# Cwm Penmachno Quarry, North Wales, July 2021



## HughieD (Nov 14, 2021)

*1. The History*
Cwm Machno quarry (also known as Cwm Penmachno Quarry) is located to the south-west of Betws-y-coed, at the head of the valley of the Machno, a tributary of the Conwy river, in North Wales. The nineteenth-century slate quarry was worked between 1818 and 1962. Initially slate was extracted in an ad-hoc manner by the locals but in 1849, serious development took place to allow wholesale extraction of slate.

Early O/S map of the quarry workings:





Slate was worked from an open quarry on several levels, and, additionally, slate was also extracted from underground. There were originally two pits, the upper working was known as Rhiw Fachno and the lower one was the main Cwm Machno quarry. Adits led into the mountain from both pits to access the underground workings. Inclines were used to link the terraces and workshops of quarries. It was particularly noteworthy for its water-wheel that enabled both the lowering blocks to the mills as well as being able to draw blocks and rubble from the underground workings.

Transport was always a major issue. Initially, slate was taken by horse-and-cart to a wharf on the River Conwy at Trefriw. From the late 1830’s, it was carted south to Maentwrog via Cwm Teigl and on to the Afon Dwyryd to Porthmadog. Then, in 1868, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) opened their line to Betws-y-Coed and from then onwards slate could be hauled there, however this was still a distance of 11 km over rough mountain roads. With the completion of the Rhiwbach tramway in 1863 this allowed some of the slate to be hauled up to Rhiwbach Quarry and taken out to Blaenau Ffestiniog via the tramway

The quarry also suffered from a lack of waste tipping space. Its height on the mountain meant it had a relatively restricted water supply, and on several occasions work stopped due to drought, including in 1891. The quarry became a major employer, with the workforce rising from 70 men in 1872 to 178 at its peak in 1898, before dropping 108 in 1937-8. A community developed around it with houses for the married workers along with barracks for those that were unmarried. Output peaked in 1869 with production of 8,000 tons. However, by 1890, this had dropped to just 2,260 tons.

View of Penmachno quarry circa 1875, showing the northern mill:





*2. The Explore*
This place tends to get overlooked, due to the close proximity of the underground delights of Rhiwbach slate mine and, of course, the many mines of nearby Blaenau Ffestiniog. However, having seen the sheer size of the waste tips on Google Maps, thought that this was well worth a morning’s hike. As it transpired, it was time well spent. The main incline was a sight to behold and there were some really nice winding houses too. So not as spectacular as its neighbours but well worth a look if you have the time. The road trip over to Penmachno from Blaenau is interesting too!

*3. The Pictures*

Retaining wall at the bottom of the quarry:













One of the few quarry buildings still standing:









And its resident:





Inclines to the right:









Bottom of the big incline:













The long miner’s path to the top:





Slate waste as far as the eye can see:





Some of the original piping:





Half way up, looking down the incline:





Rusting incline wire rope:





Mid-levels winding house. Not in that good a nick:





This bit of graff from 1930 was interesting though:





Tower at the top of the main incline, standing proud still like some Welsh slate castle:













More pretty far-gone quarry buildings:





Smaller incline in the higher reaches of the quarry:





Reminds me of Mayan ruins in Mexico:


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## HughieD (Nov 14, 2021)

*CONTINUED:*

One of the few other pieces of ironwork left behind:









This little opening led to only a small rock-cut room. Possible gun-power store?





Looking back over the quarry:









At the top of another side incline on the eastern side of the quarry, this little winding house was well worth the climb:













And back down at the bottom of the incline again:


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## cornish_snowdog (Nov 14, 2021)

Beautiful. Love the winding house, all the more precious for the fact that not many buildings seem to have survived!


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## Hayman (Nov 15, 2021)

The quality of the dressed stone for one of the walls shows how much work went into just building the quarry workings. And that winding drum sums up what went on so well.


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## night crawler (Nov 15, 2021)

I have only ever bee to one quarry like that and it was no where near as impressive as the one you showed. Beautifully photographed


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## Gibbo (Nov 17, 2021)

Its a great place. The old village on top beyond the old dam is really good. My favourite bit is the lake with the massive rock overhang which acts like a waterfall. And the caves higher up.


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## HughieD (Nov 17, 2021)

Gibbo said:


> Its a great place. The old village on top beyond the old dam is really good. My favourite bit is the lake with the massive rock overhang which acts like a waterfall. And the caves higher up.


Need to get over here next time...nice pix!


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## HistoryBuff (Nov 18, 2021)

That's impressive. Those stacked stone buildings. And there are a few there that seem similar to Mayans.


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## Hayman (Nov 19, 2021)

Angie said:


> That's impressive. Those stacked stone buildings. And there are a few there that seem similar to Mayans.


True. I have seen Inca and Mayan sites in South America, and the precision of the stonework is a marvel to behold. And that was with blocks weighing tons not a few pounds. Such dedication to 'getting it right'.


