Cymerau quarry

Last updated

Cymerau
Cwm Ratgoed - geograph.org.uk - 1011296.jpg
View of Cwm Ratgoed on 18 October 2008; the northern workings of Cymerau are in the middle distance, and the trackbed of the former Ratgoed Tramway passes below
Location
Gwynedd UK location map.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Cymerau
Location in Gwynedd
Locationnear Aberllefenni
County Merioneth (now Gwynedd)
Country Wales, UK
Coordinates 52°41′06″N3°48′50″W / 52.68500°N 3.8140°W / 52.68500; -3.8140 Coordinates: 52°41′06″N3°48′50″W / 52.68500°N 3.8140°W / 52.68500; -3.8140
grid reference SH 768 102
Production
Products Slate
Type Quarry
History
Openedc.1860 (1860) (southern quarry);
c.1880 (northern quarry)
Activec.18601914; 1918October 1946
ClosedOctober 1946 (October 1946) (both quarries)
Map of the area north of Aberllefenni, showing Cymerau quarry Map of Ratgoed Tramway.svg
Map of the area north of Aberllefenni, showing Cymerau quarry

Cymerau quarry was a slate quarry served by the Ratgoed Tramway, a horse-worked section of the Corris Railway. It is located about half a mile north of Aberllefenni in Merioneth (now Gwynedd), North Wales, on the eastern side of the isolated Cwm Ceiswyn. It worked the Narrow Vein, the highest-quality slate vein in the Abercorris Group.

Contents

History

Early years

Cymerau was started around 1860, following the success of the earlier Ratgoed quarry to the north. Slate was extracted from five underground chambers which were below the water table and were pumped using a waterwheel. [1]

In 1864 the Ratgoed Tramway opened, a 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge horse-worked tramway which connected the Ratgoed and Cymerau quarries with the newly opened Corris Railway at Aberllefenni. This prompted significant expansion work at the quarry. In 1878, the quarry was owned by H. R. Hughes and his nephew. [2]

Second quarry

A second quarry was opened around 1880 between the original Cymerau workings and Ratgoed. This was a series of surface pits, connected to the Ratgoed Tramway by an incline. Slate was taken down to the mill at the southern site for processing. [1]

Cymerau had several private wagons which it used to haul slate along the Ratgoed Tramway and on down the Corris Railway to Machynlleth. [3]

At its peak the quarry employed over 100 men. [4]

The First World War to closure

Cymerau and Ratgoed were worked as a single operation immediately before the First World War. [5] Both quarries closed down during the First World War.

Cymerau re-opened on a smaller scale after the conflict, owned by the Inigo Jones company of Groeslon. In 1921 it produced just three tons of finished slab, [6] and employed only three men. Fortunes improved modestly during the 1920s, reaching a peak employment of 14 men in 1927. [7]

Slab from the quarry was roughly shaped and planed in the Cymerau Mill, before being shipped out by the Ratgoed Tramway to Aberllefenni, then the Corris Railway to Machynlleth, before being transferred to the main line and shipped to Groeslon for finishing and enamelling.

Cymerau continued its limited production during the 1930s. By the outbreak of the Second World War the quarry was down to just 6 men employed. It continued to produce through the war years, but finally closed in October 1946. [7]

Related Research Articles

Corris Railway

The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales.

Aberllefenni quarries

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.

Aberllefenni Human settlement in Wales

Aberllefenni is a village in the south of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies in the historic county of Merionethshire/Sir Feirionnydd, in the valley of the Afon Dulas, and in the community of Corris.

Ratgoed quarry was the northernmost of the slate quarries served by the Corris Railway. It is one mile north of Aberllefenni in Gwynedd, north Wales, on the western side of Mynydd Llwydiarth. The quarry primarily worked the Narrow Vein, though it also produced some Broad Vein slates.

Braichgoch slate mine Former mine in Wales

Braichgoch slate mine was a large slate mine located in Corris Uchaf, north Wales. It was worked continuously from 1787 until 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.

