In Snowdonia - Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Cwmorthin Quarry
In came New Years Day 2014 with wind and rain. As the conditions were fairly depressing we thought of going with the ambience and visiting a ruined slate quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog.
The quarry opened in 1810 and 50 years later mining for slate had also begun. The mine was known as the 'Slaughterhouse' as so many men were killed - between 1875 and 1886 there were 22 deaths out of a workforce of around 550. The fortunes of the mine were varied and it opened and closed several times as companies went into liquidation. It closed finally in 1970 although a little quarrying for slate took place in the 80's and 90's.
It is approached up a path leading up from the edge of the town passing a small waterfall. The stream follows the path up to a lake and the outflow was used for turning machinery, The main buildings are a set of miners cottages now fallen into disrepair, although in late 2013 a move was made to save them. As there had been some work going on when we were there I guess this must be ongoing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-24749734.
When we walked up the weather was fairly good although the mist was close to the ground and there were occasional showers. I decided, fairly late on to take some pinhole pictures, but after doing only one the rain came on torrentially and we were forced to abandon and walk back to the car.
These are the pictures in colour, but I have also converted them into monochrome, which suits the place more. I shall place these in the next blog.
The quarry opened in 1810 and 50 years later mining for slate had also begun. The mine was known as the 'Slaughterhouse' as so many men were killed - between 1875 and 1886 there were 22 deaths out of a workforce of around 550. The fortunes of the mine were varied and it opened and closed several times as companies went into liquidation. It closed finally in 1970 although a little quarrying for slate took place in the 80's and 90's.
It is approached up a path leading up from the edge of the town passing a small waterfall. The stream follows the path up to a lake and the outflow was used for turning machinery, The main buildings are a set of miners cottages now fallen into disrepair, although in late 2013 a move was made to save them. As there had been some work going on when we were there I guess this must be ongoing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-24749734.
When we walked up the weather was fairly good although the mist was close to the ground and there were occasional showers. I decided, fairly late on to take some pinhole pictures, but after doing only one the rain came on torrentially and we were forced to abandon and walk back to the car.
These are the pictures in colour, but I have also converted them into monochrome, which suits the place more. I shall place these in the next blog.
Very atmospheric pictures !
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