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Rusting away in Blaen y Cae...

26/2/2017

 
Dorothea Iain Robinson
Or, Gentlemen prefer Blondins...

Another study of the Nantlle Vale quarries this week, with a look at Blaen-y-Cae quarry. It's reached by climbing a bramble-infested pair of inclines from Talysarn, once the route of the John Robinson Tramway on it's way to join the 3'6" gauge Nantlle Railway. Nowadays though, it's mainly used by sheep, whose tracks we gratefully used to scramble up...or down in the case below-
Dorothea Iain Robinson
Once above the Talysarn pit, the country becomes a little wilder and views open out towards the Nantlle ridge and Snowdon in the distance. Not much remains on the levels above Talysarn except the drum houses and some ruined structures, barely recognisable among the gorse scrub that infests this part of the valley. A lonely chimney loomed from within a thicket of birch, oak and blackthorn...when I had hacked my way inside I was none the wiser, as there were no clues within the ruin. The 1889 OS map shows a mill at this spot, so perhaps this was the chimney for a steam plant, or possibly a forge. On the next level there seemed to have been a great many walliau, where the slate was roughly split and trimmed by craftsmen. A curious feature that we had not seen elsewhere was a series of sunken passages, rather like WW1 trenches, walled with slate. It felt a little like a Welsh version of Skara Brae. Trimming waste was everywhere.
Picture
​I knew that there was something special on the highest level, below the Cilgwyn tips and as we climbed up, I began to recognise features from the map and from photographs on the web. Despite my mine senses, Petra spotted it first. The remains of a "Henderson's patent Blondin Winder", almost engulfed by thorn bush but nevertheless, instantly recognisable by those who spend too much time poring over old quarry photographs. I guess most folk reading this will know how the Blondin apparatus is synonymous with the Welsh slate industry...or is it?
Blondin, Dorothea, Iain Robinson
​Basically, a Blondin is a series of wires strung from pylons on either side of a pit. Along these wires runs a wheeled carriage, or as it was known in some welsh quarries, a ceffyl (horse). This was pulled between the two pylons, running on static wires. From the carriage descended another block arrangement which allowed a load to be lifted or dropped remotely by the operator, which is where our "Henderson patent Blondin Winder" comes in. An ideal arrangement for situations where there was a deep pit and no access from a hillside.
Picture
Despite what some folk will claim, the Blondin didn't originate from Wales, it was the idea of one John Fyffe, lessee of Kemnay Granite quarry in Aberdeenshire. He approached a local engineering firm, John M. Henderson & Company, of the King’s Engineering Works, Aberdeen, to manufacture the apparatus from his specifications. Here, historical accounts vary, as Henderson then claimed the invention as his own, built the first one in 1873 and took out a patent, No. 4196 of 1896, a machine for “Lifting and Transmitting Heavy Bodies”. The first Blondins installed at Pen yr Orsedd were of this particular pattern; the quarry was an very early adopter of the design, but not before Kemnay and Rubislaw granite quarries in Aberdeenshire.

What of the name?  They were named after the famous French tight-rope walker Charles Blondin (real name Jean Francois Gravelet, 1824-97). Blondin was famed for crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope, pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with a stove. He stopped half way across, cooked an omelette on the stove and lowered it to passengers on the "Maid of the Mist" below. Not quite Welsh slate quarry practice, but certainly interesting.
Picture
Picture
​Meanwhile, the light was fading and the weather closing in. A cold wind blew from the east and I thought about those craftsmen working in the waliau in all weathers. No wonder they had dug those trenches. Back home, in the warmth of my studio, I thought about the winders. They were steam powered, yet there was no sign of an engine house on the level we were on, or even a shelter for the operator. I fell to studying more maps, trying to find an answer. I suppose coal came up the inclines, and shelters were corrugated iron or wood...perhaps. More research needed.

