3rd to 6th MAY - LONG WEEKEND AT PLAS TAN Y BWLCH
From the Editor’s Perspective
The twenty of us had a really great time. Weatherwise we had two, how shall we call it? “moist days” and two lovely days of bright sunshine. This is my account of the weekend, incorporating some visits additional to the programme.
FRIDAY Our morale was not dented by the rain, although I seemed to get trench foot by the end of day one. As we got closer the fog HAD turned into mist on the hills and mountains. As we motored along the A55 we started “spotting” the “quarry related tippers” on the road, every time we saw one that was the potential for another 20 tonnes (as they are called these days) going from quarry to site. No wonder the jetties at Llanfairfechan seem a bit derelict, lorries are so much easier these days. “Quarry to door” service, no transhipment costs. 3 Our small carload decided on visiting Sygun Copper Mine near Beddgelert.
In a car park with space for 150 cars we slotted in easily next to the only other car there. For £13.50 (Including guidebook) we proceeded on our self-guided tour, complete with a very useful hard hat which served to deflect the dripping water. There were about nine stations where you pressed a button and heard about the grim conditions the miners worked in, buying their own candles etc. The conditions were, indeed, terrible. The mine closed in 1903 when copper ore from elsewhere became cheaper.
We’d climbed 900 steps to what seemed to be the top of the mountain, and then we saw mist so the mountains and hills couldn’t be seen. And we went back down to our car. At three o clock our group continued to Llechwedd Slate Caverns, it was touch and go, did we want to pay £25 for an underground tour? Anyway, I had a casting vote and threw caution to one side and said, “let’s go”. We tramped along much bigger mine passages than the copper mine (they had a railway to make space for). Down and down we went, there seemed to be so many caverns underground.
At the end we took the funicular railway back up to the top, lots of clanking of steel doors! And surprise surprise, we ended up at the gift shop. It sold what I call “rubbish”, Welsh teddies, candles with no price on, slate coasters with a Welsh lady on with a red hat, you know the sort of thing. At just before five we continued to our convention headquarters at nearby Plas Tan Y Bwlch. The summer home of a “Slate Baron”, it was very large and very Victorian.
Fortunately, the bar opened at 6.30pm and some alcoholic beverage was taken, brewed in Porthmadog! After a rather lovely three course evening meal, we had a lecture on erm, Slate. (We were all experts by Monday lunchtime!). Our speaker was Tim, who is a volunteer at the Ffestiniog Railway. Inter alia we learned that slate is formed from volcanic dust that settles in a lagoon and is then compressed, it takes 200 million years. It was a very interesting lecture. And so to bed…….
SATURDAY
Listened to “Sounds of the Sixties” (A wireless programme on the BBC Home Service M’lud) in my room from 0600hrs. Then a rather excellent breakfast at which Edwina told us that she had had to change rooms at midnight due to an infestation of hornets coming through an open loft hatch in the ceiling. After breakfast an unscheduled visit to the nearby station where we saw a line of slate wagons, on every other one a brakesman, dressed in Victorian miner garb. And then “toot”, and it was off to the summit whence it was going to freewheel back down to the terminus at Porthmadog (might have been Minffordd). They were exercising their “Grandfather rights”. Health and Safety wouldn’t allow this sort of thing these days, but they are allowed to as they have been doing it on and off for 160 years or so.
Then off we went to Llanberis Lake railway to see the improvements made. I hadn’t been for about 20 years. Now they’ve extended the line over a bridge into downtown Llanberis. It was all very exciting. No visit to an industrial location stops me from finding the remains of a Pooley weighbridge, of course it was a diddy one for diddy loads of slate! Ken and Collette showing nearly as much pleasure as me at finding a Pooley Weighbridge. Then to the station café for a rather underwhelming cheese on toast. Ken entered the baked bean eating competition. And won it.
