Deeside and Moelfferna quarries

Last updated

Deeside and Moelfferna
An overpass leading to a waste tip at deeside Quarry - geograph.org.uk - 484997.jpg
Tipping tramway in Deeside quarry
Location
Denbighshire UK location map.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Deeside and Moelfferna
Location in Denbighshire
Locationnear Glyndyfrdwy
County Merionethshire (now Denbighshire)
Country Wales, UK
Coordinates 52°57′08″N3°17′30″W / 52.95222°N 3.29167°W / 52.95222; -3.29167
SJ 132 402
Production
Products Slate
Type Quarry
History
Opened1870 (1870) (Deeside quarry)
1876 (Moelfferna quarry)
Closed1947 (1947)
Railways
Technical
Track gauge 2 ft (610 mm) (in quarries); [1]
2 ft 7 in (787 mm) (main) [1]

The Deeside and Moelfferna quarries were neighbouring slate quarries, near Glyndyfrdwy in North Wales. They were both operated by the same company throughout their history, and were both connected by the Deeside Tramway to the Llangollen and Corwen Railway.

Contents

History

Early working: 1870–1900

The original owner of the Deeside quarry was the 1870 Dee Side Slate and Slab Quarry Ltd. [2] The company was sold in 1875. [3]

In 1876, the Moelferna and Dee Side Slate and Slab Quarries Company was formed to purchase both the Deeside quarry and the Moelfferna quarry. [4]

In 1885, the quarries supplied a large slab cistern to the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. The tank measured 50 feet (15 m) by 8 feet (2.4 m) by 5 feet (1.5 m) and was believed to be one of the largest stone tank built at the time. [5]

Accidents: 1900–1915

In 1907 there was a serious accident at the quarry. Edward Rowlands was riding on a loaded slate wagon that was sent down from the Deeside quarry to the head of the incline down to Glyndyfrdwy. Rowlands was on the first wagon of a sequence of four, with the quarry manager Richard Roberts following in a second loaded wagon. The brake failed on the fourth wagon and it gathered speed; the quarryman leapt from the wagon and shouted a warning to the men ahead. The quarryman on the third wagon also jumped free, and the two out-of-control wagons collided with Robert's wagon. He jumped, but sustained serious injuries. The three wagons then hit Rowlands' wagon, derailing all four wagons and causing Rowlands fatal injuries to the lower body. [6]

In 1915, two men, Robert Jones and John Lloyd, were crushed by an unexpected rockfall, weighing 100 tons, in the quarry. [7]

Decline and closure: 1918–1947

After the First World War, the chairman of the company was Percy Dean, who was the MP for Blackburn. [8]

The Deeside quarry ceased working in the 1920s, but the Deeside slate works continued in production using slate from Moelfferna quarry. The enterprise closed in 1947. [9] [10]

Transport

The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge Deeside Tramway connected the two quarries to the Deeside Slate Works and on down to the transhipment wharf at Glyndyfrdwy. The tramway originally ran between the slate works and Deeside quarry, before being extended in the late 1870s down to the wharf.

Geology

Several beds of Ordovician shales and mudstones run across Mid Wales, from Tywyn in the south-west to Chirk in the north-east. At various points along this band, these sedimentary rocks have undergone compression and metamorphosis into slate.

The Pen-y-glog slate veins on the southern slopes of the Dee valley are worked by the quarries. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narrow Gauge Railway Museum</span> Railway museum in Gwynedd, Wales

The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow-gauge railways situated at the Tywyn Wharf station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Dee, Wales</span> River in Wales and England

The River Dee is a river flowing through North Wales, and through Cheshire, England, in Great Britain. The length of the main section from Bala to Chester is 113 km and it is largely located in Wales. The stretch between Aldford and Chester is within England, and two other sections form the border between the two countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corwen</span> Town in Denbighshire, Wales

Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen was part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated 10 miles (16 km) west of Llangollen and 13 miles (21 km) south of Ruthin. At the 2011 Census, Corwen had a population of 2,325, decreasing slightly from the 2001 population of 2,398, The community, with an area of 69.51 km2 (26.84 sq mi), includes Corwen and the surrounding villages of Carrog, Clawdd Poncen and Glyndyfrdwy. The Office for National Statistics identifies Corwen Built-up area with a 2011 population of 477 and an area of 0.25 km2 (0.097 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llangollen Railway</span> Heritage steam railway in North Wales that follows the old Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route

The Llangollen Railway is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, North Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen. The standard gauge line, which is 10 miles (16 km) long, runs on part of the former Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route that closed in 1965. It operates daily services in the summer as well as weekends throughout the winter months, using a variety of mainly ex-GWR steam locomotives as well as several diesel engines and diesel multiple units. A 2+12 miles (4 km) extension of the railway has been built to complete the line to Corwen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glyndyfrdwy</span> Village in Denbighshire, Wales

Glyndyfrdwy, or sometimes Glyn Dyfrdwy, is a village in the modern county of Denbighshire, Wales. It is situated on the A5 road halfway between Corwen and Llangollen in the Dee Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braichgoch slate mine</span> Former mine in Wales

