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127-514: The North Wales Coast League was a North Walian association football league that existed from 1893 until 1921. After the Welsh Senior League , which started in 1890, it was the second association football league formed in North Wales. There was an attempt to restart the league in 1930, which failed, followed by another restart in 1933, which lasted for two seasons. Seven teams from across

254-578: A 20% tax on all slate carried coastwise, which put the Welsh producers at a disadvantage compared to inland producers who could use the canal network to distribute their product. There was no tax on slates sent overseas, and exports to the United States gradually increased. The Penrhyn Quarry continued to grow, and in 1799 Greenfield introduced the system of "galleries", huge terraces from 9 metres to 21 metres in depth. In 1798, Lord Penrhyn constructed

381-605: A Wrexham General— London Marylebone service until 2011. The Borderlands Line, intersects the Shrewsbury—Chester line at Wrexham General, branching south to Wrexham Central (where it terminates ), and north to Bidston (Birkenhead) , and the North Wales Coast Line at Shotton. Bidston connects to the Wirral line , providing Merseyrail services, west to West Kirby , and east to Liverpool Central . The Cambrian Line forms

508-520: A city in 2022. Historically, for most of North Wales, the region can be referred to as simply " Gwynedd ", named after one of the last independent Welsh kingdoms, the Kingdom of Gwynedd . This has led to a stronger sense of Welsh identity and home to more Welsh-language speakers , especially in North West Wales, than the rest of Wales. The term "North Wales" is rarely applied to all of Wales during

635-519: A large part of Hamburg in 1842 led to a demand for slate for rebuilding, and Germany became an important market, particularly for Ffestiniog slate. In 1843, the Padarn Railway became the first quarry railway to use steam locomotives, and the transport of slate by train rather than by ship was made easier when the London and North Western Railway built branches to connect Port Penrhyn and Port Dinorwic to

762-399: A lower poundage. The first Monday of every month was "bargain letting day" when these agreements were made between men and management. The men had to pay for their ropes and chains, for tools and for services such as sharpening and repairing. Subs (advances) were paid every week, everything being settled up on the "day of the big pay". If conditions had not been good, the men could end up owing

889-602: A number of medieval castles (e.g. Criccieth , Dolbadarn , Dolwyddelan , Harlech, Caernarfon Castle, Beaumaris, Conwy) The area of North Wales is about 6,172 square kilometres, making it slightly larger than the country of Brunei, or the island of Bali. The highest mountain in Wales is Snowdon ( Yr Wyddfa) , in northwest Wales. North Wales does not have any motorways , with the only motorways in Wales being present in South Wales, and nearest motorways ( M53 and M56 ) being on

1016-508: A peak of 48,000 passengers in 2003, before being discontinued in 2004. The public rail network of the region is largely split into two sections. These sections are centred around the two main west-east railway lines transversing the region, as there are currently no north-south railway lines wholly in the region. This is largely due to the mountainous regions of Snowdonia resting between the two lines, and low passenger numbers of north-south lines leading to their closure. The public rail network

1143-618: A restored incline formerly used to carry slate waggons uphill and downhill. In Blaenau Ffestiniog, the Llechwedd Slate Caverns have been converted into a visitor attraction. Visitors can travel on the Miners' Tramway or descend into the Deep Mine, via the steepest cable railway in Europe, to explore this former slate mine and learn how slate was extracted and processed and about the lives of

1270-475: A rotary machine to dress the split slate. The splitting of the blocks to produce roofing slates proved resistant to mechanisation, and continued to be done with a mallet and chisel. An extra source of income from the 1860s was the production of "slab", thicker pieces of slate which were planed and used for many purposes, for example flooring, tombstones and billiard tables . The larger quarries could be highly profitable. The Mining Journal estimated in 1859 that

1397-535: A settlement of a population higher than 100,000 people. Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period , when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium , now Caernarfon . The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then rapidly during the Industrial Revolution in Wales until the late 19th century, at which time

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1524-456: A shipload of slates from Aberogwen, near Bangor, to Rhuddlan to roof a house at Henllan, near Denbigh . The wreck of a wooden ship carrying finished slates was discovered in the Menai Strait and is thought to date from the 16th century. By the second half of the 16th century, there was a small export trade of slates to Ireland from ports such as Beaumaris and Caernarfon. Slate exports from

1651-572: A single quarry. The first steam engine to be used in the slate industry was a pump installed at the Hafodlas quarry in the Nantlle Valley in 1807, but most quarries relied on hydropower to drive machinery. Wales was by now producing more than half the United Kingdom's output of slate, 26,000 tons out of a total UK production of 45,000 tons in 1793. In July 1794, the government imposed

1778-450: A slate mine as early as the 14th century. The earliest confirmed date of operating dates from the early 16th century when the local house Plas Aberllefenni was roofed in slates from this quarry. Transport problems meant that the slate was usually used fairly close to the quarries. There was some transport by sea. A poem by the 15th century poet Guto'r Glyn asks the Dean of Bangor to send him

