Moelwyn Bach

Craigysgafn is a rocky ridge and a top of Moelwyn Mawr that leads south from Moelwyn Mawr to Moelwyn Bach in Snowdonia, North Wales. It has several gullies which lead directly down to the scree slopes above Llyn Stwlan. Some scrambling is needed in places.

Moelwyn Mawr is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. Its summit overlooks the Vale of Ffestiniog and has views in all directions.

Moelwyn Mawr North Ridge Top is a top of Moelwyn Mawr in Snowdonia, North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. From its summit, which directly overlooks Bwlch Rhosydd, can be seen Cnicht, Allt-fawr and Moel-yr-hydd. A recently discovered 'top' has only received attention from Nuttall baggers.

Croesor quarry is a large underground slate mine in North Wales which was served by Croesor Tramway. Small scale quarrying began in the 1846, and by 1861, there were two companies in operation. They amalgamated in 1865, a year after the quarry was connected to the newly opened Croesor Tramway. Much money was invested in development work, but volumes of useful slate produced were small, amounting to just 226 tons in 1868. Access to the underground workings was by a single adit, and the surface mill was powered by two water wheels. A change of ownership in 1875 did little to improve the profitability of the quarry, and it closed in 1878 or 1882. In 1895, the quarry reopened under the direction of Moses Kellow, a fearless innovator who set about modernising working practices and methods. The two-man teams working in the mill were no longer tied to a two-man team working underground, which enabled the mill to operate more efficiently. Following trials with air drills, he decided instead to electrify the mill, building a large hydro-electric station, which generated three-phase alternating current, rather than the direct current recommended by British manufacturers. He obtained motors from Prague, which were used to drive winches and an electric locomotive, the first to work in Wales. The water wheels were supplemented by Pelton wheels, supplied by Gilbert Gilkes of Kendal. His greatest innovation was the Kellow drill, a hydraulic drill for which he obtained six patents between 1898 and 1915. It could drill a 7.5-foot (2.3 m) hole in the slate in under two minutes, much less than the day required using hand drills. The mine was ventilated by a Guibal fan, housed in a fan-house near the entrance to the adit. Peak output under Kellow's direction was between 5,000 and 6,000 tons per year, though it declined in the later years, until the quarry closed in 1930. The chambers were used by Cookes Explosives to store propellants from the late 1940s until the early 1970s. This ceased when the Central Electricity Generating Board became aware of it, and feared that an underground explosion would damage the dams of the Ffestiniog pumped storage power station. Both lakes were drained until the explosives had been removed. The quarry was worked on seven levels, but the three below the adit level are now flooded. There was an underground link to the nearby Rhosydd quarry, and the "Croesor Rhosydd Through Trip" is a well known, if somewhat dangerous, route for mine explorers.

Moel-yr-hydd is a subsidiary summit of Moelwyn Mawr in Snowdonia, North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. (Strictly the mountain is not actually in the Snowdonia National Park as it falls within the exclusion "hole" around the former slate town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.) The mountain overlooks the village of Tanygrisiau and Tanygrisiau railway station (a halt on the Ffestiniog Railway) from where the mountain can easily be ascended.From the 1830s until 1946, Wrysgan Quarry was worked on the north east flank of the mountain. Substantial underground chambers were driven beneath the summit.

Fron-Boeth and Pant Mawr quarries were two closely related and interconnected quarries on the western slopes of Moelwyn Mawr in Gwynedd (formerly Caernarfonshire), North Wales. Pant Mawr operated from around 1850 to 1879, and was partly re-opened in 1886 when it was amalgamated with Fron-Boeth. Both quarries closed during the First World War. Finished product was transported to the slate quays of Porthmadog by the Croesor Tramway.

Rhosydd quarry was a slate quarry in the Moelwyn mountains, northeast of Porthmadog in North Wales. Small-scale working of the site began in the 1830s, but was hampered by the remote location, and the lack of a transport system to carry the slates to markets. The Rhosydd Slate Company was formed in 1853, and became a limited company in 1856. Transport was made more difficult by the attitude of the Cwmorthin quarry, through whose land the most obvious route to the Ffestiniog Railway ran. A solution was found in 1864, with the opening of the Croesor Tramway, to which the quarry was connected by one of the longest single-pitch cable-hauled inclines in Wales. Huge amounts of money were spent on development work, and the company, unable to make adequate returns, went into voluntary liquidation in 1873. The quarry was auctioned in 1874, and the New Rhosydd Slate Quarry Company Ltd. was formed. Unlike its predecessor, the directors were all Welsh, and three-quarters of the shareholders were also from the local area. The quarry prospered for a while, but then profitability declined, and in 1900, a large section of the underground workings collapsed. The job of opening up new areas was spearheaded by Evan Jones, who nearly succeeded, but was hampered by a slump in the slate industry and the onset of the First World War, when the quarry was "non-essential" and was mothballed. It reopened in 1919, but was in a poor financial position, and was bought by members of the Colman family, better known for producing mustard. They kept it running until 1930, but failed to find markets for the finished product. It was mothballed until 1947, when it was sold, but new plans to reopen it failed, and the pumps were turned off in 1948, after scrapmen had removed much of the machinery. Of the five slate veins in the region of Blaenau Ffestiniog, most of Rhosydd's output was extracted from the Old Vein. The workings started at the West Twll, where the rock outcropped, but the quarry soon developed into underground workings. A series of adits were constructed, to provide access as the mine got deeper, with the lowest at level 9. Trucks moved along this adit by attaching them to an endless chain, driven by a waterwheel. The mine eventually reached level 14, with rock raised by an internal incline to the level 9 adit. At its peak the quarry was one of the largest underground workings outside of Blaenau Ffestiniog, with 170 chambers.

