This afternoon found me at Maenofferen, looking for the test bores from the Cooke & Hunter tunneller - and yes, I know that Greaves would prefer it if I stayed away. :angel:

However, as I was walking back towards the mills, I heard a crashing sound which turned out to be two lads, probably in their early teens, standing on the roof smashing the windows.

As soon as they saw me, they scarpered and headed off down towards Blaenau Ffestiniog via the road that goes near the Rhiwbach no.2 incline. I didn't give chase, but I did watch them until they were above the Bowydd pit to ensure they weren't hanging around to continue once I'd gone.

This is the result of their vandalism:

🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-086[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-086[/linkphoto][/link]

🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-087[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-087[/linkphoto][/link]

For all the problems that access is no doubt causing Greaves, such vandalism is not the fault of the interested mine historian, but of little yobs from the town. Indeed, in this case it was my appearance that caused them to run off.

This isn't intended as some sort of tirade against Greaves, but more as a warning to anyone who happens to be in the area to keep an eye out for these yobs.


What does annoy me is that there's every chance that their fathers, grandfathers or great-grandfathers worked in the mines and may even have quarried the slate that makes up the very blocks the mills are made from.


(I think I managed to avoid ranting at all then - and I didn't even mention National Service being a good idea! Well, maybe just the once 😉 )

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Damn! I was planning on going up to Maen today aswell! Might have catched the B@$t@rd$.

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Couple of lads, about 14 years old or so, both looked as if they'd benefit from a bit of exercise. Wearing dark clothes and went down into Blaenau - if I'd been going down that way I would have followed them.

Unfortunately that probably describes most of the teenage male population of Blaenau, so all I can suggest is a couple of indiscriminate drive-bys at Spar from a Greaves van 😉

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Couple of lads, about 14 years old or so, both looked as if they'd benefit from a bit of exercise. Wearing dark clothes and went down into Blaenau - if I'd been going down that way I would have followed them.

Unfortunately that probably describes most of the teenage male population of Blaenau, so all I can suggest is a couple of indiscriminate drive-bys at Spar from a Greaves van ;)

Arrgg... what a pity!
Thats basically what a lot of the teenage population do due to being bored (though if I was beased in Blaenau Id never be bored for obvious reasons) And yes it is stupid especially if its their own history. Its Blaenau well knows for yobs or something; we never have any trouble in Cumbria in terms of old building vandalism (or at least not a lot).
Wel, when I went to Blaenau I thought everyone was ok, but I I soppose I didnt really touch the local economy that much!

cheers;
lap

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Ili shites shame you didn't have a paintball gun to colour them with so's you could beat the crap out of them when you found them hanging out at the spa shop.

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Couple of lads, about 14 years old or so, both looked as if they'd benefit from a bit of exercise. Wearing dark clothes and went down into Blaenau

Hold on there! That s a good description of me! Exept for the 14 yrs old part!! Lucky I was on Pen-Llyn, so have a good alibie!!!

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Do you get a lot of this going on DylanW?

cheers
Linden

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Climbers climbing on the cliffs of the Moelwyns have suffered car break ins at the Tan y Grisiau car park for years.
A nearby town with high unemployment,social deprivation,scallies bored out of their wits....combustable combination I'm afraid !

Do you get a lot of this going on DylanW?

What get acesed of being a vandal?! :lol: it has happened!!

to be serious, we get a lot of vandalism up Maenofferen, ever since we stopper using the buildings, all of which has been discused in another thread, so I wont repeat my self!

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Went to have a look at the state of the Maenofferen mills this weekend. And it really is quite depressing. As well as the vandalism to the mill buildings themselves, the inside is continually being ransacked. Recently it seems somebody has nicked all the copper (from the switchgear mainly) and the insides of the mills are now strewn with stripped and smashed equipment :curse:

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Shame, noticed all the shashed windows from when we went the weekend before, I suppose it's just a matter of time before the bigger stuff inside starts to get more severely damaged.

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Incredibly, I noticed a month or so ago that a complete Ruston axle set (complete with 2 wheels and a sprocket) had disappeared in the previous few months. I attempted to lift the other axle that still remains in the mill, it is as much as I could do to lift one wheel off the ground a bit, let alone move the whole thing around. (Yes Vanoord, as you pointed out, I am getting old!). Over the past couple of years several, some quite large, items of railway interest have vanished from there. It would seem there is some quite systematic looting going on.

It is a great pity that the mill is deteriorating, but unfortunately it is what happens these days when places are not in use.
Which reaminds me of 'Tanymanod Hall', a 16 century residence of the Vaughn (Fychan) familly of the tanymanod estate in Manod road.
The last of the Vaughn's died in the early 1960's with no children. The mansion was inherited by a distant familly somewhere in England with a long posh name. They took no interest and there was an auction there selling all of the content. I remember going there with my brother who bought a hallstand for our mother.
After a few years after being abandoned the house was slowly stripped of all timbers and internal untill there was only walls left.
I remember there was a large slate plaque on the wall of a large room with the names of all the Vaughn familly going back to the 1500's. I often wonder what happened to it.
About 1973 it was demolished by the council and a council estate built there. It is called 'Maes Y Plas'

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I only 'discovered' Maenofferen last year. Realising that it is deteriorating 😞 , when I had the chance I went there last May and took photos of every piece of equipment in the 'modern mill'.

Only while there did I realise there was the older mill, and too a range of photos there, but not in a systematic manner.

Will have to decide what to do with my 'survey' at some point.

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A few photos from the Maenofferen mills showing the rate of vandalism and looting.

Smashed equipment, meters, etc:

[photo]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-217[/photo]

Switch gear stripped completely, bus bars removed:

[photo]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-218[/photo]

Items on shelves now scattered all over the floor:

[photo]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-219[/photo]

[photo]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-220[/photo]

Smashed insulators:

[photo]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-221[/photo]

Evidence of looting for scrap:

[photo]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-222[/photo]

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Just posted a couple of my 1981 shots of the intact switchboards for comparison.

Graham

🔗Maenofferen-1981-Image-063[linkphoto]Maenofferen-1981-Image-063[/linkphoto][/link]

🔗Maenofferen-1981-Image-064[linkphoto]Maenofferen-1981-Image-064[/linkphoto][/link]

🔗Maenofferen-1981-Image-065[linkphoto]Maenofferen-1981-Image-065[/linkphoto][/link]

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I think people who just smash these things up just for the sake of doing it must have a mental health problem.

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Another odd thing I noticed had happened about a year ago. In the mill, a d/f slab wagon has been turned upside down. Then, two d/f wheels removed, then, interestingly, the wheels were left there but the axle was taken! Presumbly either someone wanted a 3 foot length of round bar, or someone had a wagon that had an axle missing!!

It's tragic this.... been offered a trip here and I had heard so many great things about the place. Its sad people don't realise its their own heritage they are losing... 😠

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it seems things still not right up there as i had no replys last week asking about helping out with work