Blaen y Cae factoids:

The quarry was started in the 1830's and was eventually taken over by Tal y Sarn. At it's peak, forty men were employed, producing 800 tons a year. It closed in the 1930's. (source: Gazetteer of Slate Quarrying in Wales, A. J. Richards.)
Dorothea, Iain Robinson

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    Index

    All
    Abercorris Quarry
    Aberglaslyn
    Aberglaslyn Mine
    Aberglaslyn Pen Y Gaer
    Allt Y Ceffylau
    Amnodd Wen Ruins
    Ancient Monuments
    Arenig
    Baron Hill
    Blaen Ceulan
    Blaen-y-Cwm
    Blondins
    Bryn Arian Mine
    Bryndyfi
    Bryngwyn Branch
    Brynkir Tower
    Bryn Y Felin
    Bulkeley Mansion
    Bwlch Cwm Y Llan Quarry
    Bwlch Glas Mine
    Bwlch Y Battel
    Cae Mab Seifion
    Cae'r Nant Quarry
    Cardigan Bay Consols
    Carn Bentrych
    Catherine And Jane
    Cedryn Slate Quarry
    Cefn Cam
    Cefn Cam 2
    Cesailgwm Mines
    Chwarel Y Plas
    Cil Drygwr
    Clearance Cairns
    Clee Hill
    Cnicht
    Coed Crafnant
    Coed Felinrhyd
    Conglog Mine
    Copper Mines
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    Cwm Caeth Slate Mine
    Cwm Cipwrth
    Cwm Cyd Slate Trials
    Cwm Dulyn Hafods
    Cwm Dwyfor
    Cwm Eigiau Slate Quarry
    Cwmorthin
    Cwm Pennant
    Cwm Silyn Mine
    Cwm Y Llan Slate Quarry
    Cwm Yr Afon Mine
    Cyfanned
    Diffwys Manganese Mine
    Din Lligwy
    Dinorwig
    Dinorwig- A Close Shave
    Dinorwig Slates In The Mist
    Dinorwig-the Top Levels
    Dol-Ithan-Gethin
    Dorothea
    Dorothea Holman Pump House
    Dorothea Mill
    Dorothea Miscellany
    Dorothea- The End
    Eaglebrook Mine
    Environmental Concerns
    Esgair Hir Lead Mine
    Figra Mine
    Flagstaff Quarry
    Foel Grochan
    Foel Ispri
    Foel Quarry
    Gallt Y Fedw
    Gellfechan
    Gold Mines
    Gorseddau Mill
    Gorseddau Quarry
    Gorseddau Tramway
    Gorseddau Tramway 2
    Gorseddau Tramway 3
    Graiglwyd Part 2
    Graiglwyd Quarry
    Gwynfynydd
    Hafan Quarries
    Hafotty Fach
    Hendre Ddu
    Henfwlch Mine
    Iron Mines
    Little Italy
    Lliwedd Copper Mine
    Llwyn Y Betws
    Loco Sheds Of Dinorwic
    Lynniau Gamallt Mine
    Maen Y Bardd
    Maen Y Gaseg
    Manod Quarry
    Megaliths
    Metal Mines
    Moelfre Slate Quarry
    Moel Hebog
    Moel Isallt
    Moel Ty Uchaf Stone Circle
    Moelwyn Bach Mine
    Moelwyn Slate Mine
    Morgan's Level
    Nant Gefail-y-Meiars
    Nantlle Tramway
    On Stravaiging
    Pant Mawr Slate Quarry
    Peat Huts
    Penmaenmawr
    Pen Y Bryn
    Pen Y Gaer
    Plas Bryncir
    Pont Scethin
    Prehistoric Sites
    Prince Of Wales 1
    Prince Of Wales 2
    Ratgoed
    Ratgoed Part 2
    Remains Of (back In) The Day
    Rhiwbach
    Rhos Quarry
    Rhosydd
    Rhosydd And Cwmorthin: 1
    Ruins
    Serw Slate Quarry
    Slate
    South Snowdon Slate Qy
    Tal-eithin Uchaf
    Talmierin Mine
    Tal Y Fan Quarry
    Tan Y Graig Quarry
    The Alma Cavern
    Trecastell Mine
    Tyddyn Gwladys
    Ty Mawr
    Vivian
    Wrysgan
    Y Lôn Goed
    Ystrad Einion
    Ystrad/Garreg Fawr

 

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