Abercwmeiddaw Slate Quarry - Corris
Commonly referred to as the ‘Corris Binoculars’ due its twin bore hole shape seemingly peeking out over the surrounding valley. This slate quarry started its operations back in 1849 and consisted of underground workings and quarrying via a large pit to the north of the site . Today most of these underground passageways are lost with the exception of a few relatively short adits here and there.
If you search the surrounding areas of the quarry, remnants of its industrial age can be found scattered all over. These include old mills, waste tips and chimneys. The scenic views and remoteness of the place offers a brief experience of escapism and a lovely way to kill half an hour.
History
“After centuries of slate quarrying across the welsh landscape, magnificent features have been left as a constant reminder of its once great industrial past. One example of this is the 'Corris Binoculars' that were made by some of the world's first ever tunnel boring machines. In the mid 1860's the boring machines were trialed at three welsh mines, one of them being near Corris which left behind a twin set of tunnels spanning 30m deep into the rock. The first tunnelling machine was designed by Scottish engineer George Hunter, whose father James had developed industrial stone planing machines in Arbroath. Their industrial cutters were widely adopted by the slate industry – though James was to lose a leg in the process. Later known as 'The Hunter Saw' it boasted 4 discs each 4ft in diameter. The Boring machine was essentially a rail mounted turbine that turned rotating cutters and would typically take around 3 to 5 hours to cut a 2ft deep groove into rock”.
