Oakeley Slate – Contents and Introduction - 1 - Oakeley Slate – Contents and Introduction Preface to the web hosted edition. This version of my history of the Oakeley Quarries, Blaenau Ffestiniog has only been changed in terms of organisation and formatting from my originally intended publication. This document contains the overall content, figure and illustration lists together with my personal introduction to the history. There are three main text documents. Part one has had the greatest editing, revision and referencing as it was obviously intended to be the first to be published. Parts two and three are in a much less refined state and much less work has been done to them since they were written. The appendices, originally intended to be split up between the parts have been combined into one document and are in various states of completeness – I shall work on them as time permits. Many of the figures have been completed and colour added – especially those intended to accompany part one. The rest will be updated and new ones added as I go along. I have combined some of them together here into small groups for convenience. The photographic illustrations had only been collected for part one, and a few of those I cannot use here for copyright reasons. However, I shall select and add, again in groups as work continues. The lists in this document will be amended and updated to indicate progress as work continues on text, diagrams and illustrations. I would welcome any comment through the Aditnow forum regarding the need for additional explanation, illustration etc. and will do my best to incorporate appropriate material. My introduction below refers to the it not being possible to produce an overall plan of the Oakeley workings – the limitation was in printing, of course. I do have full plans, which after cleaning up and some sectionalizing to reduce the download size, I also intend to make available here. I should particularly like to thank both my original editors at Adit Publications for all their hard work, and for their permission to make my Oakeley History available in this way, and also Simon of AditNow for providing the resources to host these documents so that they are available to the wider world. Graham Isherwood Telford Shropshire December 2015 - 2 - Oakeley Slate – Contents and Introduction LIST OF CONTENTS Current date/updated Preface List of Contents List of Figures List of Illustrations Author’s Introduction Units of Measurement PART 1 Chapter 1 Oakeley & Gloddfa Ganol Chapter 2 Wild Wales 1800-1824 Chapter 3 A Land Dispute 1820-1825 Chapter 4 The Welsh Slate Company 1825-1826 Chapter 5 Holland Vs The Company 1825-1839 Chapter 6 The 1838 Lease 1838 Chapter 7 Hollands’ Quarry 1838-1869 Chapter 8 Rhiwbryfdir Quarry 1838-1870 Chapter 9 The Welsh Slate Company Succeed 1825-1870 Chapter 10 The Quarries and The Railway 1838-1872 Chapter 11 The Paths Divide 1865-1869 Chapter 12 The Welsh Slate Company’s New Lease 1869-1870 Chapter 13 The Slippery Slope 1870-1878 Chapter 14 Oakeley and Rhiwbryfdir 1870-1882 Chapter 15 Prelude to Disaster 1878-1882 Chapter 16 Railways Again 1872-1889 Chapter 17 The Doom of the Welsh Slate Company 1883-1884 Chapter 18 The Quarries in Court 1884-1887 PART 2 Chapter 19 The Roberts Years I - 1889-1904 Chapter 20 The Roberts Years II - 1889-1904 The State of the Quarry Underground Chapter 21 Oakeley in the Spotlight - 1895 The Merionethshire Mines Inquiry Chapter 22 The Last Lease 1895-1897 Chapter 23 Two “Might Have Beens” 1895 & 1903 Chapter 24 The Roberts Years III - 1896-1903 Innovation and Experiment Chapter 25 Electrification - And After... 1904-1919 PART 3 Chapter 26 Development and Disaster I 1920-1939 Chapter 27 Whither Now? 1922-1936 Chapter 28 A Cwmorthin Interlude 1925-1939 Chapter 29 From Peace to War and Back Again 1937-1946 Chapter 30 Hope Renewed 1946-1953 Chapter 31 The Indian Summer 1953-1964 Chapter 32 Into the Darkness 1965-1970 APPENDICES Appendix A Working the Slate Appendix B Termau’r Chwarel – Quarry Terms Appendix C The Blue Hard and the Yellow Band Appendix D Cyfnod I’W Gofio – Oakeley Remembered Appendix E Original Draft Electrical Specification Appendix F Oakeley Electricity – A Commentary Appendix G From Floor to Floor – An Oakeley Tour Appendix H Tramways and Inclines Appendix I Drainage & Pumping Appendix J Mills and Machinery Appendix K Caban and Other Matters Appendix L Selected Sources - 3 - Oakeley Slate – Contents and Introduction LIST OF FIGURES Note: Figure numbers temporary and