Highland Moors, Llandrindod Wells

Mar 18, 2016

Penrhyn quarrymen's payday extra


Workers at the Penrhyn slate quarry, near Bethesda, used to knock off early on payday to walk to the central pay office, but after steam train technology arrived in the 1870s the pay packets ...

were taken by rail to different places in the industrial complex. The workers didn't have so far to walk - but instead they worked for an extra hour! The steam trains were based at the Felin Fawr site, where two waterwheels for slate processing still survive. Volunteers have rebuilt some of the narrow-gauge Penrhyn Railway, including the track into the old engine shed. For more on the history of the railway and Felin Fawr, scan the HistoryPoints QR codes on the noticeboard where the cycle route passes through the site. Or click here