Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 2013 - Page 4 (Remains Of The Welsh Slate Industry)

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Llyn y Gadair Page 3

* Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry (Remains Of The Welsh Slate Industry) *

Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 16 - Mill corner (2013)

At the far end of the fallen mill wall is this opening that i assume was the exit for a tramway to take waste to the tip.

Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 17 - Rail II (2013)

... And another section of bridge rail, this time just below the mill.

Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 18 - Compare this (2013)

One more comparison shot - This time looking into the Llyn y Gader pit, from the same spot as Photo 10 (Page 3) in 1990. Rather than write about it there is a quick link (below) to compare the two photos.

(Click here to view: Llyn y Gader Comparison 1)

Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 19 - Loading area? (2013)

Heading back to the causeway and this is the view of the building remains that are alongside the lake tip tramway (running along the shallow cutting left of the tree) with what appears to be some kind of loading stage area in front of it. This would make sense given that there must have been an exit route from here prior to the causeway being built and with no rail connection nearby (until 1881) then all finished product would have been carted - so is this the loading area for that? When the causeway was constructed it presumeably followed the same route, but continuing onto Gader Wyllt (then the only quarry working) and here it overlays some of the remains.

Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 20 - Unfinished route (2013)

Back to Tan y Llyn (at the northern end of the causeway) and the aborted attempt to take a tramway across from the causeway tramway to Rhyd Ddu station. These pillars, still in situ in 2016, mark the course of the intended route and lead to the site of a planned bridge over the Afon Gwyrfai. Sadly, like the Gader Wyllt mill, this was never finished.

To add to this there was another unbuilt scheme once planned here - From 1881 the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways line from Caernarfon terminated at Rhyd Ddu after their failure to build the rest of the line to Porthmadog. Following this there were several schemes muted by other grandly titled companies to complete the task, some of which involved routes designed to serve the Llyn y Gadair quarries. That would have involved a line along the western shore of Llyn-y-Gadair (en route to Pitts Head) taking almost exactly the same course as the planned tramway route before then running beside the lake just as the causeway does. Of course none ever materialised and in 1922 the Welsh Highland built the current route going directly south.

Note the Lôn Gwyrfai path now passes through here, enabling a closer view of the pillars.

Llyn y Gadair Slate Quarry 21 - Finally a bridge! (2013)

The last photo of this section shows the shiny new Lôn Gwyrfai bridge over the Afon Gwyrfai. With the building of this there is finally a connecting route between Rhyd Ddu station and the causeway - something the quarries never managed to achieve!

The following recommended books contain a more comprehensive history of Llyn y Gadair:-

'Gazeteer of Slate Quarrying in Wales - Revised' / Alun John Richards / Llygad Gwalch

'Cwm Gwyrfai - The Quarries of the North Wales Narrow Gauge & the Welsh Highland Railways' / Gwynfor Pierce Jones & Alun John Richards / Gwasg Carreg Gwalch

'Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire: Vol I' / J.I.C.Boyd / Oakwood Press

'The Slate Railways of Wales' / Alun John Richards / Gwasg Carreg Gwalch

'The Slate Regions of North and Mid Wales' / Alun John Richards / Gwasg Carreg Gwalch

Llyn y Gadair Online:-

Iain Robinsons Treasure Maps has a superb page devoted to their visit to Llyn y Gadair:-

Open: http://robinsonmaps.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Llyn-y-Gader%20slate%20quarry