Dinorwic Slate Quarry - North Wales

First trip exploring Dinorwic Slate Quarry. Searching for some of the old workings and tunnels of the quarry that once roofed the world.

[@alanythomas7084]

The gated entrance is a ventilation shaft for the Dinorwic power station built in the 70's

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

I watched some old footage, recently, from when Dinorwic was still working, and the difference in how the galleries looked back then compared to now is stark. The only loose stuff was what they were bringing down off the face with crow-bars. Where they worked looks to be buried under tens of feet of rubble, now, all brought down by the action of ice, snow, wind and rain no doubt. That was something they apparently had to watch out for when working up at the top of the galleries, apparently. A very dangerous job, that was, and hard-graft, too!

[@SteamLance]

The building you said held minecarts, was actually one of the many locomotive sheds. Basically every loco that worked at Dinorwic has survived, with four residing at the railway I volunteer at, the Bala Lake Railway (worth a visit)

[@soletrail]

Nice job mate. Was there 2 weeks ago but time restrictions allowed me to only see half of the mine. I will be back. What a place.

[@KeithThomas-qs6cq]

The gated entrance was one access for driving the low pressure tunnel which brought the water from Marchlyn Mawr (all part of Dinorwig Pump Storage Scheme). The graffititi "Tamrock" (about 24.40) was a guy who worked applying spray concrete onto the tunnel walls. His bit of immortality! He'd be about 80 now. The gated tunnel goes downhill for about 200 yards and would then be blocked as there's a T-junction with the low pressure tunnel. (small side tunnel to the right, where the winding engines for sinking the high pressure shaft were located. This shaft was 9.5 m diameter and about 500 metres deep! Today it's full of water The rockbolts (around 29.30 onwards) were set in resin and were at least 4 metres long - a way of stabilising the rocks whilst contruction took place (about 4 years I think) THe old canteen on that site got reused as Bethesda RFC's club house!

[@RetroScythe]

Is there any videos or photos of inside?

[@KeithThomas-qs6cq]

@@RetroScythe I'm afraid not - I was there in 1979 - so a little early for videos!! lol

[@LostInDistance]

Little fun fact as well, that slate is considered the best in the world.. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@dianerogers8805]

We have been up there. Atmospheric, makes you think about the conditions the men worked in. Fantastic, 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@MRWhitmore]

Cracking video! Love those blue lagoons and the giant slate wall.. would have been full of workers 100 years ago!

[@Trekker_UK]

Hey thank you for watching! It's always awesome to see a once site of industry become a natural gem !

[@MrTarmonbarry]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmqXnWRmg7p8b9U

[@MrTarmonbarry]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmqXnWRmg7p8b9U

[@KeithThomas-qs6cq]

The concrete ledge (31.20) was where trucks would come out from tunnel and dump the rock down into the old quarry workings. You can see the different coloured rock from below (eg at 9.30 - at the top left hand side)

[@MrTarmonbarry]

Pedantic maybe but you keep referring to tunnels as ''caves'' . Another place for you to visit if you have not been there is ''Dorothea '' quarry , interesting place with an old pump house still standing. Another place is ''Dolgarrog , the drive up to it is a little hard to find and its steep with a few sharp bends , well worth it though . There are wild trout way up there , Llyn Eigiau dam . Google says it is about 1000 feet above sea level , how trout got up there is anyones guess, maybe put there , but it is believed they were left behind from the last ice age

[@Trekker_UK]

Hey, thank you for the info! Ive heard of, but not yet visited Dorothea

[@MrTarmonbarry]

@@Trekker_UK Its an amazing quarry and the owners house is something else . I went there once and kept getting drawn back to it , it has that effect . One of the things everyone searches for and few find is the ornamental pond , its round and used to have a figure in the middle but that was stolen a long time ago , there are pictures of it online . Sadly a young boy drowned in it some time ago so they drilled holes to let the water out , it has not worked very well, the holes get clogged up with leafs . Good luck with it . I have hundreds of photos from there , i should put a montage together and put it on here .Oh no , something more to add to the list .

[@MrTarmonbarry]

@@Trekker_UK If you go to Dorathea you will be in the area so a visit to the dam i mentioned might be a good idea , go early if you want some moody shots but choose your day otherwise you will get nothing because of the low cloud cover

[@jacobjames4499]

Left behind from the last ice age and de frosted and survived or?

[@MrTarmonbarry]

The building at 14.41 is a maintenance shed for the carts , there is another one not far from that one , it still has the workman's bench in it

[@eliotreader8220]

might have been a engine shed for their steam engines

[@philipsimisker9742]

Thanks people well done better than telly .

[@TheSilmarillian]

@22:50 Australia crater hello from Australia :)

[@OliverHollingdale]

Do you need to pay to go here? are there patrols? is there a place to park and if so where? Planning to visit! Thank you

[@userEllipsis414]

Its actually a restricted area, but you can get to it!...sort of..go there at your own risk.))

[@wideyxyz2271]

I carry a fold up scooter for roads like that at the end........Nice video.

[@Trekker_UK]

Hey thanks for watching, few people had that idea while we were there, looked fun!

[@tamtamtamatim.4860]

Nice

[@jacobjames4499]

What is the friction coefficient properties of slate on slate?

[@eleanorw9367]

They are rather slippy to walk on and you have to be very careful

[@jacobjames4499]

@@eleanorw9367 what if you lubricated a slate on slate sliding surface or bearing?

[@willowwillow7112]

Good video but the use of the term cave is stretching the definition a step too far.

[@mickking5913]

There called rockbolts.They stop the rock from falling.