Dinorwic Quarry

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Vivian quarry, part of the Dinorwic Quarry

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 slate quarry in Wales, indeed in the world, after the neighbouring Penrhyn Quarry.^[1]

1 History
2 Transportation
- 2.1 Steam locomotives used in the Quarry
3 Slate Removal
4 Closure
5 Marchlyn quarry
6 After closure
7 See also
8 References

[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, 'when it was producing an annual oucome of 100,00 tonnes' Dinorwig employed over 3,000 men and was the second largest opencast slate producer in the country. 'Although by 1930 it's working employment had dropped to 2,000, it kept a steady 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.

Between 1935 and 1949 the Quarry acquired 22 light internal combustion rail tractors for use on the levels. Half of these were new, the other half second-hand. Their survival rate did not match those of the steam locomotives, and when the quarry closed in 1969 only 3 still survived.

[edit] Steam locomotives used in the Quarry

Early steam locomotives used by the Quarry, and built by de Winton & Co :

Orig. name / number	Later name	Builder	Year of acquisition	Year of sale
Wellington	-	de Winton	c1870	1898
-	de Winton	1874	pre 1895
Peris	-	de Winton	1875	pre 1895
Victoria	-	de Winton	1876	pre 1895
Padarn	-	de Winton	c1898	?

From 1870 the Quarry acquired most of its locomotives new from the Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. of Leeds. These were purpose built, and after 1886 these fell into one of 3 classes, as shown below, depending on their intended use in the quarry.

However, prior to the designation ofthe classes, the Quarry also used a number of other "unclassified" locomotives :

Orig. name / number	Later name	Builder	Year of acquisition	Year of sale
Dinorwic	Charlie	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1870	by 1919
George	Minstrel Park	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1877	by 1919
Louisa	-	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1877	by 1989
Sybil	-	W.G.Bagnall Ltd.	1906	?
No.70	-	A.Barclay & Sons Co. Ltd.	1931	1962
Elidir	-	Avonside Engine Co. Ltd.	1933	1966

Steam locomotives in the "Alice" class were small, and designed for light work on the quarry levels :

Orig. name / number	Later name	Builder	Year of acquisition	Year of sale
Velinheli	-	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1886	?
Alice	King of the Scarlets	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1889	1965
Enid	Red Damsel	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1889	1969
No.1	Rough Pup	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1891	1968
No.2	Cloister	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1892	1962
The First	Bernstein	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1892	1967
The Second	Covercoat	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1898	1964
Wellington	George B.	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1898	1965
No.3	Holy War	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1902	1968
No.4	Alice	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1902	1972
No.5	Maid Marian (briefly Covertcoat)	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1903	1966
No.6	Irish Mail	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1903	1969
No.7	Wild Aster	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1904	1969

The larger "Port" Class steam locomotives were designed primarily to work at Port Dinorwic (though "Michael" never did) :

Orig. name / number	Later name	Builder	Year of acquisition	Tear of sale
No.1	Lady Joan > No.1	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1922	1967
No.2	Dolbadarn	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1922	1969
Michael	-	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1932	1965

The steam locomotives in the "Tram" or "Mills" Class worked on marshalling duties on the Padarn - Peris Tram Line, which linked the quarry mills to the Padarn Railway (for transportation to Port Dinorwic) :

Orig. name / number	Later name	Builder	Year of acquisition	Year of sale
Vaenol	Jerry M	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1895	1967
Port Dinorwic	Cackler	Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.	1898	1966

[edit] Slate Removal

The slate vein at Dinorwic is nearly vertical and lies at or near the surface of the mountain, allowing it to be worked in a series of stepped galleries^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Closure

The quarry closed in 1969, the result of industry decline and difficult slate removal. During the 1950s and 1960s extraction had became difficult, because after 170 years of extraction many of the unsystematically dumped tips were beginning to slide into some of the major pit workings, and after an enormous fall in the Garret area of the quarry in 1966, production had ceased almost permanently. It was however decided that some final work could be done by clearing some of the waste from the Garret fall. This involved making an access road for more modern quarry vehicles across some of the terraces, to the rock fall. This amount of slate won by this method was small and all production stopped by 1969.

At the Receiver's instruction a public auction was arranged, intended to pay off some of the quarry's debts. The auctions were held on 12th & 13 December, 1969. The auctioneer's national advertisement (in The Guardian 29 November, 1969), the event was described as "An auction sale of machine tools and stocks, four Hunslet locos, and engine and boat fittings". The locomotives referred to, lots 613 - 616, were "Dolbadarn", Red Damsel", "Wild Aster" and "Irish Mail". Before the bidding started, it was announced that Gwynedd County Council had placed a Preservation Order on the Gilfach Ddu workshops, and many items within it.

[edit] Marchlyn quarry

The nearby Marchlyn quarry was opened in the 1930s to provide access to the main slate vein higher up the mountain.

[edit] After closure

The Welsh Slate Museum located in Gilfach Ddu

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.