Penmachno quarry

Cwm Penmachno (historically called Tre-Gynwal) is a village at the head of Cwm Machno in North Wales.

Arllechwedd was an ancient Welsh cantref in north-west Wales. It was part of the kingdom of Gwynedd for much of its history until it was included in the new county of Caernarfonshire, together with Arfon and Llŷn under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. In the middle ages the Cantref Arllechwedd was one of the core territories of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and formed the entire west bank of the River Conwy. Within this cantref were found some of the most important civil, religious and military centres of that kingdom, including the palace of Abergwyngregyn, Dolwyddelan Castle and Aberconwy Abbey. Within Arllechwedd there were three divisions or cymydau, which were: Arllechwedd Uchaf (Upper Arllechwedd, bordering the sea to the north and the cantref of Arfon to the west) Arllechwedd Isaf (Lower Arllechwedd, also in the north of the cantref but on the river Conwy to the east) Nant Conwy (Conwy Mountain, the southern portion and greatest area of the cantref, west of the Conwy from Dolgarrog to its source)Arllechwedd remains an ecclesiastical unit of the Church in Wales to this day. Most of the territory is now in Conwy County Borough and the western part lies in Gwynedd.

Rhiwbach quarry (also known as Rhiw-bach quarry) was a slate quarry located to the east of Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. The quarry was a remote site; it was nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) to north-east of Duffws, the Festiniog Railway's terminus in Blaenau Ffestiniog. It was the connected to the Ffestiniog Railway by the Rhiwbach Tramway. Commercial operation began around 1812, and it finally closed in 1952. It was the last Welsh slate quarry where workers lived in barracks on the site. 'Rhiwbach' is Welsh for 'Little Hill'.

The Cwt y Bugail quarry is a former slate quarry located east of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. It was first worked as a trial pit around 1840. Continuous production began in 1863 and continued until closure in 1961. The quarry was connected to the Ffestiniog Railway at Duffws Station via the Rhiwbach Tramway.

The Blaen y Cwm quarry was a slate quarry located east of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. It was first worked in some time between 1813 and 1818 and sporadically after that until 1914. The quarry was connected to the Ffestiniog Railway at Duffws Station via the Rhiwbach Tramway.

Bwlch y Slaters quarry (also known as Manod quarry, New Manod quarry, or, since the closure of the nearby Cwt y Bugail quarry, Cwt y Bugail quarry) is a slate quarry near Blaenau Ffestiniog (formerly Blaenau Festiniog), in Gwynedd (formerly Merioneth or Merionethshire), North Wales.

Llyn Conwy (SH780462) is a lake in the county of Conwy in central north Wales. It is the source of the River Conwy which, on flowing south out of the lake, swings round to then generally flow in a northerly direction for a distance of some 27 miles (43 km) to its discharge in Conwy Bay. Llyn Conwy lies at a height of about 1,488 ft, with a maximum depth of 16 feet, and is by far the biggest lake of the Migneint moors, an extensive area of blanket mire with high rainfall - about 260 cm p.a. There is a view of Arenig Fawr.

Graig Ddu quarry (also known as Craig Ddu quarry, Manod quarry, or, since the closure of the nearby Cwt y Bugail quarry, Cwt y Bugail quarry) is a disused slate quarry near Blaenau Ffestiniog (formerly Blaenau Festiniog), in Gwynedd (formerly Merioneth or Merionethshire), North Wales. Although output was only about 3,000 tons a year (3,140 tons in 1882), it reputedly has 36 saw tables and the same number of dressing machines on site. As with others in the area, the quarry suffered from a lack of water, resulting in the siting of the mill some distance away, at a lower level.Slate was initially taken to a wharf on the River Dwyryd for onward transport, but in the 1860s, three inclines were built to link the quarry to the road at Tan y Manod. In 1869, this was extended by a fourth incline to connect to the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway. In 1883, the railway was replaced by a standard gauge extension of the Great Western Railway, and quarry wagons were carried piggy-back style to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The quarry was one of the first in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area to use compressed air drills for extracting the rock, and unlike most quarries in the area, all working remained on the surface until the 1920s, when underground mining began. The quarry was known for the use of ceir gwyllt (wild cars), simple devices that allowed the quarrymen to ride down the inclines to the Tan y Manod road at the end of the day. This was possible because of the relatively shallow pitch of the inclines, but it was still a dangerous practice, and a number of workers died as a result of accidents on them. The quarry closed in 1939, although it operated briefly at the end of the Second World War. From the 1980s, untopping of the neighbouring Bwlch y Slaters quarry began, and the operation soon engulfed Graig Ddu quarry. Currently, planning permission to extract rock ends on 31 December 2022, but Welsh Slate, the operating company, have applied for permission to continue working the site until 2048.

The Rhiwbach Tramway was a Welsh industrial, 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge railway connecting the remote slate quarries east of Blaenau Ffestiniog with the Ffestiniog Railway. It was in use by 1862, and remained so until progressively closed between 1956 and 1976. The route included three inclines, one of which became the last operational gravity incline in the North Wales slate industry. The tramway was worked by horses and gravity for much of its existence, but a diesel locomotive was used to haul wagons on the top section between 1953 and its closure in 1961.

Manod Mawr is a mountain in North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. Although known as a mountain in the eastern Moelwyns, it and its sister peaks are sometimes known as the Ffestiniog hills. Manod Mawr is a mountain which has been extensively quarried. The now-closed Graig Ddu Quarry is to be found on the 600-metre (2,000 ft) contour, in the hollow between Manod Mawr's summit and Manod Mawr North Top. Manod Mawr's summit is in the exclusion zone of the Snowdonia National Park around Blaenau Ffestiniog, while Manod Mawr North Top's summit only just misses out on the national park's protection. There were fears the quarry would eventually remove the North Top.During the Second World War, quarry tunnels in the Manod range were used to store and protect, in secret, valuable paintings from the National Gallery in London.

Manod Mawr North Top is a mountain in North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. It lies directly to the north of its parent Manod Mawr, separated by the Graig Ddu Quarry. Crossing the quarry to reach the main summit can be dangerous. There are also a few mine adits on the northern slopes. There were fears that the top may eventually be removed.

Ty'n-y-bryn quarry (also known as Bwlch y Llan quarry or Lledr Vale quarry) was a slate quarry that was worked from the 1840s to about 1914. It stands on the south-east edge of Dolwyddelan.