Ratgoed quarry (also known as Alltgoed quarry) was the northernmost of the slate quarries served by the

Corris Railway The Corris Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Corris) is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Mid-Wales. The line opened in 1859 as a horse tramway, runni ...

. It is one mile north of

Aberllefenni 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. Government The village has a community council. The ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

Mid Wales Mid Wales ( cy, Canolbarth Cymru or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands") or Central Wales refers to a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd ...

, on the western side of Mynydd Llwydiarth. The quarry primarily worked the

Narrow Vein The Narrow Vein Mudstone Formation (commonly known as the Narrow Vein) is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is silty, homogeneous or finely-laminated mudstone. It generally a ...

, though it also produced some

Broad Vein The Broad Vein Mudstone Formation (commonly known as the Broad Vein, historically known as the Red Vein and in Welsh as Y Faen Goch) is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is s ...

slates.

Original workings

The original workings at Alltgoed Quarry date back to before 1844 when a quarter share of the quarry was put up for sale after the bankruptcy of William Hughes. In the second half of 1840s the quarry was closed. It re-opened in 1851. The quarry expanded in the 1850s and was being run by John Rowlands under the auspices of the Alltgoed Consols, a partnership that also owned the nearby Gaewern and Braich Goch quarries. During the early 1860s shareholder discontent lead to the dismissal of Rowlands, with the quarry now being run by the original owner Horatio Nelson Hughes. Rowlands continued to live at Ratgoed Hall after his dismissal, and was also the chairman of the

. From the mid-1870s onwards the quarry was generally called Ratgoed.

Tramway era

Expansion

The fortunes of the quarry were improved significantly in 1864 when the

Ratgoed Tramway The Ratgoed Tramway (originally known as the Ty Cam branch) was a gauge horse-worked tramway that connected the remote Ratgoed Quarry with the Corris Railway at Aberllefenni. It was long. History Opening Ratgoed Quarry was first opened bef ...

opened, a gauge horse worked tramway, which was an autonomous

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

of the newly opened

. Connecting the remote quarry with the Corris Railway at

prompted significant expansion work at the quarry, enabling it to operate profitably until 1878; but in 1879 slate prices dropped throughout the industry and small, remote concerns like Ratgoed suffered in the downturn.

Decline and closure

The quarry continued production through the 1880s, but at a reduced annual output. Fortunes revived in the early 1890s, but towards the end of the century the accessible supplies of more profitable roofing slates at Ratgoed were running dry and the owners attempted to sell the business in 1897. By 1900 the remaining workforce was dismissed and the quarry closed.

Revived operation

During the first half of the twentieth century the quarry was reopened, but experienced fluctuating trade, and never flourished. The first reopening was in 1901 but it had to close again in 1903 as prices for slab slate fell again. In 1907 another restart was attempted and by 1911 more than 30 men were employed at Ratgoed. The advent of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

a year later again brought troubled times to the quarry and in 1918 only 6 men were employed. The quarry struggled on after the war. In 1924 the local company of Hall Harber & Thomas Ltd. purchased Ratgoed. They also owned the

Llwyngwern quarry The Llwyngwern quarry (sometimes known as Glandulas quarry or Maglona 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. History L ...

about to the south. Initially the new company doubled the workforce, but this declined steadily through the late 1920s. In 1930, control of the quarry returned to the Lewis family who had owned it prior to 1924. Work continued at a reduced output through the 1930s and the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but in 1946 the quarry finally shut for good.

The site today

The former quarry owner's house, Plas Ratgoed, is the only remaining habitable building in the hamlet of Ratgoed, although nearby the houses Ffynnon Badarn, Dolgoed and Ceiswyn remain in use. Ty Cam, Ratgoed Terrace and Capel Ratgoed mostly remain standing, but roofless.