Rhiwbach Quarry

The land on which it was located was owned by Lord Newborough, and small scale working of the site by local people needing roofing materials was carried out in the eighteenth century. More organised working of the site began in 1812, by two men from Penmachno and Ysbyty Ifan, which gradually developed into a five-man partnership. The quarry was sold to Robert Owen Mousdale of Bryndyffryn, Llanrwst in 1849, and two men worked it for him. The quarry was located in the parish of Penmachno, and the finished slates were exported by boat down the Conwy River. In order to get the slates to the river, they used an old trackway, previously used by drovers taking their cattle to markets in England.…

There were two sets of workings in the Rhiwbach quary: The 'old' workings, which are located on the North Vein, are just to the south on the exit incline, and the 'new' workings on the Back Vein, a little further to the south. With the opening of the Rhiwbach Tramway in 1853, the quarry was extended underground, and was eventually worked on eight floors. Major development in the 1860s included the installation of a single-cylinder steam engine and two Cornish boilers, which provided the steam. The equipment was manufactured by the Haigh Foundry of Wigan, and the engine, known as "Injan Fawr" (the big engine) was connected to several inclines, including the main exit incline which rose up…