Industrial Past

Let me bring it alive for you!

People have exploited Wales' wealth of minerals almost since the start of human history. Products from a Neolithic axe factory on the Dinorwig Slate Museum North Wales coast have been found all over Britain. The copper mines on the Great Orme near Llandudno were being worked at the time the great pyramids were being built and part of the reason the Romans conquered Wales was for its rich gold and lead mines.

In recent history, of course, nineteenth century Welsh coal and slate were famous all over the world.

Rural industries were important too from the woollen stocking knitters of Y Bala to the cattle drovers of Anglesey and, if your interest is in civil engineering we've a rich heritage of first in road and bridge building. Let me show you our fascinating industrial heritage all set in beautiful scenery.

	Slate
	Copper
	Lead/Zinc
	Iron
	Wool
	Bridges

Slate - Dinorwig Llanberis
Welsh slate is famous throughout the world. Laid down in ancient seas, great pressure and heat have Vivian quarry, Llanberis

orientated the grains so it readily splits into strong thin sheets. Although slate was worked in Wales at least since Roman time it only developed into a great industry at the end of the 19th century. The quarries and mines are interesting, not only for the great chambers and pits, but for their associated dressing sheds, smithies, powder stores and mill machinery. It's fascinating to explore the old barracks, manager's houses and 'cabans' where the quarrymen took their tea along with some culture. Also, of course, it was railed transport for the slate industry that led to almost all of the "Great Little Trains of Wales" which are a joy to ride on.
Other sites: Penrhyn, Nantlle, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Dolwyddelan, Mawddach, Corwen, Corris, Pembrokeshire, Ffestiniog Railway, Llanberis Lake Railway

Copper - Great Orme Mines
The limestone of this area contains the largest site of bronze age copper mining in Western Europe. These miners used really hard Great Orme Copper Mine, Llandudno

dolerite rocks from the beach as hammers and over 30,000 animal bones have been found in the mines used as scrapers to get out the broken rock This would be crushed and washed to separate the ore which would be smelted in a clay kiln using charcoal and bellows to reach the 1,000 degrees centigrade necessary. These early miners would then have combined the copper with tin from Cornwall (over 500 miles away) to mould axes and other objects.
Other sites - Parys Mountain, Tintern, Swansea, Holywell, Llanberis, Drws y Coed, Glaslyn, Sygun

Lead/zinc - Gwydr Forest
There are indications that the ores here were known to the Romans and, in the early 1600s, Sir John Wynn began mining on his estate Minera mine near Wrexham

near Betws y Coed. The principle period of activity was the second half of the 19th century . Wwith varying fortunes, mining went on until the early 1960s. We can visit the ore crushing floor, the smelters and entrances to the adits and shafts.
Other sites - Moelwyn Bach, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bwlch y Plwm, Geirionydd, Minera-Clywedog, Dyliffe, Cwmsymlog, Carmarthenshire

Iron - Dyfi Furnace
Small scale iron mining had taken place for centuries before the first blast furnace in Britain in 1496 and by the 17th century there were

several in Wales. This charcoal-burning furnace was built about 1755 to use supplies from the surrounding woodland. The iron was probably brought from Cumbria. The draught was produced by bellows powered by the water wheel and the resulting pig iron would have run into moulds in the casting house at the bottom. Other sites: Bersham, Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Ebbw Vale, Blaenafon, Betws Garmon, Llandegai, Trefriw

Wool - Trefriw Mill
Pioneered by the Cistercian monks, the woollen industry came to become one of the most important industries of Wales by the 13th Trefriw woollen mill

century - second only to cattle exports. There are still three times as many sheep as humans in Wales and we'll see plenty on our travels! At this working woollen mill we can see the fleeces being dyed, blended, carded, spun and woven into traditional designs on the original 19th century machinery. The powerful mountain stream that still drives the machinery runs right through the building.
Other sites: sheepdog trials and agricultural shows, Textile Museum, Newtown.

Bridges - Menai Bridge
With a country so blessed with rivers as Wales you'd expect to find some magnificent bridges and such is the case! The Menai Strait is a

perilous tidal race across which treacherous ferries ran and drovers swum cattle until 1826. That was the date when Thomas Telford build the world's first iron suspension bridge in response to Westminster's reaction to a great demand from the mail service and the Irish MPs for a safer crossing. It is a beautiful bridge involving (then) novel solutions to great engineering problems and the views of the mountains beyond are stupendous!
Other bridges: Barmouth railway, Cynghordy Viaduct, Pontcysylltau Aqueduct, Newport Transporter, Monnow Bridge, Pontypridd old bridge, Llangollen, Miners Bridge-Betws y Coed, Llanwrst, Conwy, Britannia,