Dinorwic Quarry
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The Dinorwic Slate Quarry is a large slate quarry located between the town of Llanberis and the village of Dinorwig in north Wales. It was the second largest producer of slate in Wales after the Penrhyn Quarry.
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[edit] History
The first commercial attempts at slate mining took place in 1787, when a private partnership obtained a lease from the landowner, Assheton Smith. Although this met with moderate success, the outbreak of war with France, taxes and transportation costs limited the development of the quarry. A new business partnership led by Assheton Smith himself was formed on the expiry of the lease in 1809 and the business boomed after the construction of a horse-drawn tramway to Port Dinorwig in 1824. At its peak in the late 1800s, Dinorwig employed over 3,000 men, and continued production until 1969.
[edit] Transportation
The 4 ft (1219 mm) gauge Padarn Railway connected the quarry to Port Dinorwic on the coast. Internally the quarry used an extensive system of 1 ft 103⁄4 in (578 mm) gauge railways serving the mills and quarries.
[edit] Closure
The quarry closed in 1969.
[edit] After closure
Following closure the quarry's workshop, Gilfach Ddu was acquired by the National Museum of Wales and now houses the Welsh Slate Museum. Equipment from the internal quarry railway was used to build the Llanberis Lake Railway over part of the trackbed of the Padarn Railway.
The quarry has been partly reused as part of the Dinorwig power station pumped storage hydroelectric power station.
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