Rhiw-goch quarry (also known as Brandreath quarry) was a

slate quarry The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a ''slate quarry'' or reached by tunneling in a ''slate mine''. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring ma ...

that was worked from the 1860s to 1908. It stands on the north side of the

Afon Lledr The ( en, River Lledr, italic=yes) is a river in north-west Wales and the second major tributary of the River Conwy. It is about 10 miles or 16 km long, and flows in a generally easterly direction. The has its source on the eastern slo ...

, on the opposite side of the valley from

Pont-y-Pant railway station Pont-y-Pant railway station is a single platform passenger station in the Lledr Valley, Wales, on the Conwy Valley line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is operated by Transport for Wales Rail. The station house is well m ...

History

The quarry opened in the 1860s and was initially worked into the hillside on an outcrop of the

Nod Glas Formation The Nod Glas Formation (also known as the Nod Glas Black Shale, the Cadnant Shale, the Penarwel Mudstones or just Nod Glas) is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is made up of ...

. As the quarry expanded, an open pit was dug down into the slate vein. In 1874, the quarry, which had been in local ownership, was sold to a Mr. Blackwell, who spent a great deal to re-equip the quarry. In 1876, Blackwell contracted Issac Hughes of

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

to build a large reservoir in the hills above the quarry. The same year, he appointed David E. Davies as his manager. Davies went on to manage the nearby

Ty'n-y-bryn quarry Ty'n-y-bryn quarry (also known as Bwlch y Llan quarry or Lledr Vale quarry) was a slate quarry that was worked from the 1840s to about 1914. It stands on the south-east edge of Dolwyddelan. History The original workings at Ty'n-y-bryn were ...

, and died in 1902. A mill was built to the south-east of the pit, likely in 1876 or 1877. The reservoir fed the waterwheel that powered the mill. A

water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...

was installed at the mill before 1880, a notably early date for equipment of this sort in the Welsh slate industry. In 1887, a new company, the ''Rhiw-Goch Slate Company Limited'' was formed to take over the quarry. The company offered 600 shares at £25 each to the public. The new company started extending the mill on the north-east side of the waterwheel, though it may never have been completed. The quarry closed in the 1890s. In 1904, the quarry re-opened and a new quarry, called ''Ty'n-y-fallen quarry'' was opened to the north-east of the mill, connected by a short tramway. This venture was unsuccessful and the quarry closed for the last time in 1908.

Geology

The quarry worked slate from the

, which outcrops along the

Lledr Valley The Lledr Valley () is a valley in Snowdonia in north Wales. It runs from the top of the Crimea Pass, north of Blaenau Ffestiniog down to Betws-y-Coed. The A470 road follows the line of the valley, as does the railway line from Blaenau Ffestin ...

. Through most of its length, the Nod Glas is black shale, but in the area around Dolwyddelan a

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...

compressed the shales and it developed enough cleavage to be worked as slate.

Transport

Within the quarry, tunnels led from the pit to the mill, with hand-worked tramways to carry the rock. A longer tramway was built to connect to Ty'n-y-fallen quarry in 1904. Construction started on a long

incline Incline, inclined, inclining, or inclination may refer to: *Grade (slope), the tilt, steepness, or angle from horizontal of a topographic feature (hillside, meadow, etc.) or constructed element (road, railway, field, etc.) *Slope, the tilt, steepn ...

from the mill down to the Dolwyddelan to Betws-y-Coed road around 1877, but it was never completed. Carnarvonshire Council denied the quarry's application to build a tramway across the road, on a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

; this may have been the reason for the incline's abandonment. Finished product from the mill was carted across the river to

over a fine slate and timber bridge. At the station it was loaded onto

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lond ...

trains bound for Deganwy quay.

References

{{Welsh Slate Quarries Slate mines in Conwy County Borough Railway inclines in Wales Dolwyddelan