Llyn Mair (Welsh for 'Mary's lake') is a 14-acre (5.7 ha) artificial lake near Maentwrog, in Gwynedd in North Wales (grid reference SH652412). It lies in the area of Tan-y-Bwlch, a little above Plas Tan-y-Bwlch, and is in the catchment area of the River Dwyryd. It was created by William Edward Oakeley (of Plas Tan-y-bwlch) as a 21st birthday present for his daughter Mair and as a water supply. It was built in 1889, and the nearby smaller Llyn Hafod-y-Llyn dates from the same period.Plas Tan y Bwlch is thought to be the first house in North Wales with electric lighting powered from its own hydro-electric station, which was commissioned in the 1890s. A pipeline from the lake fed water to a Pelton wheel, which was located in a small power house on the hillside immediately behind the house. It ceased to operate soon after 1928, when the public hydro-electric power station at Maentwrog began supplying the area. In June 2013 a new hydro-scheme, costing £420,000, and similarly tapping the water from Llyn Mair, was opened. The water falls 60m to the turbine, and the scheme is expected to meet most of the Plas' electricity needs.The lake is set alongside the B4410 road, a minor road linking the hamlet of Rhyd. The position of the lake bordered with ancient oak woods and its tranquil appearance makes this a popular picnic site for visitors, and it is also a starting point for a number of local country walks. There is some limited parking available just off the road. The narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway runs through the woods above the lake, and Tan-y-Bwlch railway station can be reached on foot from the lake. The lake also has a notable echo because of the shape of the surrounding hills.

Moelwyn quarry is a defunct slate quarry located to the south of the village of Tanygrisiau, north Wales. Some initial prospecting was carried out in the 1820s and again in the 1840s, but it was 1860 before a company was formed, and chambers were excavated. The quarry was never a financial success, and operated sporadically until its demise in 1897. Despite the poor results, a spectacular series of seven inclines were constructed, to enable slates to reach the Ffestiniog Railway. The quarry was hampered by lack of a good water supply, and the mill was constructed between inclines 4 and 5, where water could be obtained from Llyn Stwlan. As in many quarries, barracks were provided, but these were occupied by whole families, living on the mountain, rather than used as lodgings for the quarrymen during the working week. Even in its remote location, there was still a concern for education, with basic literacy classes being run in the 1860s.

Tan-y-Bwlch railway station is the principal intermediate passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. The station lies off the B4410 former turnpike road from Maentwrog to Llanfrothen and Beddgelert, which the railway crosses on a fine cast-iron skew bridge (made at Boston Lodge foundry in 1854 and surmounted by 'gothic' balustrades). Tan-y-Bwlch is at a height of 430 ft (130 m). and at a distance of just under 7.5 miles (12.1 km) from Porthmadog.

Coedydd Maentwrog, on the north side of the Vale of Ffestiniog, is the largest wood in the Vale (which runs from the coast at Porthmadog inland to Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd). The national nature reserve consists of two separate sections: Coed Llyn Mair, and a group of three forests (Coed Ty Coch, Coed Bronturnor and Coed Glanrafon). It offers a variety of habitats, rising from the wooded valley onto open moorland and reaching towards the foot of Moelwyn Bach mountain. A nature trail and a network of public footpaths (some of which are steep and slippery when wet) are features of the reserve. Animals such as the rare lesser horseshoe bat and the wood warbler can be spotted here, and the gorge is noted for its liverworts and lichens. The reserve is located near Maentwrog, and is accessible by car via the A487. It may also be reached year-round by bus and by train from Easter to November, with occasional service during Christmastime and school holidays.

The Oakeley Arms Hotel is a Grade II listed hotel near Maentwrog in North Wales. The original building dates back to the 17th century, and was once part of the nearby Tan-y-Bwlch Estate. Although its principal use has been as an inn, historically it has also been used as a post office, makeshift court house, polling station and police station.