Seem to remember from somewhere, that the access ways for the men to go to and from their workplace underground were known as "paths", in the slate quarries, presumably, they included "ladderways", "manways" and "staircases" etc. I should imagine the workers tended to follow set routes depending on where in the quarry they worked, as lighting was of course much more limited back then anyway.
Would be interested to know if the term "manway" was traditionally used in the quarries. Think i'ts something I should know, but I just may have forgotten, and how widespread the term "paths" was (if I'm correct) is also something I haven't considered before
The shaft above the compressor chamber was a major access route from Cwmorthin into Oakeley, which also included the chamber 8E old vein stairs, and of course I'ts still in use to day depending on the stability or otherwise of chamber 8E
'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'
'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.