I'm looking for information on the machinery which was driven by a Water Wheel in the Maenofferen mill. I'm trying to understand how the power was transferred from the Water Wheel to the mill machinery. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be most greatful.

S G Smith - RCAHMW

Hi

i'm not the expert and graham Ishewrwood and johnnearcfon will no doubt be along with much more info but there is a horizontal shaft that runs the length of the building with the usual gearing and rubber belting driving some of the machines.

as it is on private land so i haven't been there, i can't confirm that a lot of the mechanics of the drive shafts etc remain in the mill, with evidence of the waterwheel (although not the wheel itself) also evident.

john in particular has been very active in trying to save what is left of the mills and other related buildings before the robbing barsteward scrap thieves take it all. he has been in discussions with Greaves, the owners, over protecting the site.

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I have only just read this.

I think Graham Isherwood will be able to answer this question better than me. He was on the 1981 Plas Tanybwlch survey week.

There is a plan of the wheel pit drawn that week in the collection of information in the Plas TyB library.

I am due to spend a day in the attic of Greaves offices along with Dafydd Gwyn to find a copy of the full 1981 report (Plas no longer has a full copy). This has not yet been given a date to be done though.

you might find a nice robey in there?

maybe not.

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Don't get me on the subject of Robeys - especially not Llechwedd's. (NOT a reference to events of a couple of years ago, but rather to the confusion over how many they had and where they were.)

Anyway, my apologies, but although I was involved in the survey JohnC refers to, I was maily involved in trying to make sense of the underground and also photographing everything I could, so photos apart (and basic background knowledge of "how things were usually done") I'm afraid I can't shed very much light on this.

Cheers everyone - and keep up the good work RCAHM - your CAD drawings are superb!

Grahami

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you might find a nice robey in there?

maybe not.

Or a Ruston .... 😉

Having been in the mill building on Sunday and looked at where the wheel was, it appears that:

1. The water wheel was in the middle of the building, with its axle parallel to the long axis of the building.

2. The machinery (i.e. the older machinery, not the later overhead saws that had their own electric motors) in the mill was driven by belts from overhead line-shafts running the length of the building.

3. From the position of the line-shafts on each side of the wheel pit I would guess that each shaft was driven separately by a ring-gear on on each side of the wheel.

4. When the wheel was removed following electrification of the mill, each line-shaft was driven by a separate electric motor mounted on a platform in the wheel pit, driving the line-shaft via an enclosed worm-drive reduction gearbox.

I would stress that this is my interpretation from the remains - I've not got any documentary evidence to back it up. I would be happy to accept corrections to the above.

Dave

Yes Dave, the wheel was in the middle (lengthwise direction) of the mill, but in the rear half of the mill if you look from the stacking area.

GrahamI's archive photo illustrates this:-

🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-049[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-049[/linkphoto][/link]

(not that he took it himself of course!) :lol:

... the wheel was in the middle (lengthwise direction) of the mill, but in the rear half of the mill if you look from the stacking area. GrahamI's archive photo illustrates this

Ah ... I thought I'd seen a photo somewhere. Thanks

One nice touch is that the sides the wheel pit still have in situ some of the hanging slates that were there to protect the building from splash from the wheel.

(I say wheel pit, but I don't actually know if or how far the wheel extended below floor level in the mill. Does anyone know the diameter of the wheel and the height of the axle above floor level - or how the tailrace was arranged?)

Dave

Regrding the drive, this shot of the 3/4 completed double mill shows (I think) the drive from the water wheel into the second mill. I've probably got a more detailed/closeup of the middle part of this photo somewhere. I'll have a look later.

🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-045[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-045[/linkphoto][/link]

The 25" OS shows the location of the exit from the tailrace into the Votty culvert, but unless I've got a phot which shows it, I'm not sure how far down from the surface it was - could probably be worked out from the remains of the culvert and the position. I'll have a think.

Cheers all

Grahami

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OK - some detailed views:
First the south side of the mill showing the wheel in motion - note the shroud over the northern side of the wheel. Looking at the curvature of the wheel, I would guess that the axis of the wheel was just about at the lower level where it enters the mill roof.
🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-62335[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-62335[/linkphoto][/link]

Next the north side showing the wheel and the gearing between the northern and the western parts of the mill. Judging by the chimney and the exhaust/safety valve pipes at the end of the northern section, this is where the steam engine was sited. SO the drive could be the other way - I guess it was probably arranged by the usual collection of clutches and belts so that either the mill wheel or the engine could drive the mill.
🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-62336[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-62336[/linkphoto][/link]

This one is just for interest's sake and shows the end of the mill and the curious header tank on the hillside. We know the "old mill" was driven by both water wheel and turbine, but was this a remanant of the old supply system for the Hunter tunneler which was driven by a little turbine of it's own ? Curious.
🔗Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-62337[linkphoto]Maenofferen-Slate-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-62337[/linkphoto][/link]

Oops, almost forgot. If you look at the archive picture which has the complete mill on it, you can see the tailrace exit point at the side of the mill tip.

Enjoy.

Cheers

Grahami

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Thank you very much to everyone who contributed to this link. I'd worked out most of it, but hadn't quite got my head around the steam engine which was inside the Mill. I can go back to writing up the history of the site now and completing the Coflein Entries.

Spencer Smith RCAHMW

Just posted a couple of shots of the mill motor section ex-engine and boiler house to the 1981 Photos album.

Grahami

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It looks like they used the table from a saw to mount the motor on.

🔗Maenofferen-1981-Image-62341[linkphoto]Maenofferen-1981-Image-62341[/linkphoto][/link]