1. The History
Located in North Wales on the Llŷn Peninsula, the village of Trefor sits in the Llanaelhaearn parish. Here, the granite of the Eifl Mountains form the end of the coast of earth cliffs that extend for much of the way from the granite of Penmaenmawr. The village developed after the granite quarry opened in 1850. The quarry, which is also known as the Yr Eifl quarry, covers about one quarter of a km2 and was named after its first foreman, Trevor Jones, when work first began here around 1830.
By 1850, the quarries were owned by ‘The Welsh Granite Co. Ltd’ who bought it for £3,000. In 1855 the quarry applied to build a jetty on the coast to ship granite products but the pier was never built. The application was renewed in 1867 and the Doc Bach dock, quay and harbour were finally built in 1870. A railway was constructed connecting the quarry with the pier, although this was gradually replaced by road transport. In 1911 the Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan quarries were joined with the Eifl ones to form the ‘Penmaenmawr and Welsh Granite Co. Ltd’.
O/S map detail of the quarry from circa 1900:
The quarry went from strength-to-strength and went on to become one of the world’s biggest granite quarries and included extensive rail-served galleries, workshops, inclines, magazine, bins, a crusher house and a 920m-long, 597mm gauge, tramway incline at and incline of 1-in-1.75. Utilizing horse-worked internal quarry tramways as early as 1865, steam locomotives were introduced to work in the quarry and along the half-mile long section from the foot of the quarry incline to the pier, in 1873.
The large brutalist-style quarry building was constructed in 1923 and was the main loading point for the stone onto the narrow-gauge railway that took it down to the pier. By 1931, the quarry had produced 1,157,000 tons of granite “setts”, the quarry’s main output, which were then transported over to Liverpool and other cities for use as paving slabs. From 1951 onwards, the railway was gradually replaced by road transport. The main incline was abandoned in 1959 and the railway finally closed in 1962. A year later, the quarry finally closed after over a hundred years of working in 1963. Trefor is still occasionally quarried to make curling stones.
Spectacular view along the tramlines towards the quarry at Trefor:
Photographer: Geoff Charles (1909-2002)
Date: 28/6/1956
2. The Explore
Been meaning the come here for a while. So, being a thirty-minute drive away from here last April, I set off early on a beautifully sunny spring morning. After parking up at the base of the incline, it was just a matter of hiking up the mountain. It was a chilled explore with sweeping views. Nothing too exciting and not much beyond the views and brutalist industrial concrete, but worth the effort all the same.
3. The Photographs
Up the incline we go:
It’s all about this view:
Side view of incline:
Proverbial concrete excrement abode:
On of the loading bays:
Through and round:
Stunning views:
Not too much inside:
And more stunning views:
Lorra stone:
Not too sure what all this is:
Incline up to the main quarry:
And back down once more:
That's all folks!!!
Located in North Wales on the Llŷn Peninsula, the village of Trefor sits in the Llanaelhaearn parish. Here, the granite of the Eifl Mountains form the end of the coast of earth cliffs that extend for much of the way from the granite of Penmaenmawr. The village developed after the granite quarry opened in 1850. The quarry, which is also known as the Yr Eifl quarry, covers about one quarter of a km2 and was named after its first foreman, Trevor Jones, when work first began here around 1830.
By 1850, the quarries were owned by ‘The Welsh Granite Co. Ltd’ who bought it for £3,000. In 1855 the quarry applied to build a jetty on the coast to ship granite products but the pier was never built. The application was renewed in 1867 and the Doc Bach dock, quay and harbour were finally built in 1870. A railway was constructed connecting the quarry with the pier, although this was gradually replaced by road transport. In 1911 the Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan quarries were joined with the Eifl ones to form the ‘Penmaenmawr and Welsh Granite Co. Ltd’.
O/S map detail of the quarry from circa 1900:
The quarry went from strength-to-strength and went on to become one of the world’s biggest granite quarries and included extensive rail-served galleries, workshops, inclines, magazine, bins, a crusher house and a 920m-long, 597mm gauge, tramway incline at and incline of 1-in-1.75. Utilizing horse-worked internal quarry tramways as early as 1865, steam locomotives were introduced to work in the quarry and along the half-mile long section from the foot of the quarry incline to the pier, in 1873.
The large brutalist-style quarry building was constructed in 1923 and was the main loading point for the stone onto the narrow-gauge railway that took it down to the pier. By 1931, the quarry had produced 1,157,000 tons of granite “setts”, the quarry’s main output, which were then transported over to Liverpool and other cities for use as paving slabs. From 1951 onwards, the railway was gradually replaced by road transport. The main incline was abandoned in 1959 and the railway finally closed in 1962. A year later, the quarry finally closed after over a hundred years of working in 1963. Trefor is still occasionally quarried to make curling stones.
Spectacular view along the tramlines towards the quarry at Trefor:
Photographer: Geoff Charles (1909-2002)
Date: 28/6/1956
2. The Explore
Been meaning the come here for a while. So, being a thirty-minute drive away from here last April, I set off early on a beautifully sunny spring morning. After parking up at the base of the incline, it was just a matter of hiking up the mountain. It was a chilled explore with sweeping views. Nothing too exciting and not much beyond the views and brutalist industrial concrete, but worth the effort all the same.
3. The Photographs
Up the incline we go:
It’s all about this view:
Side view of incline:
Proverbial concrete excrement abode:
On of the loading bays:
Through and round:
Stunning views:
Not too much inside:
And more stunning views:
Lorra stone:
Not too sure what all this is:
Incline up to the main quarry:
And back down once more:
That's all folks!!!
