Dinorwic Quarry (13) – National Slate Museum, Gilfach Ddu
The quarry hospital, purpose built in 1860 to treat occupational casualties
| Date | 5 February 2012 | ||
| Location | Dinorwic Quarry, Llanberis | SH 58782 60224; 53.12042°N, 4.11167°W | |
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Slate was commercially quarried at Dinorwic from 1787 until 1969. When the quarry closed, its workshops at Gilfach Ddu were acquired by the National Museum of Wales and are now home to the National Slate Museum, which first opened to the public in 1972. The quarry was a hazardous place to work, as evidenced by the 362 fatalities recorded between 1822 and 1969. The hospital, located just above Llyn Padarn, was purpose built in 1860 so that those suffering injuries from accidents in the quarry could be quickly treated. The quarrymen and members of their families who fell ill received free treatment in the hospital. This was funded by the deduction of a shilling from the workers’ pay together with proceeds raised at charitable events. With a diameter of 15.4 m, Gilfach Ddu’s 140-bucket waterwheel is the largest in mainland Britain (the Laxey Wheel on the Isle of Man has a diameter of 22.1 m). It was built by De Winton of Caernarfon in 1870 and was in service — powering all the workshops via line shafting running throughout the works — until 1925 when it was superseded by a much smaller but more efficient Pelton-wheel turbine. The waterwheel was restored in 2000 with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is in continuous operation. It is supplied with water via cast-iron pipes from an intake at Ceunant waterfall on the Afon Arddu above Llanberis.
National Slate Museum (LustreBox);
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The 15.4 m diameter waterwheel – the largest in mainland Britain
Machine shop rooftops
Steam crane in the yard. This crane used to unload slates at Port Dinorwic.
A lovely excursion into colour. I love the last shot with the filigreed branches, it works so well. The roofs are remarkably well maintained for some reason…lol
Iain Robinson
February 10, 2012 at 8:56 pm
The roofs do look quite tidy, don’t they?
Graham Stephen
February 14, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Eye opening history thanks for sharing and the photography!
Jennifer Triplett
February 11, 2012 at 11:29 am
Thank you.
Graham Stephen
February 14, 2012 at 7:30 pm
I find this post most interesting, partly because I went to high school in Granville, New York, (graduated in ’65) one of the few places in North America boasting its slate quarries feature every known colour possible in slate. Because the town was surrounded by quarries and slag piles and pits, it had attracted many Welsh families to the area. I went to school with Williams’, Jenkins’, Jones’, and not only were all the roofs slate, but so too were our sidewalks and the floors of many kitchens. We used to go swimming in the unused pits. And everyone loved to sing.
Thank you for posting these very interesting photos, Graham.
weisserwatercolours
February 12, 2012 at 3:19 am
Glad you found it of interest, Lance. The ubiquity of slate sounds familiar – around here it used to be used as a universal building material: slate blocks for walls; slabs for flooring, hearths and fireplaces and even tomb stones; palings wired together for garden fences; and of course tiles for roofing and sometimes wall cladding; and so on…
Graham Stephen
February 14, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Nice ones, Graham! I liked the first one and then the roof tops one. All those shapes are just really interesting.
KatiesCameraBlog
February 16, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Thanks Katie. I visit the Slate Museum every so often (at ground level), so it was very interesting for me to get a different perspective of the place.
Graham Stephen
February 16, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Hola Graham!!!!! Qué buena esta historia, y también las fotos. Me gustó mucho, además, los comentarios de la gente, sobre todo del señor que estudió en Nueva York….Las historias de las minas de pizzarra en Gales nos toca muy profundo el corazón…Mil gracias como siempre, Graham!!!!!!
Marcia Griffiths
February 21, 2012 at 6:14 pm
De nada, Marcia. Saludos.
Graham Stephen
February 22, 2012 at 8:54 am
[...] were three other quarry hospitals in NW Wales: Oakeley Quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog, opened 1848; Dinorwic, opened 1860; and Llechwedd, opened 1888. The quarry hospitals provided Britain’s first [...]
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