We then proceeded to the “National Slate Museum” (It’s a National Museum so it’s free!!!.) Excellent film from the 1950’s showing slate production (90% gets chucked, hence the huge slag heaps), then a rather good slate splitting demonstration. Anna and Jackie did it twice, it was so good. A walk around to see the largest water wheel in mainland Britain and the two foot pipe that powers it from a long way away. The water wheel works the line shafting that drove saws, lathes and slate machinery.
In one of the rooms I spotted the communication system for the man who controlled the speed of the big waterwheel. Here are the bell codes. (Which were in in English!) I was rather taken by a quarry crane labelled “Smith. Rodley” not hyphenated or comma’d but full stopped. Then I saw another rustier and more decrepit crane, a close examination of it revealed “Thomas Smith & Sons, Rodley near Leeds”. All was explained!
Excellent museum and ride on the line, the driver is also the fireman. The loco is so small that he stands outside the vehicle opens a door and reaches through to the firebox to put the coal in (Welsh this year, Columbian last year!). Then it was back to the hotel via Llanberis pass and narrow roads with big cars and buses. Another nice meal and then we had a lecture by David Gwyn on the story of how North Wales was given (or “Inscribed” as we were told) World Heritage Status. He was too humble to say, but we realised it was all his own work over many years.
SUNDAY
We headed in a North Westerly direction towards Carnarvon Airfield and a small but packed museum called “Airworld”. We saw an amazing number of old aircraft (Harrier, Vampire, Westland Whirlwind, Sea Hawk, etc) and heard their stores from the ever so helpful volunteer (we’d stopped him sanding the nose cone of an aircraft. I like a man in a boilersuit). We saw the Air Ambulance Helicopter (relocated from Anglesey where the Prince of Wales worked for a while). We were assured, because it was a bank holiday, that the mountain rescue chaps would soon be scrambled (I soon picked up the jargon) to help some hapless climber in flip flops on Snowdon, which incidentally is now called Yr Wyddfa, it’s the law!
Then we had to head south to Porthmadog and the Maritime Museum where we learned of the history of the port and how they shipped slates to many parts of the World and especially Germany (NB, only until 1914). After WW1 the harbour was virtually deserted, and grass grew on the old wharves. Then over the “river” to the busy station where we boarded our “P. Purland” reserved carriage for a trip up to Tan Y Bwlch for tea and cake in the lovely sunshine. “Quite bucolic”, remarked Ken.
Then a rather circuitous route back to the convention HQ. For most, a 25 minute journey, but for me nearly two hours due to navigation error. But we had another nice meal in the hotel and the quiz followed. But just before that we had a short PowerPoint talk on “The National Gallery in Wartime” where we learned that paintings from the National Gallery were sent in 1939 to North Wales, firstly Carnarvon Castle and Penrhyn Castle but later all moved to a secret slate mine, but three miles from our hotel.
Renie recalled visiting the place twenty-five years before on an earlier LWE. (It rained a lot then too!). Then the quiz, which covered many of the places we had visited in the previous three days. The well-deserved winner of the trophy and bottle of scotch was Peter Purland. But everyone got a prize, so no one was left out. Peter receiving his trophy from the Quizmaster.
MONDAY
We drove in wonderful sunshine down to Boston Lodge, the Ffestiniog Railway’s depot. Our guide, Julie, was passionate about the railway, she’d worked her way up from being a volunteer cleaner to driver and now worked in the office in a paid position. She was joined (and she seemed slightly phased) by the sudden appearance of the General Manager of the whole “shebang”, Paul Lewin. He was so nice; he too was an expert and full of information and you could see had a total grip of the whys and wherefore of heritage narrow gauge railways in Wales.
Andrew asked some brilliant questions about tourism etc. I was thrilled to see the carriage workshops where they were making laminated curved roof ribs (just like I’d make on a tram!) and we also saw the paint shop and a volunteer coach painter putting varnish onto a rather beautiful carriage. And so we stumbled back to our cars saying what a wonderful a weekend had been and then I would think most of us got stuck in a very long queue on the A55, there had been a crash. It reminded me of the 1970s when we used to queue at Bangor, Llandudno Junction and Conway in our little cars overheating. And home by half five for a cup of tea. It was a great weekend, well done Pete and those who helped him.
