The Deep Mine Tour and Narrow Gauge Railway

Llechwedd () is a visitor attraction near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It details the history of slate quarrying in the town and specifically the

Llechwedd quarry Llechwedd quarry () is a major slate quarry in the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, north Wales. At its peak in 1884 it produced 23,788 tons of finished slate per year and had 513 employees. It continues to produce slate on a limited scale and is ...

in which it is located. The main aspect of Llechwedd is its Llechwedd Deep Mine Tour which has the steepest narrow gauge railway in the UK and travels over 500 feet underground to the disused slate caverns, and the Quarry Explorer Tour which heads out to the furthest reaches of the Llechwedd site to explore the history of mining in the area. The attraction also incorporates Mountain biking tracks,

Zip-line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bo ...

s and giant underground trampolines. Bounce Below is right beside the underground zip wire,

Zip World Zip World is a Welsh outdoor adventure activity company based in Llanrwst, Wales, United Kingdom. The company operates four sites in Wales, primarily focused on zip lines and outdoor adventure activity courses. History Zip World was create ...

Caverns and Zip World Titan - the longest zip course in Europe.

History

The

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Miners' Tramway, opened in 1972 under the name "Quarry Tours", was a railway travelling 800 metres underground. The trains were hauled by battery-electric locomotives and travelled through tunnels and into a series of quarry chambers. The tramway's closure in 2014, as part of a revamp of the caverns, caused some controversy. The Deep Mine, opened in 1979, is accessed by the

Deep Mine Railway, a steep passenger

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...

with a gradient of 1:1.8 or 30°. At the foot of the funicular, visitors can walk through several tunnels and chambers of the mine. In 1992 the Deep Mine displays were upgraded using audio-visual technology supplied by

Eurodisney Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origin ...

In 2014 the Bounce Below attraction, described as "the world's largest underground trampoline", opened in the mine caverns along with the Zip World wire course outside. As part of the 2014 developments a new guided Victorian Mine Tour opened combining the funicular, the tunnels from the two previous tours and some tunnels newly opened to the public. In 2015 the Zip World Caverns wire course opened within the caves. In January 2019 a television crew took over the caverns for a week to film the world's first ever underground games show, ''

Y Siambr The Senedd building () in Cardiff houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; , formerly the National Assembly for Wales). The Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006, Sain ...

'', broadcast later in the year on S4C.

Awards

The Caverns were claimed by Ivor Wynne Jones, a director of Llechwedd Slate Caverns, to be "winner of every major tourism award". In 1976, the opening year, Llechwedd won the

British Tourist Authority VisitBritain is the name used by the British Tourist Authority, the tourist board of Great Britain incorporated under the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Under memoranda of understanding with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the offshore is ...

's "Come to Britain" award, their top award. In 1980, the caverns were awarded the "Silver Otter" award from the British Guild of Travel Writers. That year, they also won their third award from the British Tourist Authority - the first British tourist attraction to win three of these awards.

References

External links

Official Web siteLlechwedd Slate Caverns at Wales UndergroundLlechwedd Slate Mine at NetWales
{{coord, 53.0046, -3.9403, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Ffestiniog Mining museums in Gwynedd Open-air museums in Wales Museums in Gwynedd Slate mines in Gwynedd

History

Awards

See also

References

External links