Another minor metal mine in North Wales, one of a number near Llanfair Talhaiarn.
It apparently produced lead, zinc and copper, mainly between 1891 and 1907.
Most of the ore came from a 200 yard deep shaft near the mill on the map below, but this has now been filled in.
However there are a number of levels (adits/tunnels) marked higher up the valley so I went to have a look at those on a day when the weather was too bad to go further afield.
There are pictures on a caving website so I knew at least some of them were open a decade or so ago.
Starting with the mill there isn’t much left except terraced remains and ore bins.
It looks like water for the wheel came from a reservoir up the hill, now a boggy area.
The first level is at the bottom of a small quarry and ends almost immediately.
There are short branches right and left at the beginning - this is the left one which had a colony of bats so I didn’t hang around.
Further up is an even shorter level and a few shafts on either side of the stream.
The shaft next to the tree below only went down about 10 yards.
The next level was the only one that went a significant distance with some areas of extraction.
Further up is a rather crawly hole with small offshoots and caverns.
Like the other levels this one appeared to be a trial, following quartz veins - didn’t check it actually was quartz though.
The final one is higher up the valley in a wooded area.
However with little headroom it didn’t look easily doable in waders so I left it.
On the way back down I browsed the main spoil heaps above the mill for mineralogical goodies without finding much evidence of metals.
Mainly it was just the the host rock which seems to be some sort of anonymous mudstone, angled upwards giving the sloping sides and jaggedy ceilings in the tunnels.
There’s a fair amount of limestone around though, evident in the white seeps and little stalactites underground, and some nice calcite samples on the waste tips too.
It apparently produced lead, zinc and copper, mainly between 1891 and 1907.
Most of the ore came from a 200 yard deep shaft near the mill on the map below, but this has now been filled in.
However there are a number of levels (adits/tunnels) marked higher up the valley so I went to have a look at those on a day when the weather was too bad to go further afield.
There are pictures on a caving website so I knew at least some of them were open a decade or so ago.
Starting with the mill there isn’t much left except terraced remains and ore bins.
It looks like water for the wheel came from a reservoir up the hill, now a boggy area.
The first level is at the bottom of a small quarry and ends almost immediately.
There are short branches right and left at the beginning - this is the left one which had a colony of bats so I didn’t hang around.
Further up is an even shorter level and a few shafts on either side of the stream.
The shaft next to the tree below only went down about 10 yards.
The next level was the only one that went a significant distance with some areas of extraction.
Further up is a rather crawly hole with small offshoots and caverns.
Like the other levels this one appeared to be a trial, following quartz veins - didn’t check it actually was quartz though.
The final one is higher up the valley in a wooded area.
However with little headroom it didn’t look easily doable in waders so I left it.
On the way back down I browsed the main spoil heaps above the mill for mineralogical goodies without finding much evidence of metals.
Mainly it was just the the host rock which seems to be some sort of anonymous mudstone, angled upwards giving the sloping sides and jaggedy ceilings in the tunnels.
There’s a fair amount of limestone around though, evident in the white seeps and little stalactites underground, and some nice calcite samples on the waste tips too.
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