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## HistoryBuff (Nov 19, 2021)

Hayman said:


> True. I have seen Inca and Mayan sites in South America, and the precision of the stonework is a marvel to behold. And that was with blocks weighing tons not a few pounds. Such dedication to 'getting it right'.



Mayan's and all their buildings being discovered are so impressive and "how the heck did they do that"? Same with those in Egypt.


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## Hayman (Nov 20, 2021)

Angie said:


> Mayan's and all their buildings being discovered are so impressive and "how the heck did they do that"? Same with those in Egypt.


I can understand the use of very long earth ramps for the Egyptian pyramids. Perhaps something similar was used by the Incas and Mayans. Perhaps the nearest we have in the UK is Stonehenge and the ancient castles. I can imagine long earth ramps being built at Stonehenge to position the horizontal stones on the tops of the vertical ones. The early canal builders had little more than muscle power to use. By the time railways were beginning to spread, hydraulic jacks had been invented; Brunel used them to raise the main spans of the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.


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## Hayman (Jun 3, 2022)

Looking at the photos of the "little winding house", I am wondering how the drum was turned. There is no gearing or other shafts seen. Was it at one end of a wire ropeway that had the waterwheel at the other? The only mention of any power source is that waterwheel.


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## HistoryBuff (Jun 5, 2022)

Hayman said:


> Looking at the photos of the "little winding house", I am wondering how the drum was turned. There is no gearing or other shafts seen. Was it at one end of a wire ropeway that had the waterwheel at the other? The only mention of any power source is that waterwheel.


I'm so puzzled about how it worked. I stumbled upon this photo, they look a bit different but do you think they served the same purpose?


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## Hayman (Jun 5, 2022)

HistoryBuff said:


> I'm so puzzled about how it worked. I stumbled upon this photo, they look a bit different but do you think they served the same purpose?


Thanks for the Tan-y-Graig photo. I was thinking of how all manner of ropeways have unpowered ends, where the ropes pass round pulleys or drums before returning to the powered ends. Think of the aerial ropeways that carried skip buckets loaded with coal mine waste that was dumped into the sea off the northern east coast of England. If there was just the single waterwheel that powered all the site's ropeways, then return drums may have been used instead of pulleys. The Tan-y-Graig drum appears to have a brake of some sort. As to why return drums may have been preferred to return pulleys, I do not know.


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## HistoryBuff (Jun 6, 2022)

Hayman said:


> Thanks for the Tan-y-Graig photo. I was thinking of how all manner of ropeways have unpowered ends, where the ropes pass round pulleys or drums before returning to the powered ends. Think of the aerial ropeways that carried skip buckets loaded with coal mine waste that was dumped into the sea off the northern east coast of England. If there was just the single waterwheel that powered all the site's ropeways, then return drums may have been used instead of pulleys. The Tan-y-Graig drum appears to have a brake of some sort. As to why return drums may have been preferred to return pulleys, I do not know.


You're welcome. I agree with you when you said that those drums are powered by a single waterwheel. And the extra cable winding around the drum (little winding house) serves as a no-slip feature which means it probably drives another drum nearby and carries some load at the same time, hence, pulleys were not used?


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## Antar (Jun 6, 2022)

Thanks HughieD. Really enjoying these posts. Although these have already survied longer, it does remind me of how disused railway sites used to look in the 1970s and 80s before redevelopment largely obliterated them. Lets hope many former Welsh slate mines can remain in the state you've so well illustrated in perpetuity.


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## Hayman (Jun 6, 2022)

HistoryBuff said:


> You're welcome. I agree with you when you said that those drums are powered by a single waterwheel. And the extra cable winding around the drum (little winding house) serves as a no-slip feature which means it probably drives another drum nearby and carries some load at the same time, hence, pulleys were not used?


You are right about several turns of cable round a drum will act as a 'non-slip' feature; think of tug-of-war anchors winding the rope round the waist a number of times. Seeing the steel band around the centre of the drum may indicate that two separate ropes were wound around it; going off in different directions.


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## HughieD (Jun 6, 2022)

Antar said:


> Thanks HughieD. Really enjoying these posts. Although these have already survied longer, it does remind me of how disused railway sites used to look in the 1970s and 80s before redevelopment largely obliterated them. Lets hope many former Welsh slate mines can remain in the state you've so well illustrated in perpetuity.


Thank you and you are very welcome. I think now that the Nirth Wales slate quarries have UNESCO Heritage status, the future looks a lot brighter for them.


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## Gibbo (Jun 7, 2022)

There's a great programme on S4C at the moment about the quarries. It features subtitles for you Saesnegs!









S4C - Bethesda: Pobol y Chwarel


Cyfres sy'n clustfeinio ar fywydau cymeriadau yng nghymuned chwarelyddol glos Bethesda....




www.bbc.co.uk


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## HughieD (Jun 9, 2022)

Gibbo said:


> There's a great programme on S4C at the moment about the quarries. It features subtitles for you Saesnegs!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ha ha, thank you very much for the head's up. Will give that a watch.


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