National Slate Museum - Llanberis

Date of visit - 20/06/2024

Wales, North Wales in particular, was once one of the largest producers and suppliers of slate, in the world. From Roman times, when Welsh slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon, right through the Industrial Revolution and into the 19th Century Welsh slate was in demand. The Great Depression and Second World War saw many of the smaller quarries close. By the 1970s most of the larger quarries had fallen by the wayside.

The picture above gives you an understanding of the sheer number of quarries that used to operate in Wales and has been gleaned from The Slate Industry of North and Mid Wales by Dave Sallery.

We decided that while we were in Llanberis it would be a good opportunity to have a quick look around the museum, and check out some of the history.

Little One is OK going around places like this, to a point, when he will, in his own way, let you know he has had enough! The museum is free and has a large even car park, which also serves the Llanberis Lake Railway The museum is generally accessible for all, although there is a section in the water wheel house where you can elect to go upstairs to see the machinery in action. Not being able to go up the stairs wasn't too much of a problem for us, as the moving machinery is visible from ground level, too.

Having walked around the machinery section of the museum and got a feel for how things functioned in the industry we went on to check out the terrace of four buildings, including the Chief Engineer and Quarrymen houses. These buildings have been re-erected brick by brick and document different eras in time, from 1861 through to 1961.

Over the years we have visited many living museums, places like Beamish, The Black Country Museum, Summerlee and Amberley and while the National Slate Museum doesn't have their scale, it is still worth a visit.

There is a cafe and small shop on site, but for Little One the best thing was the play area, with a good climbing frame and slide. It should be noted there is quite a sloped area to the back of the playground, but with supervision children should be safe from harm!

It is always an eye-opener to come to places like this and to try and put yourself into the lives of the people who lived and worked here, it makes you realise how pampered and lucky we are now!