subject to revision – figures in preparation to be inserted appropriately. FIG. DATE QUARRY TITLE 0 General Symbols used on plans and diagrams (In preparation) 1 General North Wales- Blaenau Ffestiniog Location Map 1o General The Vale of Ffestiniog (In preparation) 1a 1980s General The Oakeley Quarries Site in the1980s 1b 2009 General The Oakeley Quarries Site in 2006 2 1818 General Rhiwbryfdir And the Blaenau Ffestiniog 3 1826-36 General Slate Quarries at Rhiwbryfdir as depicted in James Spooner’s Maps 4 1835-38 F.R. Proposed Inclined Planes from F.R. to Rhiwbryfdir by J Spooner 5 1835-38 F.R. Re-arrangement of F.R. Termination at Rhiwbryfdir 6 1830s General Quarries & Tramways at Rhiwbryfdir 7 1838 F.R. & Hollands’ Conjectural Plan of Original Incline Connection 8 1838 Welsh Slate Co. The Welsh Slate Company’s Lease Plan (Whole Plan) 8a 1838 Hollands’ Quarry Leasehold shown by W.S.Co. Lease Plan 8b 1838 W.S.Co. Leasehold shown by their Lease Plan 8c 1838 Rhiwbryfdir Quarry Leasehold shown by W.S.Co. Lease Plan 9 1850 Hollands’ Quarry Provisional Surface Features, Inclines & Tramways 10 1870s F.R. Quarries & Tramways at Rhiwbryfdir 11 1859 Hollands’ Quarry Open & Quarry Workings according to C.E.Spooner 12 1865-67 W.S.Co. Proposals for Removing Walls A3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 13 1866 W.S.Co. Sketch of Proposal for ‘Cupboarding’ 14 1868 W.S.Co. Sketch of Proposal for Wider Chambers in the ‘Back’ Vein 15 1868-70 Rhiwbryfdir Slate Co. Open Workings (C.E.Spooner) 15a 1855 Rhiwbryfdir Slate Co. Mathews’ Dresser 16 1869-70 W.S.Co. A Might Have Been - after the Walls Removal Proposals 17 1870 Hollands’ Quarry Surface Workings according to C.E.Spooner 18 1870 Hollands’ Quarry Water Balance Inclines in the Back Vein 19 1870 Hollands’ Quarry Underground Workings - East (C.E.Spooner) 20 1870 Hollands’ Quarry Underground Workings - West (C.E.Spooner) 21 1870 Rhiwbryfdir Slate Co. Dressing Mill Floor 5 (C.E.Spooner) 22 1870 Rhiwbryfdir Slate Co. Back Vein Workings (C.E.Spooner) 23 1870 Rhiwbryfdir Slate Co. Underground Workings in the Old Vein 24 1870 W.S.Co. Main Surface Tramways & Inclines 25 1870 W.S.Co. Eastern Workings (C.E.Spooner) 26 1870 W.S.Co. Western Workings (C.E.Spooner) 27 1870 W.S.Co.. & F.R. Rhiwbryfdir & Glanydon - Penybont 28 1870’s General Sections on Chambers 12 and 14 29 1870’s General Section on Chambers 3 and 9 29a 1870s W.S.Co. Turbine Pump 30 1870’s W.S.Co. Robert Owen’s Theories 31 1870’s W.S.Co. Sketch to Show Inclination of Pillaring & Effect with Depth 32 1870’s W.S.Co. Sketch to Show Effect of Pillaring on Laying out of Workings 33 1874 All Twr Babl & Surface Boundaries (T. Jones Surveys) 34 1874 Hollands’ Quarry Back Vein Open Workings & Tan-yr -Allt 35 1874-76 Welsh Slate Co. Eastern Workings (Showing line of fall of 1876) 36 1875-75 Welsh Slate Co. Plan of a New Lifting Power 36a 1875-78 General To get the heart out of the mountain and leave the rest to the devil 37 1876-88 Cwmorthin Quarry Part of G.H.Jones’ Plan of Cwmorthin Slate Co. Ltd. 38 1880’s O.S.Q.Co. Lower Quarry General Cross Section Of Lower Quarry East 39 1882 O.S.Q.Co. Middle Quarry Eastern Back Vein Workings showing Twll Clai 39a 1880s W.S.Co. Cross Section of Chamber A5 and Wall 1 39b 1870s Holland and Rhiwbryfdir To get the Heart out of the Mountain…. 40 1882-84 Welsh Slate Co. Eastern Workings (Showing Inclines & Falls) 40a W.S.Co. Cross section of chamber A5 and wall 1 41 1882-87 O.S.Q.Co. U.Qy. New Floor Workings (Floors 10 - 12 -Latterly 14-16) 42 1883 O.S.Q.Co. Robert Robert’s Sketch of the Great Fall 42a 1883-84 W.S.Co. The Great Fall based on Brunton & Hughes survey 43 1884 O.S.Q.Co. & Cwmorthin Disputed Territory I - Old Vein South 44 1886 O.S.Q.Co. Sketch Plan of The Great Fall - Extent of Subsidence 45 1887 O.S.Q.Co. U.Qy. Surface Features, Inclines & Tramways - 4 - Oakeley Slate – Contents and Introduction 46 1887 Welsh Slate Co. Main Inclines (C-DE-F-G-H-I-K) 47 1887 Welsh Slate Co. Main Vein Incline Connections (I-K-L) 48 1887-88 Welsh Slate Co. Surface Tramways & Inclines 49 1888 F.R. Penybont & Quarry Connections 49a 1880s General Quarries and Tramways at Rhiwbryfdir 50 1889 O.S.Q.Co. M.Qy. Surface Features, Inclines & Tramways 51 1889 O.S.Q.Co. U.Qy. Detail at Incline Head 52 1889 O.S.Q.Co. U.Qy. Detail plan of Holland’s Lower Mill complex “Felin Isaf” 53 1889 O.S.Q.Co. U.Qy. Sketch of Single Acting Water Balance Incline 54 1880- O.S.Q.Co. U.Qy Detail plan of Holland’s Upper Mill complex “Felin Uchaf” 55 1880 O.S.Q.Co.