Llechwedd Slate Miners Tramway – taking a ride back in time

John W Greaves versus King Solomon

Llechwedd slate caverns are products of the Welsh slate rush during the reigns of George IV and William IV when fortunes were lost easier than they were found by digging holes in Snowdonia.  John W Greaves spent £25,000 in mining costs before striking the Merioneth Old Vein with which he proceeded to roof every continent with his slate tiles.

Tourists travelling on the Slate Miners Tramway

His resultant underground quarries are Europe’s unique rival to the spectacular King Solomon’s mines beneath Jerusalem, and they may now be explored from the comfort of a modern carriage on one of the earliest miners’ tramways.

An engine used for carrying huge slate slabs

The Industrial Revolution

It is a ride straight into the Industrial Revolution and a mining technique used 3,000 years earlier in Israel. Here, for the first time, the outside world can experience something of the faith and the triumph of the tough God-fearing quarrymen of Blaenau Ffestiniog who honeycombed their mountains with 130 miles of tunnels linking hundreds of cathedral-like caverns.

Open to the public

The slate mines of Merioneth remained a mystery to all but the quarrymen until 1972 when a half mile level section was opened to the public. Within nine months it was awarded both the Wales Tourist Board’s “Festival of Wales Trophy” and the British Tourist Authority’s “Come to Britain Trophy” as the most outstanding tourist enterprise with which Britain entered the European Common Market. It is a project unaffected by weather for you can drive right up to a former dressing mill which has been converted into a passenger terminal.

Quarrymen working on a rock face

100 Feet Deep

Soon after entering the tunnel, aboard a battery-driven train, passengers will see abortive trial excavations to left and right. As it takes a right-hand bend the train emerges for a short period on a shelf which looks out upon a modern opencast quarry. Proceeding into the main tunnel you arrive at a succession of caverns, all on the right. The first is a flood –lit bowl, 100 feet deep in which men are still working at the base.

Slate quarryman cutting slate tiles by hand

A whole lifetime in the slate mines

The train stops at the next cavern where a guide, who has spent the whole of his working life in the mines, demonstrates the use of early equipment and as your eyes grow accustomed to the dark gloom, he points out life-sized dummies in working positions on the rock face. The third cavern on the tour has been worked out to the open at the top resulting in some very dramatic lighting effects.

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Cowboy Builder Nightmares - laying tiles

What could be worse than starting your tiling job, and you make an enormous schoolboy error, as you realise that you have glued some of the tiles on back to front?

Actually, it could be worse than that, you could have paid a skilled professional builder or tiler to do the job, and upon inspection of the completed job, it becomes evident that you may have employed a cowboy builder.

 We would ALWAYS advise on going with a tiler or builder that is part of a trade association, such as The Federation of Master Builders, The Guild of Master Craftsmen or the Tile Association as a good start, but you cant beat a personal recommendation.

 

Ask your friends or neighbours first, I'm betting somebody that you know has had experience in hiring a professional to fit the slate tiles in their kitchen.

Whatever you do, try not to just go with the cheapest fitting quote possible, just take a look below at the kind of things that could happen, it really pays to do a bit of research first.

The number one way for a bad tiler to cut corners and keep his materials costs down is to use the bare minimum of tile adhesive.

The most common method is for him to put a blob of adhesive under the corner of each tile (a hugh faux pas by our standards!), and therefore the middle of each tile would have an empty void underneath, and would be completely un-supported.

After a very short time, it is an inevitable fate that the floor tiles will crack right down the middle from the pressure of being walked upon. This is extremely frustrating for the home owner, as it may be weeks or months before anything happens, by which time the tiler would have cashed his pay cheque and be long gone.

The slate tiles in the picture above are very badly stained with grout. We would always advise using a stone sealer on the tiles before grouting them.

Natural stone tiles have a certain degree of porisity, and a fine grout would easily get trapped in the surface texture of the stone. If this is left to dry, the grout residue would be an absolute nightmare to scrub off.

