Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, building pipelines and road building.
Snowdonia or Eryri is a mountainous region and national park in northwestern Wales.
The Ffestiniog Railway is a heritage railway based on 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 at the peak development of the slate industry, but fell with the decline in demand for slate. The population of the community, including the nearby village Llan Ffestiniog, was 4,875 in the 2011 census: the fourth most populous in Gwynedd after Bangor, Caernarfon and Llandeiniolen. The population not including Llan is now only about 4,000.
Porthmadog, originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies 5 miles (8 km) east of Criccieth, 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Blaenau Ffestiniog, 25 miles (40 km) north of Dolgellau and 20 miles (32 km) south of Caernarfon. The community population of 4,185 in the 2011 census was put at 4,134 in 2019. It grew in the 19th century as a port for local slate, but as the trade declined, it continued as a shopping and tourism centre, being close to Snowdonia National Park and the Ffestiniog Railway. The 1987 National Eisteddfod was held there. It includes nearby Borth-y-Gest, Morfa Bychan and Tremadog.
Merionethshire or Merioneth is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.
Dolwyddelan is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The community occupies most of the valley of the Afon Lledr and comprises Dolwyddelan and Pentre Bont and the hamlets of Blaenau Dolwyddelan and Pont-y-Pant. It lies within Snowdonia, and the surrounding hills are part of the Moelwynion range. The population of the community was recorded as 454 in the 2021 census, and in the 2011 census the proportion of Welsh speakers was recorded as 50.8%.
The Conwy Valley line is a railway line in north-west Wales. It runs from Llandudno via Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and was originally part of the London and North Western Railway, being opened in stages to 1879. The primary purpose of the line was to carry slate from the Ffestiniog quarries to a specially built quay at Deganwy for export by sea. The line also provided goods facilities for the market town of Llanrwst, and via the extensive facilities at Betws-y-Coed on the London to Holyhead A5 turnpike road it served many isolated communities in Snowdonia and also the developing tourist industry. Although only a little over 27 miles (43 km) between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog, the journey takes over one hour, largely due to the sinuous and steeply graded nature of the route taken. Most of the stations along the line are treated as request stops.
Pontneddfechan, also known as Pontneathvaughan is a village in Powys, Wales. It is the southernmost village in the historic county of Brecknockshire, within the Vale of Neath and in the community of Ystradfellte. It stands at the confluence of the rivers Mellte and Nedd Fechan and gives access to a series of waterfalls that adorn the upper Neath valley. Dinas Rock is a quarried limestone promontory east of the village, popular with visitors.
Aberllefenni quarry is the collective name of three slate quarries, Foel Grochan, Hen Gloddfa and Ceunant Ddu, located in Cwm Hengae, just to the west of Aberllefenni, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was the longest continually operated slate mine in the world until its closure in 2003. Foel Grochan is the quarry on the north side of the valley, facing Ceunant Ddu and Hen Gloddfa on the south; all three were worked as a single concern throughout their history. Rock was mainly extracted underground, though all three quarries had open pits as well.
The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then rapidly during the Industrial Revolution in Wales until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in northwest Wales. These sites included the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda, the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis, the Nantlle Valley quarries, and Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the slate was mined rather than quarried. Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in the world. Slate is mainly used for roofing, but is also produced as thicker slab for a variety of uses including flooring, worktops and headstones.
The Pwllheli and Llanbedrog Tramway was a 3 ft narrow gauge horse tramway on the coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in North West Wales, UK. It was originally constructed to convey building stone from Carreg-y-Defaid to Pwllheli's West End, with a second element to run between Pwllheli town centre and the West End resort on the seafront. The two were later connected, and extended to Llanbedrog in July 1897. The tramway was one of many developed by Solomon Andrews.
Tan-y-Manod railway station was a railway station approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Blaenau Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Craig yr Aderyn, also known as Bird's Rock, is a hill rising to a height of 258 metres (846 ft) above sea level on the south bank of the River Dysynni near Llanfihangel-y-Pennant in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Craig yr Aderyn has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the choughs and other birds that breed there.
Cwm-y-glo is a small village in Wales, 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) east of Caernarfon, between Llanberis and Llanrug. It is in the Arfon Parliamentary constituency, the community of Llanrug, and the Gwynedd Council electoral ward. Cwm-y-glo ward includes Ceunant and Pont-rug and has a population of around 1,000.
Graig Ddu quarry is a disused slate quarry near Blaenau Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, North Wales. Although output was only about 3,000 tons a year, it reputedly has 36 saw tables and the same number of dressing machines on site. As with others in the area, the quarry suffered from a lack of water, resulting in the siting of the mill some distance away, at a lower level.
Llanfihangel-y-traethau was a parish in Ardudwy, Gwynedd, north-west Wales centred on a church of the same name in the village of Ynys. The original parish church was built in the 12th century on a tidal island. Later the land rose and connected the island to the mainland. Today it is part of the Bro Ardudwy ministry area, which includes Harlech, a few miles (kilometres) to the southwest, and Barmouth. The church has a window depicting Saint Tecwyn and is the start of the Saint Tecwyn's Way, a pilgrimage route ending at Saint Tecwyn's church in Llandecwyn.
Parc Quarry was a compact underground slate quarry in the Croesor Valley, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was connected to the Croesor Tramway, which ran through the valley. The quarry concentrated on producing specialist slate products, rather than roofing slates, and was managed for much of the time by the innovator Moses Kellow. It operated for about 50 years, from 1870 to 1920.
The Penmachno quarry was a slate quarry near Cwm Penmachno, Conwy, North Wales. It was directly below the Rhiwbach Quarry. It was worked between 1818 and 1962.
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.