Braichgoch slate mine was a large slate mine located in Corris Uchaf, north Wales. It operated continuously from 1787 until its closure in 1970, apart from a hiatus in the 1900s. Most of the surface workings of the quarry were removed as part of a road widening and landscaping scheme in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorseddau Tramway</span> Defunct railway in North Wales

The Gorseddau Tramway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railway built in Wales in 1856 to link the slate quarries around Gorseddau with the wharves at Porthmadog. It was an early forerunner of the Gorseddau Junction and Portmadoc Railway and subsequently the Welsh Highland Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendre-Ddu Tramway</span> Defunct narrow gauge railway in Wales

The Hendre-Ddu Tramway was a 1 ft 11 in narrow gauge industrial railway built in 1874 in Mid-Wales to connect the Hendre-Ddu slate quarry to Aberangell station on the Mawddwy Railway. It consisted of a main line 3+12 miles (5.6 km) long and several branch lines and spurs serving other quarries, local farms and the timber industry.

The Ruabon–Barmouth line was a standard-gauge line owned by the Great Western Railway across the north of Wales which connected Ruabon, in the east, with Barmouth on the west coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eglwyseg</span> Valley in Wales

The Eglwyseg valley is an area to the north east of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales; it is within the boundaries of Llantysilio Community. The name also refers to a widely scattered hamlet in the valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deeside Tramway</span>

The Deeside Tramway was a gravity and horse-worked, 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge industrial railway connecting the slate workings on the Dee valley with the main road at Glyndyfrdwy and later the Great Western Railway's Ruabon-Dolgellau railway. It was one of the last tramways in regular use to use wooden rails covered in iron sheaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corwen F.C.</span> Association football club in Wales

Corwen F.C. is a Welsh football club based in Corwen, Denbighshire. They currently play in the North East Wales Football League Premier Division, which is at tier four of the Welsh football pyramid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car gwyllt</span> Welsh mining invention

The car gwyllt is a Welsh invention used by quarrymen to ride downhill on the steep inclined planes of a slate quarry.

Townshend Mainwaring was a British Conservative Party politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abercwmeiddaw quarry</span> Former Welsh slate quarry

The Abercwmeiddaw quarry was a slate quarry that operated between the 1840s and 1938. It was located at Corris Uchaf about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Machynlleth, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The quarry was connected to the Corris Railway via the Upper Corris Tramway which carried its products to the Cambrian Railways at Machynlleth for distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cwm Ebol quarry</span> Former slate quarry near Pennal, in Merionethshire, Wales, UK

The Cwm Ebol quarry was a slate quarry about 1 mile (1.6 km) north west of the village of Pennal in Mid Wales. It operated from about 1860 to about 1906. It was the last Welsh slate quarry connected only to a trans-shipment point instead of directly to a railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantdreiniog quarry</span> Former quarry in Wales

The Pantdreiniog quarry was a slate quarry within the town of Bethesda in North Wales. It was worked between about 1825 and 1923. It played a significant part in the Penrhyn Great Strike, Britain's longest industrial dispute.

Frongoch slate quarry was a slate quarry and mine in Mid Wales, approximately halfway between Aberdyfi and Pennal. The quarry was named after a nearby farm of the same name. 'Fron goch' is Welsh for 'Red breast'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clwydian Range and Dee Valley</span> Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wales

The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) located in north-east Wales, covering the Clwydian Range, and the valley of the River Dee.

Oernant Tramway refers to a horse-drawn tramway which connected slate quarries located to the North-West of Llangollen with the Pentrefelin canal wharves at Llantysilio. It is simply referred to as "the tramway" in contemporary publications and appears to have been entirely owned by the Llangollen Slate and Slab Company. The tramway was built in the 1850s, reaching a maximum length approaching seven miles by 1857, and was used until about 1892. It had gravity-worked inclines, and was horse drawn on the level sections.

References

  1. 1 2 Boyd, James I.C. (1970) [1965]. Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid-Wales. The British Narrow Gauge Railway (2nd ed.). Lingfield, Surrey: The Oakwood Press. ISBN   978-0-85361-024-3. OCLC   499283322. No.3.
  2. The Railway News. 1870. p. 671.
  3. "Advertising". Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal. 10 September 1875. hdl:10107/3288230.
  4. "Local Items". The Aberystwith Observer. 3 June 1876. hdl:10107/3040819.
  5. "ST ASAPH". Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal. 23 January 1885. hdl:10107/3290629.
  6. "Quarry Fatality". Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal. 16 August 1907. hdl:10107/3178020.
  7. "Corwen". The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard. 15 January 1915. hdl:10107/3412644.
  8. Annual Register. J. Dodsley. 1940.
  9. "Deeside Slab Quarry;deeside Slate Quarry (308670)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  10. Richards, Alun John (2001). The Slate Railways of Wales. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. p. 182. ISBN   0-86381-689-4.
  11. "Field Work". Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and the Museum of Practical Geology. London: Geological Survey of Great Britain, and Museum of Practical Geology (Great Britain): 10–11. 1912.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Deeside and Moelfferna quarries at Wikimedia Commons