1905-525: A slump in the home building trade had reduced domestic demand; finally French slate producers had increased their exports to the United Kingdom. All of this led to a prolonged decline in demand for Welsh slate. Eight Ffestiniog quarries closed between 1908 and 1913, and the Oakley dismissed 350 men in 1909. R. Merfyn Jones comments: The effects of this depression on the quarrying districts were deep and painful. Unemployment and emigration became constant features of

2032-484: A whole. The caban , the cabin where the quarrymen gathered for their lunch break, was often the scene of wide-ranging discussions, which were often formally minuted. A surviving set of minutes from a caban at the Llechwedd mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog for 1908–1910 records discussions on Church Disestablishment , tariff reform and other political topics. Eisteddfodau were held, poetry composed and discussed and most of

2159-554: A work force of 17,000 men produced half a million tons of slate. A bitter industrial dispute at the Penrhyn Quarry between 1900 and 1903 marked the beginning of its decline, and the First World War saw a great reduction in the number of men employed in the industry. The Great Depression and Second World War led to the closure of many smaller quarries, and competition from other roofing materials, particularly tiles , resulted in

2286-512: A yearly rent of a few shillings and a royalty on the slates produced. The first landowner to take over the working of slates on his land was the owner of the Penrhyn estate, Richard Pennant , later Baron Penrhyn . In 1782, the men working quarries on the estate were bought out or ejected, and Pennant appointed James Greenfield as agent. The same year, Lord Penrhyn opened a new quarry at Caebraichycafn near Bethesda, which as Penrhyn Quarry would become

2413-791: Is home to three of the four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales. These are Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal , the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales and, collectively, the Edwardian castles and town walls of the region which comprise those at Caernarfon , Beaumaris , Conwy and Harlech . It also shares with Powys and Ceredigion the distinction of hosting the only UNESCO Biosphere (from Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development) reserve in Wales, namely, Biosffer Dyfi Biosphere. London has only one more site than North Wales. The boundaries and status of North Wales are undefined (compared to regions of England ), definitions, and

2540-568: Is managed and maintained by Network Rail . Historically, the region had a more extensive rail network with more interconnectivity of the current lines and more connections to the south. However, due to falling passenger numbers, the emergence of automobiles and other factors, the region's railways came under review, resulting in the Beeching cuts to the network. Many former rail corridors of the once more extensive network were superseded by road infrastructure. The numerous heritage railways scattered across

2667-604: Is part of the E-road network as E22 (until Ewloe , where it goes along the A494 into England), and is a dual carriageway , grade-separated, for its entire 88-mile length. A historically important road in the region is the A5 , a major road that was the primary link between the region and London (as the " London-Holyhead Trunk Road" ). The road crosses the Menai Suspension Bridge and

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2794-865: Is regarded as a more scenic route, with its historical importance as a connection between London and the Port of Holyhead, superseded by the A55. Other roads transiting North Wales, from east to west include the A458 from Halesowen to Mallwyd , and the A494 from Dolgellau to Saughall (originally to Birkenhead ). The busiest north-south road travelling through the region is the A483 from Chester (originally from Manchester) through Wrexham and into England near Oswestry , before re-entering Montgomeryshire and passing Welshpool and Newtown, before continuing onto Swansea . Other major north-south roads include

2921-555: Is the main port for freight and sea passenger transport with the Republic of Ireland, handling more than 2 million passengers each year. 81% of freight traffic going through Welsh ports to the Republic of Ireland, and 75.5% of sea passenger traffic between Wales and the Republic of Ireland went through Holyhead in 2018. Historically, there were two routes between Holyhead and the Irish ports of Dublin and Dun Laoghaire . The route to Dun Laoghaire

3048-502: Is the most populated principal area of North Wales, home to an estimated 155,600 people, with the Isle of Anglesey being the least populated with an estimated 70,000 people. In 2018, North Wales has an estimated population density of 113.6 persons per square kilometre. Flintshire is the most densely populated of the 6 areas, at 355.6 persons per km , with Gwynedd being the least dense principal area at 49.0 persons per km . Between 2008, and 2018,

3175-617: The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain and the period of the Heptarchy , to distinguish it from "West Wales", known today as Cornwall , although the term "Wales" or the names of the various petty kingdoms of Wales ( Gwynedd, and Powys in North Wales) are more commonly used to depict the region during this time. The region is steeped in history, being a crucial component in Welsh medieval history , and

3302-826: The Cambrian Line . There is a total of 5 rail routes in North Wales: the North Wales Coast Line , the Shrewsbury—Chester Line , the Conwy Valley Line , the Borderlands Line (all part of the North Wales lines) and the Cambrian Line. All 5 routes together in 2018-19 had approximately 5,295,602 entries and exits through the 66 stations. The North Wales Coast Line, the main rail line serving

3429-542: The Dee valley and around Machynlleth . The virtues of slate as a building and roofing material have been recognised since the Roman period. The Roman fort at Segontium, Caernarfon, was originally roofed with tiles, but the later levels contain numerous slates, used for both roofing and flooring. The nearest deposits are about five miles (8 km) away in the Cilgwyn area, indicating that

