I'd read about a climbing adventure through the disused Dinorwic slate quarries following in the footsteps of the miners who used to work there - this weekend we attempted it.
Armed with what little info we had - written down on what then felt like a treasure map - Vicki, Jamie and I set off kitted out with a "we might need this" climbing rack.
The quarry is massive, the second largest slate quarry in the world, and all the various areas have all been named. We started out at 'Dali's Hole' and walked through a tunnel into the easy to reach 'California'.
From there things get really interesting. The next tunnel you need to go through is 20m above you linked by a huge rusted old chain. My treasure map said you climb this hand over hand batman style and protect yourself by clip big screwgates into the links. I started the climb up and quickly realised none of my screwgates were big enough.
Eventually, after Vicki and Jamie enjoyed a good laugh at my expense, I made it to the top and dropped them a rope down.
From the top of the chain you walk through the tunnel and abseil out of the other side, from a convenient tree, down to Dali's Wall area.
From there you find another tunnel which forks halfway along and we came out into 'Tasmania' then 'Australia'. A tricky and risky scramble up a various precarious slate scree brought us out to the 'Salt Pans' level and our first ladders. The quarry closed in 1969 some the condition of some of the ladders and metal work is suspect to say the least.
Transfering from one clanking rusty ladder to another hanging ladder was interesting but it brought us out onto the 'G'day' level. Each new level was really interesting and had its own series of ladders. The call would come "watch this rung it's lose" as the leader tried to put as little weight on the ladder as possible. Each ladder led to more interesting buildings, structures, abandoned equiptment and good views.
The three final ladders led to sheds where workman's clothes and boots still remained, ready for the next days hard, dangerous, graft.
Before continuing along the route we detoured to the top of the hill to the old cutting rooms complete with old machinery.
The final stretch involves a scramble down to the top of the 'Lost World'. Two abseils and three dodgy ladders later and we were finally in the bottom of the 'Lost World' - a truly surreal place.
A final tunnel leads you through into the depths of 'Mordor'. A series of ladders lead back out up to the 'Khyber Pass' one of which was in a particularly bad state; six rungs missing replaced with tatty rope that was now threadbear. We roped up again for that one.
The walk from the 'Khyber Pass' back to the main track is along the old railway. However it was made longer by the fact that the path had slid away in one section leaving the railway track suspended in space.
A brilliant adventure.
0 comments:
Post a Comment