The deserted quarry above Llanberis in the Eryri national park, formerly Snowdonia, was once part of the thriving slate trade that shaped the social structure, the politics and even the creativity of the whole of Wales. The industry, a source of international pride for generations, has since become something of a post-industrial footnote. But now both the quarrying and “splitting” of Welsh slate are set to regain their historic status.
A grant made this summer is providing the means for the transformation of an existing museum at the foot of Wales’s tallest peak, Yr Wyddfa, or Mount Snowdon, that should put slate back at the centre of the country’s cultural story.
