Inside UK village abandoned a century ago with overgrown ruins and steam engine
Images show an abandoned slate quarrying village in north Wales that has been unused for a century with overgrown ruins and a steam engine.
In the northwest of Wales there are some of the largest and most productive slate quarries in the world that stretch from the Nant Ffrancon valley in the east to Nantlle.
The region became known to have "roofed the 19th century world", with a significant effect on the lives of the region's people and communities as well as the landscape with its traces still found today.
And for urban explorers there are abandoned sites including the old Talysarn village that was once used by slate miners before the population was relocated further west where there still remains around 2,000 people living there today.
Some of the old village building's remained in use for a while by the quarries and the ruins can still be seen.
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In 1904 a Cornish beam engine was installed on site to replace the waterwheels (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Nature has reclaimed the old Talysarn village (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Then in 1927 the main road to the south of the valley was relocated but the route of the old road can still be followed.
Photos show that nature has reclaimed the old Talysarn village at Dorothea quarry. According to the author of Wild Guide Wales, Daniel Start, what remains today of the ruins is like a 'Welsh Angkor Wat'.
"Only the baboons are missing," he wrote. "It's a vast, wild site with many fascinating, overgrown ruins, including a Cornish beam engine and the overgrown remains of the chapel at Plas Talysarn."
Plas Talysarn, or Talysarn Hall, was built during the 18th century and was later modified and extended in the 19th and early 20th centuries, reported WalesOnline.
The house was three stories high over a basement. Although most of the roof of the hall is now missing some timbers have survived over the south facing front wall.
Two Lancashire boilers have deteriorated and the boiler house roof is largely gone at the old quarry (Chris Allen/Creative Commons)Nearby is the entrance to what was once a stable block and kennels, which was later modified to a shower block for the quarrymen. There is a former boiler house with its roof largely gone but two deteriorated Lancashire boilers remain.
Other neighbouring buildings are covered in moss and tree roots. Like many other quarry pits production dropped significantly after the start of the Second World War.
The quarry was eventually closed in 1970 and it has long since flooded with the lake more than 100m deep in places. The site is now part of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site, which was announced by Unesco in July 2021.
The ruins have been left after the village was moved (Getty Images)It was the depth of the slate beneath the valley floor which influenced the quarrying techniques of Nantlle and the only way to obtain the rock was by digging down and creating large pits.
Originally there were a large number of very small quarries in Dyffryn Nantlle – a situation which was brought about by numerous landowners and over time amalgamations and takeovers would create larger units such as Dorothea quarry.
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In 1820 Dorothea was opened and remained until 1970. The land the quarry stands on was owned by a man called Richard Garnons but the main driving force for quarrying in the valley was William Turner from Lancaster.
Dorothea Quarry in Dyffryn Nantlle, Gwynedd (Daily Post Wales)The first name of the quarry was Cloddfa Turner but it was renamed as Dorothea after Garnons' wife. The workings grew out of a series of smaller workings with names such as Hen Dwll, Twll Bach, Twll y Weirglodd, Twll Coch, and Twll Fire. Over the years these pits were deepened and amalgamated into the large flooded pits that are visible now.
By the 1840s production at Dorothea had built up to about 5,000 tonnes per annum and by the 1870s it had reached more than 17,000 tonnes.
But although the future was looking good for Dorothea it was facing serious flooding problems.
A piece of abandoned mining equipment (Getty Images/iStockphoto)In 1884 several men were drowned when the pit was engulfed so in 1895 the Afon Llyfni, which flowed through the valley, was realigned and deepened to head to the south of the slate workings. This cured the flooding problems to some extent but, as the workings deepened, the need to continually pump out water became a constant drain on the quarry's profits.
Then in 1904 the decision was taken to install a Cornish beam engine on site to replace the waterwheels and the remains of the engine can still be found in the village of Talysarn.
As the quarries of the Nantlle Valley continued to grow it led to the abandonment of the old Talysarn village and it being moved to a new location nearby.
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