Hi,
we're going to spend our holidays in North Wels. Which mines shouldn't we miss? We have about 150m of ropes and some stuff for higher water levels
Thank you for your tips :)
Kamila

Slate or metal mines? Or both? :thumbup: Plenty to choose from!
What part of North Wales, how many of you and how long are you here for?

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About one week.
We don't know where exactly to go. We just want to see some interesting mines, so I'm trying to get some tips here. Someone recomended us surrounding of Betws y Coed, so we've started to think about this, bu we'll be happy to have some other tips/opinions.

If you give us the proposed dates of your visit and how many of you there are, I'm sure some of the locals will be only too willing to show you some of the Welsh mines. Betws y Coed is in the middle of the Gwydir Forest lead/zinc mine area but access is difficult at the moment - officially banned due to the landowner - formerly the Forestry Commission, now Forest Enterprise. Negotiations about general access to them has been ongoing for some time and we don't want to 'rock the boat' by illegally entering them at the moment. The slate mines of the Blaenau Ffestiniog area a bit further west are well worth a look in and most have free access (Cwmorthin and Rhiwbach require an access code / key respectively but that shouldn't be a problem). Further south in Mid Wales are several very good lead mines - Cwmystwth has been mentioned to you. Like I say, us North Walians are a friendly bunch - just post your dates and I'm sure some of the 'Thursday Nighters', UCET or Great Orme Exploration Society folk will respond to you - many are here on this website. If you can get the Anglesey on a Wednesday evening, my group - Parys Underground Group will show you the wonders of the Parys copper mine at Amlwch.

Cheers

Clive

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If you give us the proposed dates of your visit and how many of you there are, I'm sure some of the locals will be only too willing to show you some of the Welsh mines. Betws y Coed is in the middle of the Gwydir Forest lead/zinc mine area but access is difficult at the moment - officially banned due to the landowner - formerly the Forestry Commission, now Forest Enterprise. Negotiations about general access to them has been ongoing for some time and we don't want to 'rock the boat' by illegally entering them at the moment. The slate mines of the Blaenau Ffestiniog area a bit further west are well worth a look in and most have free access (Cwmorthin and Rhiwbach require an access code / key respectively but that shouldn't be a problem). Further south in Mid Wales are several very good lead mines - Cwmystwth has been mentioned to you. Like I say, us North Walians are a friendly bunch - just post your dates and I'm sure some of the 'Thursday Nighters', UCET or Great Orme Exploration Society folk will respond to you - many are here on this website. If you can get the Anglesey on a Wednesday evening, my group - Parys Underground Group will show you the wonders of the Parys copper mine at Amlwch.

Cheers

Clive

Parys is certainly a must see - both above and below ground.

Thank you for all these suggestions. It would be great to visit some mines with locals. We've decided we'll let it on Sommer. I'll write later to discuss details. Just one more think now: is it OK to sleep outside in North Wales?

Thank you for all these suggestions. It would be great to visit some mines with locals. We've decided we'll let it on Sommer. I'll write later to discuss details. Just one more think now: is it OK to sleep outside in North Wales?

If by sleep outside you mean camping in a tent, you can but in most places you must use a campsite. You can not just camp anywhere.
These will range from just a field with a toilet and cold tap. Up to Hot showers and resturaunt.
If you use Google to search you will find many places some cheap and some expensive.
British (Ordnance Survey) maps show campsites and in most towns there is a "tourist information" which will tell you about local sites.
http://www.bing.com/maps/# 
Zoom in on the area that you are interested in. At the top click on the box that says Road, Then Ordnance Survey to see a large scale detailed map.

Camping other than at formal campsites is termed 'wild camping' in the UK. The Snowdonia National Park website states:

Can I camp anywhere in the National Park or do I need permission?

A. Although camping should be confined to authorised sites, the Snowdonia National Park Authority accepts that wild camping on un-enclosed fell land, remote from the roads, is generally accepted if undertaken responsibly by small numbers of people.

If you wish to camp on un-enclosed fell land you must:
> seek the permission of the landowner
> be out of sight of any road or dwelling
> not leave any litter
> not light any fires

As most of the land suitable for wild camping is not owned by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, we are not therefore in a position to directly permit wild camping. We advice everyone who wishes to go wild camping to have landowners’ consent.

http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/visiting/faqs 

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/wheretostay/wildcamping [i]🅱