A rare, rain-free reprise of this fascinating quarry Our last two visits to this quarry and mine were blighted by dubious weather. (Link here) Probably because the area immediately to the south, Cwm Mynach, is designated a temperate rainforest with rainfall for 200 days a year- so I shouldn't really have been surprised. But, gluttons for punishment, we decided on a whim to have a look around again. Cwm Mynach- billed as Wales' hidden gem, an unspoilt, hauntingly beautiful nature reserve. I loved it last time we visited, despite the rain. But now. thanks to our old friends at the Forestry Commission, the area resembles a MOD shooting range. The beautiful Llyn Cwm Mynach, once a spot to contemplate the beauties of nature as the rain dribbled over your sandwiches - is drastically changed. All I can say is that, once out of the ex-forestry and on to the moor, things were wonderful. Wide open grassland as far as the eye could see, a sort of Welsh Savanna. Of course, last time, we approached the mine by a masochistic yomp over a mile of "Johnny Breakaleg" grass. This time we approached directly by the access road to the architecturally dubious shooting lodge. We learnt quite a bit from looking at the place again in a more relaxed manner. Approaching the Manager's house along the access road, it is clear that there has been an area beside the Afon Gamlan that has been flattened for cultivation. This explains the underground vegetable store- somewhere to keep the large quantities of victuals for the miners in this very remote spot. The flattened area is immediately south of the attractive bridge below- One thing that strikes you about this place is the number of structures- and their mysterious purposes. The first range that comes in to sight must be the manager's house. Coflein have a new improved site which shows the buildings and they also mark the first range as the managers. The other structures are slightly confusing. What Coflein calls the barracks (I agree, for what it's worth) looks to have been originally a field barn which was adapted- the foundation courses are country rock, then after a couple of courses, slate takes over. The presence of fireplaces also supports the barracks theory. You'd need somewhere to dry off all those soaking clothes. We headed into the pit next and had lunch. We'd arrived at the site via a three mile walk from Cae Mab Seifion, so we were quite hungry! The pit is axcavated on two levels, the shallow pit also has evidence of the most recent working, with trimming waste and some walliau. The slate face here looks as if it was worked a long time ago. We only saw one shot blast mark, so I wondered if material was crowbarred from the rock. There was a great deal of trimming/riving waste in the top pit. We'd intended to walk out through the opencut, but it turned out to be very boggy- and very long. There were signs of slate being won within the cut. At the end was the water-powered mill, which we'd inspected before. An extract from the 1888 OS map of the quarry. The level to the south east is thought to be a drainage adit, although there was no sign of an adit in the pit. Trimmed waste and a walliau were on the tips. The line marked "FP" leads to Ganllwyd, but I can tell you- it's long gone. (image courtesy of NLS) |
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