Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda and Bryneglwys Slate Quarry

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda

   The Penrhyn Quarry is a hole you can see from a long way off. For much of the nineteenth century it was the biggest slate quarry in the world, a huge series of grey terraces cut into the mountain above Bethesda, and the roofs of half of Britain and of cities as far away as Hamburg after its great fire came from here. Its owner, Lord Penrhyn, was a rich and stubborn man, and in 1900 his quarrymen began a strike that lasted three years, one of the longest and bitterest labour disputes in British history. The community of Bethesda, named after a chapel, was split by it, and the memories are still sensitive. The whole slate landscape of north-west Wales was listed by UNESCO in 2021.

   Read the complete Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda is where the day begins. Next is Conwy Castle and Town Walls.

2. 2. Conwy Castle and Town Walls

   Edward I built Conwy Castle in just four years, from 1283 to 1287, as part of his campaign to subdue the Welsh, and the result is one of the most impressive medieval fortresses in Europe. Designed by the master mason James of St George, it stands on a rock above the estuary of the Conwy river, with eight massive towers and high curtain walls, and the town below is still enclosed by its original walls, with twenty-one towers and three gateways. Walking along the walls gives superb views of the town, the castle, the estuary and the mountains of Snowdonia. The castles and town walls of King Edward in Gwynedd were inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1986.

   Read the complete Conwy Castle and Town Walls write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Conwy Castle and Town Walls comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Harlech Castle.

3. 3. Harlech Castle

   When Edward I built his castles in Wales, he was not interested in subtlety. Harlech, raised between 1283 and 1289 by the master mason James of St George, sits on a rocky crag above the dunes of Cardigan Bay, with concentric walls, massive gatehouse and round towers that still look ready for a siege. It is one of the castles of Edward I in Gwynedd listed by UNESCO, together with Caernarfon, Conwy and Beaumaris. The sea once came almost to the foot of the rock, and a staircase down the cliff allowed the garrison to be supplied by boat; the coast has since moved, and now there is a broad plain of dunes and a golf course between the castle and the water.

   Read the complete Harlech Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Harlech Castle. Next is Bryneglwys Slate Quarry.

4. 4. Bryneglwys Slate Quarry

   High above the village of Abergynolwyn, in a side valley where the sheep outnumber everyone, the spoil heaps of Bryneglwys tell you that this quiet corner of southern Snowdonia was once an industrial place. Slate was cut here through the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, and the whole reason the little Talyllyn Railway exists is to carry it down the valley to the coast at Tywyn. The quarry finally closed just after the Second World War, and the railway, which should have died with it, was taken over by volunteers in 1951 and became the first preserved railway in the world. You can still walk up from the old incline at Nant Gwernol into the quarry workings, past roofless barracks and wheel pits, with streams running through all of it.

   Read the complete Bryneglwys Slate Quarry write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bryneglwys Slate Quarry, about halfway. Next is back through Harlech Castle.

5. 5. back through Harlech Castle

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Harlech Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Harlech Castle sits at 175 km, about halfway. Next is back through Conwy Castle and Town Walls.

6. 6. back through Conwy Castle and Town Walls

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Conwy Castle and Town Walls write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Conwy Castle and Town Walls comes up about 291 km into the recorded legs. Next is Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda.

7. 7. Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda closes the day.