laid in 1923, with the quarry being acquired by the company New Wrysgan Slate Quarry Ltd.
Figures for the quarry's staff and output rate vary. 30 people were employed by the quarry in 1874, rising to 100 in 1897 with roughly 3000 tons of slate output. By 1945, the quarry only employed 11, with a mere 348 tons of slate output.
The quarry finally closed forever in 1946.
THE LOCATION: As far as surveys go, the mine has 8 levels spanning roughly 10 kilometres underground (a local told me this, take this with a pinch of salt), unfortunately I wasn't equipped to go deep into the mine, so I don't know how the deeper parts are doing, considering the last report on this place was 2013 I believe. I think I came across 6 adits, 2 of which had collapsed and 1 looked like it was going to. Most of the ruins are still standing and can still be made out, metalwork and even some machinery still remains.
Accessing the location itself was very tricky, since I walked up the zig-zag path from Cwmorthin... I use the word 'path' loosely here; it's narrow, slippery and in one area, slate from the waste piles has fallen onto it. The inclines are also doing fairly well and the Tanygrisiau incline could probably be climbed up if you have balls the size of a small planet.
THE EXPLORE: 2 words... The climb... Getting up to the site was the majority of this explore, slowly trudging up the path from Cwmorthin and trying not to down my entire water supply in one go. Apart from that, I didn't regret this one bit. My mum had convinced herself to come with me, which I personally find hilarious rather than embarrassing. The more particular finds such as intact machinery were also nice to see, as well as some of the smaller underground chambers I ventured into on the upper levels. The weather was on my side for this one too, something you don't get so much in north Wales. We were semi-surprised to see other trekkers up here, but I don't think they came the same bloody exhausting way.
THE PHOTOS:
Two small ruins at the quarry's lowest level, beyond this is the first adit I spotted, which looked highly unstable, unfortunately my dumb arse didn't think to take a photo of it. You can also spot remains of rails here.
I believe this is possibly a collapsed adit, one level up from the previous.
A small ruin next to said collapsed adit, with a dodgy looking slab stairway behind it.
The incline up to the lower mill, cutting through the slate spoils.
The lower mill:
Wrysgan's lower mill saw various levels of operation. Having trouble at first due to the inadequate water wheel system. Later being powered by a steam engine, a gas engine and then an electrical motor by the 1920s. It's original equipment comprised of 40 pieces of machinery: 18 saws, 20 dressers and 2 planers. Some machinery plinths still remain, along with one rather intact piece of workshop machinery.
A ruin at the end of the incline I came up from, likely where the winches were for the incline's carts. Some intact metalwork can just be seen attached to the right side.
A view of the lower mill ruins. The low walls of the slate stacking yard can be seen on the right, where it was sent down the Tanygrisiau incline. Spoil piles from Cwmorthin quarry can be seen on the other side of the valley.
Some of the intact brick plinths.
More brick plinths and a remaining piece of machinery.
This adit is on the lower mill level, going down into the mine at a rather steep angle. I wasn't able to venture in, sadly.
The main incline:
This incline sticks out like a sore thumb from the mountainside. It connected to the Ffestiniog railway and was powered by a steam engine at first, later being powered by internal combustion engines and a powerful electrical motor in the quarry's final days.
The exit from the incline's connecting tunnel. The remains of overhead winch system can be seen here.
Don't go into the light!
The engine that likely powered the incline winch at some point. I reckon she'll still run, right guys?
Up to the higher levels!
This incline is way ropier than the first one.
A similar ruin to the earlier one at the top of the incline.
The higher level:
The higher level overlooks the lower mill level and isn't far from the quarry's reservoir (which I missed). Some barracks can be found here, as well as an adit to a smaller cavern.
What remains of the barracks.
Some kind of ruin not far from the adit on this level.
The 'skylight' caverns:
Whilst I unfortunately didn't venture into the lower adits which led into the deeper parts of the mine, I did go into two of the smaller day-lit caverns, so here they are in their extremely photogenic glory.
I'll start with the highest cavern, not far from the barracks. This is the larger of the two, with it's main chamber being possibly over 70 metres across I'm going to guess.
The other cavern I found was around midway up the second incline (the one coming up from the lower mill level), branching off from it. It's a lot smaller, I estimate it's main chamber is only about 25 metres across. This cavern is actually connected to another chamber as well, which will be explained in the photos below.
Note the dark passageway above the entrance, this leads up to what I think is a collapsed chamber, since you can see light very far down said passageway and can make out the chamber itself if you have a torch on you.
More photos:
Another collapsed adit.
Drill holes in the side of the cavern.
That's about it from me on this one, picture heavy as always. I'm glad I was able to cease an opportunity to do this with the narrow window I had, and hopefully you enjoyed and maybe even learned a bit on this quarry. Thank you for reading, until next time.
- Rainey
