Today we visited Llanberis on the bank of Lake Lyn Padarn and at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It was a lovely sunny day and there were lots of families out enjoying the sunshine.
Our first port of call (as is always the case when visiting Llanberis) was the National Slate Museum.
The museum about the slate industry in North Wales is housed in the Grade I-listed Victorian workshops of the historic Dinorwig Quarry. The site includes quarrymen’s cottages, working locomotives and the UK’s largest working water wheel.
The interior of the Chief Engineer’s House is furnished as it would have been when the quarry was operating.
The Mess Room (Caban) looked ready for the men to take their break in.
In the foundry and original workshops, there were shelves upon shelves of moulds and forms.
We were lucky to visit the museum today. The museum has recently secured a multi million pound grants from the National Lottery to redevelop the site and from November will be closed until 2026.
After our museum visit we stopped at the nearby Station Café for a bite to eat before gong for a walk around Padarn Country Park.
We passed the Vivian V2 incline - the only operational slate carrying incline in the world!
High on the hill sits the Llanberis Quarrymen's Hospital. The high accident rate amongst workers at the nearby slate quarry led to the construction of a hospital near the quarry. Having a hospital close to the quarry allowed workers to get back to work with minimal delay after receiving treatment. The building dates from 1840 and closed in the 1960 when mining ceased at the quarry. It was one of the first hospitals in the country to have an Xray machine. The hospital is now a museum and has a collection of medical equipment from the 1800s. The Xray machine is still there and a ward and an operating theatre have been restored to their original state.
On our way back to the car we passed one of the flooded quarries which is now used as a diving centre.
We drove back to the cottage along the Llanberis Pass which carries the main road from Llanberis, over Pen-y-Pass between the mountain ranges of the Glyderau and Snowdon. The views in the area never cease to amaze me.
In the evening we went for a short walk at Caernarfon, alongside the water.
No comments:
Post a Comment