From the Editor’s Perspective
The twenty of us had a really great time. Weatherwise we had two, how shall we call it? “moist days” and two lovely days of bright sunshine. This is my account of the weekend, incorporating some visits additional to the programme.
FRIDAY Our morale was not dented by the rain, although I seemed to get trench foot by the end of day one. As we got closer the fog HAD turned into mist on the hills and mountains. As we motored along the A55 we started “spotting” the “quarry related tippers” on the road, every time we saw one that was the potential for another 20 tonnes (as they are called these days) going from quarry to site. No wonder the jetties at Llanfairfechan seem a bit derelict, lorries are so much easier these days. “Quarry to door” service, no transhipment costs. 3 Our small carload decided on visiting Sygun Copper Mine near Beddgelert.
In a car park with space for 150 cars we slotted in easily next to the only other car there. For £13.50 (Including guidebook) we proceeded on our self-guided tour, complete with a very useful hard hat which served to deflect the dripping water. There were about nine stations where you pressed a button and heard about the grim conditions the miners worked in, buying their own candles etc. The conditions were, indeed, terrible. The mine closed in 1903 when copper ore from elsewhere became cheaper.
We’d climbed 900 steps to what seemed to be the top of the mountain, and then we saw mist so the mountains and hills couldn’t be seen. And we went back down to our car. At three o clock our group continued to Llechwedd Slate Caverns, it was touch and go, did we want to pay £25 for an underground tour? Anyway, I had a casting vote and threw caution to one side and said, “let’s go”. We tramped along much bigger mine passages than the copper mine (they had a railway to make space for). Down and down we went, there seemed to be so many caverns underground.
At the end we took the funicular railway back up to the top, lots of clanking of steel doors! And surprise surprise, we ended up at the gift shop. It sold what I call “rubbish”, Welsh teddies, candles with no price on, slate coasters with a Welsh lady on with a red hat, you know the sort of thing. At just before five we continued to our convention headquarters at nearby Plas Tan Y Bwlch. The summer home of a “Slate Baron”, it was very large and very Victorian.
Fortunately, the bar opened at 6.30pm and some alcoholic beverage was taken, brewed in Porthmadog! After a rather lovely three course evening meal, we had a lecture on erm, Slate. (We were all experts by Monday lunchtime!). Our speaker was Tim, who is a volunteer at the Ffestiniog Railway. Inter alia we learned that slate is formed from volcanic dust that settles in a lagoon and is then compressed, it takes 200 million years. It was a very interesting lecture. And so to bed…….
SATURDAY
Listened to “Sounds of the Sixties” (A wireless programme on the BBC Home Service M’lud) in my room from 0600hrs. Then a rather excellent breakfast at which Edwina told us that she had had to change rooms at midnight due to an infestation of hornets coming through an open loft hatch in the ceiling. After breakfast an unscheduled visit to the nearby station where we saw a line of slate wagons, on every other one a brakesman, dressed in Victorian miner garb. And then “toot”, and it was off to the summit whence it was going to freewheel back down to the terminus at Porthmadog (might have been Minffordd). They were exercising their “Grandfather rights”. Health and Safety wouldn’t allow this sort of thing these days, but they are allowed to as they have been doing it on and off for 160 years or so.
Then off we went to Llanberis Lake railway to see the improvements made. I hadn’t been for about 20 years. Now they’ve extended the line over a bridge into downtown Llanberis. It was all very exciting. No visit to an industrial location stops me from finding the remains of a Pooley weighbridge, of course it was a diddy one for diddy loads of slate! Ken and Collette showing nearly as much pleasure as me at finding a Pooley Weighbridge. Then to the station café for a rather underwhelming cheese on toast. Ken entered the baked bean eating competition. And won it.
We then proceeded to the “National Slate Museum” (It’s a National Museum so it’s free!!!.) Excellent film from the 1950’s showing slate production (90% gets chucked, hence the huge slag heaps), then a rather good slate splitting demonstration. Anna and Jackie did it twice, it was so good. A walk around to see the largest water wheel in mainland Britain and the two foot pipe that powers it from a long way away. The water wheel works the line shafting that drove saws, lathes and slate machinery.
