An exciting short walk through the World Heritage Site Dorothea Quarry with some glimpses of Snowdon towards the end.

Date walked: 21st September 2022

Distance walked: about 5 miles

Map used: OS Explorer OL 17 -Snowdon/ Yr Wyddfa

Guide book: Snowdonia Slate Trail by Aled Jones – OK on route description and facilities, poor on maps

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After yesterdays limber up on the Slate Trail we expected todays 5 miler to be no more taxing. From  the parking area by the notice board in Y Fron we had one of those “which path do we take moments” and resolved to take the broad raised track that looked as if it might have once had a tram way coming away from the quarry.

Looking towards the peaks the other side of Lyn Nantlle Uchaf  we could see already buildings and workings associated with quarrying but had no idea what to expect as we got closer.

A waymark sign on a telegraph pole (do younger generations know what a telegraph was?) gave us reassurance that we had chosen the right path…

….and we were soon climbing down a narrow path through a slate wall with huge piles of slate on our right.

Looking more closely at this “spoil” it was difficult to imagine what was wrong with much of the stone we were looking at. Although it was clear that most pieces were small could this rock not have had an alternative use than for tiling?

Another gate through a wall confirmed that we were still sharing our route with the North Wales Pilgrims Way.  

I hadn’t realised and it is a credit to the powers that be, that this area (in the vicinity of the Dorothea Quarry that we were descending into) has been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Looking at the Unesco link above it seems that there are six separate areas in north Wales (this being one of them) that share this designation. That might seem a lot to live up to but we were soon blown away by the sheer scale of this place. Dorothea quarry opened around 1820 and was the largest working in the area employing around 200 men rising to 350 in the 1930’s. Production had peaked  in 1872 at 17,442 tons, though, dropped significantly after the start of World War II and the quarry closed in 1970.

This isn’t one quarry but several huge excavations, all now being colonised by trees; I can imagine that unless this emergent woodland is managed, in a few decades it will become a very strange and mysterious woodland.

The path wound down the side of one of the huge heaps of slate waste…..

… passing occasional derelict buildings that seemed to have been placed there just to enhance the picturesque quality of the landscape.

I usually complain about over signing in the countryside but this was a place where I wished that there had been some artists impressions placards (or even blown up photographs) of what this would have looked like at its peak of production).

Having neared the bottom, the path now passed by several more ruined buildings – all made of slate of course.

And some of the rusting iron work  has also been left in situ.

The parts of buildings that are left, every slab of slate cut and shaped, were so well made its impossible not to feel some regret that they have not been repurposed.

But then what makes this place so special is that there is no evidence at all of contemporary occupation. No signs, cafes, toilets, play areas, souvenir shops, apologia for slavery (bet your life it could be connected).

Just a dramatic reminder of our history, how land use changes, how what can at one time become valuable becomes worthless.

So now it only sustains a few sheep whereas once hundreds of men would have been making their living here.

I could have spent a day at least here just poking around and ghost hunting.

Our path adopted what would have once been a service road as it neared the small settlement of Nantlle passing between two beautifully constructed buttresses.

Nantlle was a reminder that when employment goes, shabby poverty usually takes its place….

…..though of course some of the more substantial houses are now homes to the well off who need nothing from a local economy.

From Nantlle our route followed the road passed the end of Llyn Nantlle Uchaf and turning due east took a path alongside its southern shore.

For the next mile or two we had very easy walking, crossing little steams that run off the hillside….

….and lush grass fields ….

… grazed by well fed sheep.

The road to Nantlle was re-joined at Drwys -y-Coed where a simple pebble-dash clothed chapel still appears to have some congregation.

A stone’s throw from here a memorial plaque carved on slate and in Welsh appears to relate to a huge boulder behind it (a little Google found that this was where a chapel had once stood which God clearly took offence at as the boulder had reportedly crashed through its roof).

Leaving the road again we passed several apparently unused farm buildings ……

… the steep scree slopes and escarpment of Craig y Bera looming above us.

Ahead, our path headed for a rocky hill as Clogwynygarreg.

Fabulous name.

Around us there were several abandoned farm buildings, their intact walls testament to quality of the construction of these modest buildings.

Near the base of Clogwynygarreg was a retaining wall of what would have been a small reservoir which would have provided a reliable water source and possibly power for the settlement of Drws-y-coed.

As we neared the top of our climb ahead we could just make out the peak of Snowdon  (Yr Wyddfa as we are now urged to name it as Welsh institutions are getting more assertive about the language being used in preference to the colonial, slave owning swine from England).

Trust me, its the pimple on the horizon just to right of centre

A last steepish climb provided us , looking back, with a view to the sea of Caenarfon Bay (I think – might have been Conwy Bay).

Ahead, our view of The Mountain That Once was Snowdon was obscured by cloud.

The last mile of the walk took us through Beddgelert Forest- a coniferous planation but not without interest.

I particularly enjoyed the moss covered banks of our track

And we were still occasionally able to see through gaps in the trees The Big Hill.

We left the main track to drop down a steep path to the campsite at Ryyd-Ddu ……

… the gate at the bottom carrying a sign asking visitors not to feed the bears.

Thus proving that local people don’t care about the welfare of Welsh speakers.

It felt like we had packed a lot into 5 miles; the next leg would take us through Beddgelert – a fabulous little town.