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Report - - Rhiwbach Slate Mine - North Wales - March -2016 | Mines and Quarries | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Rhiwbach Slate Mine - North Wales - March -2016

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Lenston

Bajo Tierra
Regular User
Visited with @The Kwan

We popped in here on the way to somewhere else, great location and well worth a look if your in the area.

Pic 6 is lit from 50 feet down as i had a bit of a product fail on a 2 day old Lenser :(

Some history

Rhiwbach Slate Quarry, along with Blaen y Cwm, differed from all other quarries in the slate industry in one important aspect. The exit incline from the quarry for the finished product led up and not down. The classic balanced incline, by which the outward loaded slate wagons brought up the empty wagons by gravity, was not possible. The answer for the quarry was to build a substantial engine house to power the incline from the bottom, with the haulage wire passing around a sheave at the top. This engine house also powered the quarry machinery and the underground inclines. The remains of the engine house are a notable feature of the quarry with the tall chimney still an imposing sight.
The quarry was started at the beginning of the 19th century on a site to the South of the later main workings. This area developed into a deep pit working which has now flooded. This part of the quarry was worked out by the 1880's and work transferred to the present site. The pit working here, started in the 1860's, was later developed extensively underground to encompass eight levels. Drainage of the underground workings was through a tunnel which began 350 feet below the surface and emerged onto the side of Cwm Penmachno. The entrance to this drainage tunnel may still be seen today. When the quarry first opened, the slate was taken down on horseback into Cwm Penmachno and eventually to the quay at Trefriw on the Conwy. Later the finished product was taken out in the opposite direction, around the shoulder of Manod Mawr and down to the Afon Dwyryd below Maentwrog.

The Rhiwbach Tramway opened in 1863 and revolutionised the transport arrangements for the quarry. A wharf was opened in Porthmadog and from then on all slate went out along the tramway and down the Ffestiniog Railway. In 1908 the quarry started to use the exchange sidings at Minffordd to transfer their product to the national rail network.
This quarry was one of the most remote in the industry and it was frequently cut off for long periods in bad weather. Because of this, the living quarters almost reached village status. The quite extensive remains of which includes family accommodation, a shop and a school house as well as the barracks for the single men.
Although the quarry occupies a large area, the annual output rarely exceeded 6000 tons and it was closed down several times for quite long periods. Electricity was introduced to the site in 1934 which somewhat relieved the hardships of life at this remote location. The last workers at the quarry still barracked on site and this is believed to be the last quarry where this practice took place. The quarry finally closed in 1951 and all the machinery was removed.

Pics
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Thanks for looking​
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Excellent shots Lenny Boi, Nat Geo will be on the blower shortly :D
I was gutted for you when you dropped your new Lensor into that lake, it made for great lighting at the bottom of the water but its gonna be a bummer paying the old credit card bill at the end of the month for a torch that you owned for exactly two days. I would be writing Lensor a scathing letter about the poor quality lanyard attachment.
I was telling Angela about it and and she asked if you were upset, I could only tell her that the last time I saw a face like yours at that moment was when my eldest dropped her ice cream on the floor just as I handed it to her right at the ice cream van after buying it....eyes filling up, quivering upper lip, Angela got the picture and said that I should have given you a man hug, I said that I would have but I was busy pissing myself laughing.
one more member of the lost Lensor club :)
Great report BTW, images are sharp as a tack..really nice :thumb
 

Lenston

Bajo Tierra
Regular User
Excellent shots Lenny Boi, Nat Geo will be on the blower shortly :D
I was gutted for you when you dropped your new Lensor into that lake, it made for great lighting at the bottom of the water but its gonna be a bummer paying the old credit card bill at the end of the month for a torch that you owned for exactly two days. I would be writing Lensor a scathing letter about the poor quality lanyard attachment.
I was telling Angela about it and and she asked if you were upset, I could only tell her that the last time I saw a face like yours at that moment was when my eldest dropped her ice cream on the floor just as I handed it to her right at the ice cream van after buying it....eyes filling up, quivering upper lip, Angela got the picture and said that I should have given you a man hug, I said that I would have but I was busy pissing myself laughing.
one more member of the lost Lensor club :)
Great report BTW, images are sharp as a tack..really nice :thumb

It was funny, they need to put waterproof down to 50 feet as it was still on when we left :D
 

Lavino

................
28DL Full Member
I did wonder how you managed to light up the water like that. Never mind lee it could have been worse...
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
I wonder how long a lensor with good batteries would last in cold deep water, if I dropped my chinese cree in there I would be more concerned about losing the 18650 battery than the torch :)
nice light spread though..Im laughing now lolol. it was the bit when I said that you are not a real explorer until you have lost a lensor at the very moment it went into the drink :D
25663746470_81c971916a_c.jpg
 

ACID- REFLUX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nicely done lads :thumb
Love the pool and the last pic especially . Even with poor lighting on the lefthand side ;)

Are we sure it was dropped by accident rather than @The Kwan getting rid of the competition ?

It's bad enough when a Lenser goes but if If I'd dropped my Nitecore I'd have been in tears . Never mind the cost of the Torch it's got £80 worth of batteries inside
. Need a lanyard making out of Paracord or similar . Something you can relay on or a handle mount too attach too
 

Lenston

Bajo Tierra
Regular User
Nicely done lads :thumb
Love the pool and the last pic especially . Even with poor lighting on the lefthand side ;)

Are we sure it was dropped by accident rather than @The Kwan getting rid of the competition ?

It's bad enough when a Lenser goes but if If I'd dropped my Nitecore I'd have been in tears . Never mind the cost of the Torch it's got £80 worth of batteries inside
. Need a lanyard making out of Paracord or similar . Something you can relay on or a handle mount too attach too

Serves me right i didnt need a new torch but bought one anyway, lesson learnt ;)
 
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