We recently heard a story about a tiler that fitted some slate tiles in a kitchen, and applied the grout without having sealed the tiles first. This could have been quite easily fixed at this point, but once the grout had dried he forgot to wipe the tiles thoroughly and then applied the sealer. This meant that he had actually sealed the grout residue into the surface of the slate tiles. I can only assume that he must have been rushing the job so he could get home early, saying that this was a complete mess is an understatment!

Upon hearing this, I really found it difficult to believe that this tiler hadn't just fallen out of a banana tree! Needless to say, a lot of the tiles had to be replaced. Fortunately in this case, the tiler did pay for the damages.

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8 top uses for Slate in your home

Slate is an extremely versatile building material, Slate benefits from a number of practical properties making it an exceptional building material. It retains its natural colour, even in UV light and is impermeable to water. It is also extremely durable, unaffected by normal extremes of temperature and highly resistant to chemicals.

It is also an attractive and popular decorative stone, here are the 8 top uses for natural Slate in the home.

A slate quarry face, its hard to imagine it as a tile in your kitchen.

1. Slate Floor Tiles - Interior

Slate tiles are durable, non-slip and very hard wearing. This makes them a great choice of floor tile, that can be used in wet or high traffic areas. Slate floor tiles are often used in areas such as Kitchens, Bathrooms,  and Conservatories.

Black slate floor tiles in a kitchen - stunning!

2. Slate Paving - Exterior

Because of the natural non-slip surface of natural riven slate, and its ability to withstand frost and poor weather without spoiling, it is also a very sensible choice for exterior slate paving. Patios look great in either Brazilian, Chinese or Welsh Slate, and it can also be used on pathways and pond/swimming pool sides.

Welsh slate paving with a natural riven finish - Gorgeous!

3. Slate Wall Tiles or Cladding

Slate wall tiles are often used in shower and wetrooms, Slate wall tiles can also be purchase as a strip length, which can be fixed as wall cladding. If a suitable stone sealer product is used, then slate tiles can also be used for a kitchen splashback.

Slate wall tiles cut into strip wall cladding.

4. Slate Fireplace Hearth

Slate slabs are available in small or large sizes, and can be fabricated to fit as a fireplace hearth. As long as the recommended sizes are adhered to, slate hearths are very hardwearing, and make a striking focal point to any living room. Slate is also hard enough to use under a solid fuel stove (such as a woodburner). The cost of buying thick slab slate can be expensive, and so often it has been known for regular slate floor tiles to be used to make a hearth, they would be fixed with cement to a stone or concrete base.

Beautifully built fireplaces with Slate Hearths.

5. Slate Kitchen Worktops

Slate slabs are also used to fabricate worktops for kitchens or bars. Natural slate has a cool and solid surface, and when it is smooth honed, it bears similarities to dark Granite or Marble.

Slate worktops with a cutout for a traditional ceramic sink.

6. Slate Window Sills

Slate window sills are popular for their longevity and visual appeal. Natural riven slate or sawn slate sills look fantastic in older properties, and a straight cut slate window sill with smooth honed finish would fit just as well into a modern setting. Slate window sills can be used both indoors and outdoors. It is possible to have slate fabricated into almost any size, and sills can have drip grooves cut into the underside to guide any run-off water.

Slate window sill in a barn coversion property.

7. Slate Walling and Coping

Slate walling has been around for hundreds of years (pretty much as long as slate has been extracted from the ground). It is possible to see traditional slate walls made of either Welsh slate or Cornish Slate (Delabole slate) that are over 300 years old. That is an example of their strenth and vigour to the forces of nature. Slate walls look very attractive when built in your garden, Slate wall coping is also a well celebrated wall building material.

Slate walling as seen in rural Wales UK

8. Slate Roof Tiles

Slate roofing tiles are the ultimate test for this very hardy natural stone. It is possible to see slate roof with the same tiles intact that are well over 400-500 years old. Slate natural waterproof properties, and its ability to be split into flat tiles made it the obvious choice for making roofs from day 1.

Very old slate roof tiles

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