In one of the rooms I spotted the communication system for the man who controlled the speed of the big waterwheel. Here are the bell codes. (Which were in in English!) I was rather taken by a quarry crane labelled “Smith. Rodley” not hyphenated or comma’d but full stopped. Then I saw another rustier and more decrepit crane, a close examination of it revealed “Thomas Smith & Sons, Rodley near Leeds”. All was explained!
Excellent museum and ride on the line, the driver is also the fireman. The loco is so small that he stands outside the vehicle opens a door and reaches through to the firebox to put the coal in (Welsh this year, Columbian last year!). Then it was back to the hotel via Llanberis pass and narrow roads with big cars and buses. Another nice meal and then we had a lecture by David Gwyn on the story of how North Wales was given (or “Inscribed” as we were told) World Heritage Status. He was too humble to say, but we realised it was all his own work over many years.
SUNDAY
We headed in a North Westerly direction towards Carnarvon Airfield and a small but packed museum called “Airworld”. We saw an amazing number of old aircraft (Harrier, Vampire, Westland Whirlwind, Sea Hawk, etc) and heard their stores from the ever so helpful volunteer (we’d stopped him sanding the nose cone of an aircraft. I like a man in a boilersuit). We saw the Air Ambulance Helicopter (relocated from Anglesey where the Prince of Wales worked for a while). We were assured, because it was a bank holiday, that the mountain rescue chaps would soon be scrambled (I soon picked up the jargon) to help some hapless climber in flip flops on Snowdon, which incidentally is now called Yr Wyddfa, it’s the law!
Then we had to head south to Porthmadog and the Maritime Museum where we learned of the history of the port and how they shipped slates to many parts of the World and especially Germany (NB, only until 1914). After WW1 the harbour was virtually deserted, and grass grew on the old wharves. Then over the “river” to the busy station where we boarded our “P. Purland” reserved carriage for a trip up to Tan Y Bwlch for tea and cake in the lovely sunshine. “Quite bucolic”, remarked Ken.
Then a rather circuitous route back to the convention HQ. For most, a 25 minute journey, but for me nearly two hours due to navigation error. But we had another nice meal in the hotel and the quiz followed. But just before that we had a short PowerPoint talk on “The National Gallery in Wartime” where we learned that paintings from the National Gallery were sent in 1939 to North Wales, firstly Carnarvon Castle and Penrhyn Castle but later all moved to a secret slate mine, but three miles from our hotel.
Renie recalled visiting the place twenty-five years before on an earlier LWE. (It rained a lot then too!). Then the quiz, which covered many of the places we had visited in the previous three days. The well-deserved winner of the trophy and bottle of scotch was Peter Purland. But everyone got a prize, so no one was left out. Peter receiving his trophy from the Quizmaster.
MONDAY
We drove in wonderful sunshine down to Boston Lodge, the Ffestiniog Railway’s depot. Our guide, Julie, was passionate about the railway, she’d worked her way up from being a volunteer cleaner to driver and now worked in the office in a paid position. She was joined (and she seemed slightly phased) by the sudden appearance of the General Manager of the whole “shebang”, Paul Lewin. He was so nice; he too was an expert and full of information and you could see had a total grip of the whys and wherefore of heritage narrow gauge railways in Wales.
Andrew asked some brilliant questions about tourism etc. I was thrilled to see the carriage workshops where they were making laminated curved roof ribs (just like I’d make on a tram!) and we also saw the paint shop and a volunteer coach painter putting varnish onto a rather beautiful carriage. And so we stumbled back to our cars saying what a wonderful a weekend had been and then I would think most of us got stuck in a very long queue on the A55, there had been a crash. It reminded me of the 1970s when we used to queue at Bangor, Llandudno Junction and Conway in our little cars overheating. And home by half five for a cup of tea. It was a great weekend, well done Pete and those who helped him.