Bryn Eglwys quarry Disused slate quarry in north Wales

Bryn Eglwys quarry was a slate quarry and mine located near Abergynolwyn, in Gwynedd, Wales. More than 300 men worked at the site, making it the principal employer in the area. Two veins of slate, known as the Broad Vein and the Narrow Vein, were worked. The geology continues eastwards towards Corris and Dinas Mawddwy, and westwards towards Tywyn. It was one of many quarries in Mid Wales that worked these veins.

Hendre-Ddu Tramway Defunct narrow gauge railway in Wales

The Hendre-Ddu Tramway was a 2 ft narrow gauge industrial railway built in 1867 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.

Abercorris quarry

The Abercorris quarry was a slate quarry worked between the mid-1840s and the early 1950s. It was located at Corris Uchaf about 5 miles 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. It worked the Narrow Vein.

Derwenlas Human settlement in Wales

Derwenlas is a hamlet in northern Powys, Wales. It is part of the community of Cadfarch.

The Mawddwy Railway was a rural line in the Dyfi Valley in mid-Wales that connected Dinas Mawddwy with a junction at Cemmaes Road railway station on the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway section of the Cambrian Railways.

<i>Edward Thomas</i> (locomotive)

Edward Thomas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Built by Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. at the California Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1921, it was delivered new to the Corris Railway where it ran until 1948. After that railway closed, the locomotive was brought to the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, then restored, and remains in working order at the heritage railway. It has carried the operating number 4 under four successive owners.

Ratgoed Tramway

The Ratgoed Tramway was a 2 ft 3 in gauge horse-worked tramway that connected the remote Ratgoed Quarry with the Corris Railway at Aberllefenni. It was 1.75 miles (2.82 km) long.

Nant Ceiswyn River in Mid Wales

The Nant Ceiswyn is a small river in Mid Wales. It flows from the northern flank of Mynydd Dolgoed down to Pont Cymerau, north-east of Aberllefenni. Here it joins the Nant Llwydiarth to form the Afon Dulas that flows south to the Afon Dyfi. There was an ancient bridge at Pont Cymerau.

The Upper Corris Tramway was a 2 ft 3 in gauge horse-worked tramway that connected the slate quarries around the villages of Corris and Corris Uchaf with the Corris Railway at Maespoeth Junction. It was just over 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long.

Abercwmeiddaw quarry 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.

Llwyngwern quarry

The Llwyngwern quarry was a slate quarry in Wales that opened by 1828 and continued working until about 1950. The quarry is located on the western flank of Mynydd Llwyn-gwern.

Cambergi quarry

Cambergi quarry was a slate quarry in Cwm Hengae, west of Aberllefenni. It operated between 1873 and about 1895.

Broad Vein Mudstone Formation

The Broad Vein Mudstone Formation is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is silty mudstone, intensely bioturbated in places. It varies in colour from a pale to a medium blue. This formation has been commercially quarried as slate in several locations along its length. The formation is between 400 metres (1,300 ft) and 560 metres (1,840 ft) thick and runs from Dinas Mawddwy south-west to Cardigan Bay at Tywyn.

Narrow Vein Mudstone Formation

The Narrow Vein Mudstone Formation is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is silty, homogenous or finely-laminated mudstone. It generally a medium blue colour. This formation has been commercially quarried as slate in several locations along its length. The formation is between 400 metres (1,300 ft) and 560 metres (1,840 ft) thick and runs from Dinas Mawddwy south-west to Cardigan Bay at Tywyn.

Cwm Ebol quarry Former quarry in Wales

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.

References

  1. 1 2 Richards, Alun John (1999). The Slate Regions of North and Mid Wales and Their Railways. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN   0-86381-552-9.
  2. Great Britain Parliament (1879). Reports from Commissioners. HMRS.
  3. Boyd, James I. C. (1965). Narrow gauge railways in mid-Wales. Oakwood Press.
  4. Collections Historical & Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire. The Club. 1915.
  5. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1907). Parliamentary Papers: 1850-1908. H.M. Stationery Office. pp. 184–.
  6. List of mines in Great Britain and the Isle of Man. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1921.
  7. 1 2 Eade, Sara (2010). Ratgoed: A Study in Slate. Newtown: Imprint Design & Print. ISBN   978-0-9565652-0-4.