For a long time now I've wanted to get back to North Wales to explore some more of the myriad of quarries up that way. Many years ago I explored Maenofferen on a lovely late spring day and had a quick peek at Ratgoed on a miserable winter afternoon, but always wanted more. After seeing an excellent post from Pen-yr-Orsedd earlier this year it piqued my interest as it was one that doesn't seem to get nearly as much traffic as the more well known quarries at Dinorwic and Maenofferen, yet it seemed to have a lot to offer.
Somehow, the weather in late November decided it wanted to actually be kind and we enjoyed a lovely morning walking around the extensive remains of the quarry. I really enjoyed this place, the buildings weren't a ridiculous distance up the quarry like they are at Maenofferen so it was a lot kinder to the feet and their condition is pretty comparable, although the topmost slate cutting sheds are disappointingly almost empty.
A potted history from Wiki....
Somehow, the weather in late November decided it wanted to actually be kind and we enjoyed a lovely morning walking around the extensive remains of the quarry. I really enjoyed this place, the buildings weren't a ridiculous distance up the quarry like they are at Maenofferen so it was a lot kinder to the feet and their condition is pretty comparable, although the topmost slate cutting sheds are disappointingly almost empty.
A potted history from Wiki....
Parts of it were used a lot more recently for various operations although all of these have also stopped production now as well.
After arriving just as the sun rose and parking up, we made the climb up to the highest levels first and worked our way downwards. The views across the valley are stunning, I'd say even more so than the views from Maenofferen, and seeing the clouds flowing and contouring over the shape of the hills was really special. I'd love to go back in the summer.
And that's the lot
