Cwt y Bugail - Page 1

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Please Note: The quarry referred to here is the original Cwt y Bugail and not the modern Macalpines quarry of the same name - which is located to the south on the old Manod site.

[Pic 1] Cwt y Bugail Quarry - View of the mill area from waste tips (Sept 1987)

Hampered by its remoteness this remained a small concern until connecting to the Rhiwbach Tramway - which passed close by the site - in the early 1860's, and then developed and expanded to reach its peak outputs over the next two decades with, as quoted in numerous sources, a workforce of over 100 men. After that output dwindled with the quarry closing during both world wars until re-opening for the last time in 1947 and working on a small scale until final closure in the (mid?) 1960's. Arriving from the (abandoned) trackbed of the Rhiwbach tramway the first remains to be seen are the ruinous mill (see Pic 1 above) and an assortment of other buildings now reduced mainly to outlines only, or in very poor condition, including the site of the barracks* - which once housed most of the workforce during the working week, especially in the quarries heyday. The mill itself stands on a plateau of waste and the course of the tramway from the main workings (emerging from the bottom middle of the photo) is easilly still traceable. Also of note is the Rhiwbach tramway route running across the upper backgound - with Blaenau Ffestiniog (out of view of course) off to the right and Rhiwbach quarry off to the left. It is known that Cwt y Bugail once ran some form of a workmans train (circa 1920' / 30's) on the Rhiwbach tramway, presumeably as far as the No. 3 incline head, and that latterly an internal combustion loco worked parts of the quarry and hauled along the tramway - though it was restricted to pulling just 2 laden wagons up the steep connection from the quarry.

* There is a neat account of this barracks (and the workforce) in 'The Slate quarries of North Wales in 1873' / Snowdonia National Park Study Centre (1987)

[Pic 2] Cwt y Bugail Quarry - Behind the mills (Sept 1987)

Pic 2 (above) shows the tramway route behind the mills with the remains of a building (managers office?) slightly above, complete with a short flight of steps up to it. The tramway (also seen in Pic 1) runs off behind the camera to enter an adit in the hillside (Pic 3) and then on through to the main workings. Up on the slopes above there are several deep chambers that emerge into the open. It should also be noted that an old, very eroded footpath heads east from here to Cwm Penmachno village - probably a route taken by men from that district (and beyond) who worked here and nearby.

[Pic 3] Cwt y Bugail Quarry - Route to the workings (Sept 1987)

Continuing on from Pic 2 the tramway entered into the hillside through an adit - and onwards to the main workings. This wasn't always the main route into the workings, and possibly wasn't even the last used, as there are two incline remains that drop down to mill level from above (one just to the right of this adit) and another (uphauled) incline from workings lower down the hillside.

[Pic 4] Cwt y Bugail Quarry - Route through the smaller pit (Sept 1987)

The main tramway route (from above) runs through a partially filled in pit (come opened chamber) en-route to the larger main pit beyond - which it runs to through the adit lower left of Pic 4.

(Continued on Page 2)

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