Date & time: 12/07/2008 at 10:00

Details:

This is intended as a gentle day out to Cwmorthin slate mine The trip will take about 4-5 hours and will not involve ropework. You may, however, get wet!

Cwmorthin is one of Wales' largest underground slate workings and the trip will pass through areas first worked in the nineteenth century and include some of the last sections worked in the 1930s before the mine closed at the start of World War II.

Depending on the group, the trip will pass along underground haulage inclines and pass by abandoned bridges, trucks and the Cabans where the workers gathered to eat and share stories.

This trip is open to all, but is intended or those who have either not visited Cwmorthin before or who wish to have a gentle introduction to mine exploration.

Event added by: Events Admin

Full event: http://www.aditnow.co.uk/events/?uid=20 

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Slight change to this trip in regards to the itinerary, which will hopefully make it a bit more appealing to those who have seen Cwmorthin already :)

Mostly taking onboard the thoughts in this thread http://www.aditnow.co.uk/community/viewtopic.aspx?t=1210 , itinerary will be:

- a trip with time for photography of some of the better remains that we passed by last time, including the head of the Chamber 34 incline and the cabans on the floors below
- an amble down the Old Vein incline to see the stone steps and the 'floating' bridges, possibly one of Cwmorthin's best sights
- depending on the wishes of attendees, an amble in through the Smoke Flue
- a quick look at the chambers in the Narrow and Stripey veins
- a trip up to Floor 4 to look at the abortive 1930's workings in the North Vein: this is part of Cwmorthin that many people don't even know exists, yet is as big as many other mines that are regularly visited

If anyone has any other requests, please shout! The aim of the day will be variety and photography, packaged in a relatively easy trip 🙂

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I'd like to come along on this if I may.

Dave

Of course! :)

We shall aim to cover very little of the same ground as the last time around, so fear not that there shall be much repeated!

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Hi all :)
I've just registered although I've been lurking here for a while. I am familiar with Cwmorthin above ground and would be interested in joining the trip, however I'm a complete novice as far as underground mine exploration is concerned and don't want to hold the rest of you back. What do you reckon?

Hi Skimble,
Cwmorthin is a nice easy place so fear not! :thumbsup:

Hi Skimble,
Cwmorthin is a nice easy place so fear not! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the reassurance 😉

Next question - would it be possible for me to borrow a helmet and head-lamp as of course I don't have my own (yet...)

I'm sure somebody can sort you out with one of those skimble 🙂 Drop me or Vanoord a PM before the event if you're coming along and one of will make sure there's a spare helmet.

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Right, a quick check of the calendar suggests that this is indeed this Saturday :)

I need to find a hemet for Skimble and an itinerary!

I think we're looking at meeting in the car park at Tan-y-Grisiau around 10am and I'd expect the trip to not be too long, perhaps 4 hours?

As I mentioned above, if anyone has any specific requests, please ask! 🙂

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I need to find a hemet for Skimble and an itinerary!

Yes please to the helmet+lamp 🙂

I think we're looking at meeting in the car park at Tan-y-Grisiau around 10am and I'd expect the trip to not be too long, perhaps 4 hours?

The top car park I presume? I thought you had a rough itinerary already - please don't feel you have to prune it because of me.
How deep is the water likely to be? (I've no objection to getting wet but am just wondering what I'm going to need in the way of spare clothes.)

Due to the notorious 'unforseen cicumstances' it doesn't look as if I'm likely to be able to make it on Saturday after all, so don't wait for me.

Dave

Not a problem Dave - if we see you, we see you!

Skimble - I have a spare helmet for you

If anyone else wishes to turn up, please shout now :)

I'll probably tailor the trip to whoever turns up, but it will include some of the slightly more "off the beaten track" bits.

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Off the beaten track sounds good to me!!
See you all there!
Steve

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I shall be in a black 4x4, for those who don't know me and I'm about 6'3" so not that easy to miss... ::)

Carpark here: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=52.989968&lon=-3.963644&z=17.9&r=355&src=msa 

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I shall be in a black 4x4, for those who don't know me and I'm about 6'3" so not that easy to miss... ::)

Ha hahahahaha, sounds like a mine pimp to me.

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Well, that was one hell of a first trip. Many thanks to Vanoord et al for putting up with my stumbling progress. :thumbsup:
My thigh muscles are reminding me that I have been Indulging in Unnatural Practices, but I fear that they're going to be subjected to similar treatment again before too long.
I didn't realise addiction happened so easily 😉

Very enjoyable day! Thankyou! Looking forward to the next trip!

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I didn't realise addiction happened so easily 😉

Oh but it can. Oscar realised it years ago. "I can resist everything except temptation." :offtopic:

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Had a great trip on Saturday, Nice to meet everyone and many thanks to Vanoord. Finally got to the floating bridges and was shown a few other links that I didn't know were there :thumbsup:

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A quick trip report, seeing as it's Monday morning and I should be doing something productive!

A good day out in Cwmorthin with a group of six, taking a rather 'interesting' route that may have led to some slight confusion as we avoided several of the more frequently trod areas!

We went in through the smoke flue adit (Floor 2 South) and descended to lake level (Floor 1) then down to Floor A atop a rubble-filled chamber which contained a fair sample of ash and coal waste, presumably dumped from the boiler which originally powered the Old Vein incline.

The descent down to Floor B was via a set of steps in Chamber 1 West, then downwards to Floor D and the once 'floating' bridges of the Old Vein. The ascent was via one of the huge chambers, filled with rubble and collapsed roof; only to descend again to get access to the top of the 'boiler chamber' with its recently repaired ladder.

From there, a brief interlude down the Chamber 34 incline followed with a look at a Caban and the 'Z' chambers which were dug underneath the Back Vein workings.

From there, we followed 'Lefel Ffrench' which was built to drain the Back Vein workings, although as we soon found, there's still a couple of feet of water at the foot of the incline!

From there, it was up the Back Vein incline before diverting off and up the newly-installed slate steps in Chamber 1 West before heading out through the Floor 1 Adit (lake level) and past the impressive gate installed by Friends of Cwmorthin.

All in all, a pretty good introduction to the workings of Cwmorthin, all the more impressive for the fact that virtually all we saw was dug out of the mountain in a 40 year flurry of activity at the end of the nineteenth century.

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