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Hi All
What better way to spend a hot sunny day in Wales than underground in a damp wet quarry.
Ratgoed quarry in mid wales is a massive site with 8 underground levels (you need SRT to get to all of them)
flooded tunnels, massive caverns and bloody great death drops - heaven.
History:-
The original workings at Ratgoed date back to before 1840 the quarry closed open and then closed again.
The quarry continued to run profitably through 1878, but in 1879 slate prices dropped throughout the industry and small, remote concerns like Ratgoed suffered in the downturn. The quarry continued production in the 1880s but at a reduced annual output. Fortunes revived in the early 1890s but towards the end of the century the accessible supplies of more profitable roofing slates at Ratgoed were running dry and the owners attempted to sell the business in 1897. By 1900 the remaining workforce was dismissed.
The quarry struggled on after the war. In 1924 the local company of Hall Harber & Thomas Ltd. purchased Ratgoed. They also owned the Llwyngwern quarry about 5 miles (8 km) to the south. Initially the new company doubled the workforce, but this declined steadily through the late 1920s. In 1930, control of the quarry returned to the Lewis family who had owned it prior to 1924.
The quarry struggled on through the 1930s and the years of the Second World War, but in 1946 the quarry finally shut for good.
Tunnel porn time.............
Entrance to Adit 8
That`s just a warm up for what is to come when you start looking for the "good" stuff.
After a good old mooch we found the entrance to Adit 5
One of the massive chamber along Adit 5
You know there is going to be one f*** off drop when the cave boys put up a wire fence.
Arty back lit goodness
Well that will do for now, I`ll add a new post with some of the surface bits and bobs later.
if you want to see more (and you know you do) head over to my FlickR page at:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/newage2/albums/72157690967663400
Thanks for looking, all comments are most welcome.
Cheers Newage
What better way to spend a hot sunny day in Wales than underground in a damp wet quarry.
Ratgoed quarry in mid wales is a massive site with 8 underground levels (you need SRT to get to all of them)
flooded tunnels, massive caverns and bloody great death drops - heaven.
History:-
The original workings at Ratgoed date back to before 1840 the quarry closed open and then closed again.
The quarry continued to run profitably through 1878, but in 1879 slate prices dropped throughout the industry and small, remote concerns like Ratgoed suffered in the downturn. The quarry continued production in the 1880s but at a reduced annual output. Fortunes revived in the early 1890s but towards the end of the century the accessible supplies of more profitable roofing slates at Ratgoed were running dry and the owners attempted to sell the business in 1897. By 1900 the remaining workforce was dismissed.
The quarry struggled on after the war. In 1924 the local company of Hall Harber & Thomas Ltd. purchased Ratgoed. They also owned the Llwyngwern quarry about 5 miles (8 km) to the south. Initially the new company doubled the workforce, but this declined steadily through the late 1920s. In 1930, control of the quarry returned to the Lewis family who had owned it prior to 1924.
The quarry struggled on through the 1930s and the years of the Second World War, but in 1946 the quarry finally shut for good.
Tunnel porn time.............
Entrance to Adit 8
That`s just a warm up for what is to come when you start looking for the "good" stuff.
After a good old mooch we found the entrance to Adit 5
One of the massive chamber along Adit 5
You know there is going to be one f*** off drop when the cave boys put up a wire fence.
Arty back lit goodness
Well that will do for now, I`ll add a new post with some of the surface bits and bobs later.
if you want to see more (and you know you do) head over to my FlickR page at:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/newage2/albums/72157690967663400
Thanks for looking, all comments are most welcome.
Cheers Newage
