Llanfair slate caverns are man-made caverns, close to Harlech, with stunning views of Cardigan Bay. It was raining when we visited, so no pictures, but the view was still beautiful. There is a lovely cafe and a well stocked gift shop. The slate caverns are free-flow and the entry fees are value for money.
We were given hard hats and flash-light, both very useful.
The entrance is a bit small, but comfortable to go through.
There are lots of panels with information about slate mining and the lives of the miners who were extracting the slate. They are really interesting to read.
This is the most spectacular cave of all. It has that opening which allows for light to go inside and there is beautiful and lush green fern.
These are the tools the miners would have used. The rods were used to drill holes in the slate before explosive was inserted to blow up the rock. These are quite heavy. It was such hard work.
The crates store cheese that can be purchased from their gift shop. It’s not vegan, so we didn’t buy any. It’s quite unusual to have cheese matured in a slate cavern, so I imagine this kind of item is popular with the visitors.
This is the kind of train carts that miners used to carry the slate blocks out of the mine. Some of those blocks could be a couple of tonnes in weight, even more. That’s about the weight of an SUV or an estate car.
It is a lovely place to visit and a fantastic option if it’s raining outside. It’s well worth visiting if you are in that part of Wales.
I think I’ve only been on one underground tour that I can remember (which included a boat ride). I’m not claustrophobic, but I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea, either. This does look fun and interesting, though.
Kelly recently posted…iPod Roulette – June 2023
This was not bad at all, plenty of space even in the corridors.
I’ve been in smaller ones and in fully dark ones, that one was a bit scary when the guide turned off the lights. Although, he asked before and made sure we were happy with the lights off. I never saw such darkness before, no glimpse of light, a very strange feeling.
I’ve been thinking about this some more and I remember visiting Meramec Caverns in Missouri when I was a child, then another place in eastern Tennessee when I was in my early 20s. (I’ve googled and still can’t figure out where it was) I agree that experiencing true darkness in a cave is weird. I can see how it might drive someone mad.
Kelly recently posted…iPod Roulette – June 2023
In that cave they had challenges, people paying to sleep there for a night. It must have been so strange.