03 December 2012

North Wales Slate Museum is Fabulous at Forty

Slate is North Wales’ most famous export and The National Slate Museum is inviting people from all over North Wales and the Snowdonia regions to enjoy the finale of its “Fabulous at Forty” exhibition.  The exhibition began on the 9th May earlier this year and is due to end on the 31st December.  There has never been a greater time for visitors from Tyn Rhos Country House Hotels in Caernarfon (just a short drive away) to learn about Welsh industrial history.

An Authentic North Wales Attraction

The National Slate Museum is part of the National Museums of Wales and has a unique story compared to the average industrial museum, as it used to be a working industrial site until 1969 and it reopened in 1972; after which it began its second life as the North Wales Quarrying Museum.  The North Wales Slate Museum is situated in the heart of the Snowdonia region in the town of Llanberis and has retained the original Victorian workshops.  The museum is situated next to the vast Dinorwig Quarry which used to employ 3,000 men and be a hub of industry in the North Wales region.  It has attracted 2.6 million people in its life as a tourist attraction.

If you fancy yourself as a history buff you can take this opportunity to travel back in time and see the workshops and buildings as they were with highlights including the Chief Engineers House which looks exactly how it did in 1911 and the largest waterwheel in Britain which made the tools for quarrying the slate.   Find out how strikes, suffering and community come together in the story of the Dinorwig Quarry.

Celebrate Welsh Heritage in Style

The Fabulous at Forty exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to ask questions about the history of the museum as well as the techniques and methods which the workmen used to quarry the slate.  The exhibition covers the grand opening of the exhibition in the seventies to a visit from Prince Charles and the major redevelopment and free admission in the noughties. 

See, Touch and Feel Welsh Slate for Yourself

 If you are seeking a more hands on taster of Welsh heritage you can watch a craftsman split and dress the slate and produces pieces of art from the stone.  Slate enthusiasts can pick up ordinary circles, hearts, photo frames and more intricate designs to take home with them. There is also a blacksmith who can use slate to produce wrought iron dragons and a carpenter who can take you on the Vivian Quarry Walking Tour and show you how important wood is to slate production.