3556-659: The European Union on 31 January 2020. The division with the rest of Wales is arbitrary and depends on the particular use being made. For example, the boundary of North Wales Police differs from the boundary of the North Wales area of the Natural Resources Wales and the North Wales Regional Transport Consortium ( Taith ). The historic boundary follows the pre-1996 county boundaries of Merionethshire and Denbighshire which in turn closely follow

3683-534: The Ffestiniog Railway , and Abergynolwyn and Bryn Eglwys quarry , including the Talyllyn Railway . The Welsh slate industry was essentially a Welsh-speaking industry. Most of the workforce in the main slate-producing areas of North Wales were drawn from the local area, with little immigration from outside Wales. The industry had a considerable influence on the culture of the area and on that of Wales as

3810-770: The Gobowen to Oswestry line, Cambrian Heritage Railways , the line's operator, is working on reopening the line (multiple sections of line), and the Anglesey Central Railway is also proposed to be restored. In Llandudno, the Great Orme Tramway links to the Great Orme . It is the only remaining cable-operated street tramway in Great Britain, and one of only a few surviving in the world. North Wales has very diverse and complex geology with Precambrian schists along

3937-705: The Halton Curve , direct trains run to Liverpool Lime Street , linking to the Merseyrail. Services to Manchester Piccadilly from Chester, via the Chester—Manchester line for Transport for Wales services, and the Mid—Cheshire line for Northern services, in addition to the Northern service to Leeds , provide North Wales' connections to Northern England. Shrewsbury provides the main travel connections for passengers from

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4064-613: The Menai Strait and the great Cambrian dome behind Harlech and underlying much of western Snowdonia. In the Ordovician period much volcanism deposited a range of minerals and rocks over the northwestern parts of Gwynedd whilst to the east of the River Conwy lies a large area of upland rolling hills underlain by the Silurian mudstones and grits comprising the Denbigh and Migneint Moors. To

4191-631: The North Wales South Wales service , along with the Shrewsbury—Chester, North Wales Coast Line, and South Wales Main Line . These lines form the main rail connection between North Wales and South Wales. Chester provides the main travel connections for the North Wales Coast, as a major transport hub. As part of the North Wales Metro , from Chester (and Wrexham General at limited times), via

4318-643: The North Wales coast contested in the first season, with the number of clubs increasing to 26 in 1920, playing over two divisions. In 1921 the league was absorbed into the Welsh National League (North) . As well as the failed attempt to restart the league in the 1930-31 season, the North Wales Football Combination was formed in the same season, then renamed North Wales Coast League for the 1933-34 season, for two seasons. Disbanded due to

4445-622: The Office for National Statistics . In addition to the six principal areas, North Wales is also divided into the following preserved counties for various ceremonial purposes: Clwyd (comprising Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham), and Gwynedd (comprising Gwynedd and Isle of Anglesey ) The preserved counties are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and were used for local government purposes (with county councils) between 1974 and 1996. During this period up to

4572-623: The River Dwyryd to the estuary, where it was transferred to larger vessels. There was further expansion at Blaenau when John Whitehead Greaves , who had been running the Votty quarry since 1833, took a lease on the land between this quarry and the main Ffestiniog to Betws-y-Coed road. After years of digging he struck the famous Old Vein in 1846 in what became the Llechwedd quarry . A fire which destroyed

4699-512: The Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru ): Aberconwy ( UK / SN ) , Alyn and Deeside ( UK / SN ) , Arfon ( UK / SN ) , Clwyd South ( UK / SN ) , Clwyd West ( UK / SN ) , Delyn ( UK / SN ) , Dwyfor Meironnydd ( UK / SN ) , Montgomeryshire ( UK / SN , if considered North Wales) , Vale of Clwyd ( UK / SN ) , Wrexham ( UK / SN ) , and Ynys Môn (Anglesey, UK / SN ) . An electoral region for

4826-478: The West Coast Main Line to London Euston . According to StatsWales, the number of rail journeys across the 6 principal areas of North Wales, made in 2017-18 was 1.4 million, an increase of 20,525 from 2007-8. The largest share of these rail journeys, at 38.4%, was within the boundaries of Gwynedd. Conwy was the principal area which saw the greatest increase in rail journeys as a percentage of journeys over

4953-452: The proposed replacements to the existing 6 principal areas before proposals were scrapped in 2019 . They are: North East Wales (Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham), and North West Wales (Anglesey, Conwy, Gwynedd) being the two most popular groupings, although a North Central Wales (Conwy and Denbighshire) grouping has been occasionally used, specifically for health administration. The population, density and areas are estimates for 2022 from

5080-552: The " King(s) of the Britons ", and Gwynedd would lead the charge in the subsequent formation of the Principality of Wales . The mountainous stronghold of Snowdonia formed the nucleus of that realm and would become the last redoubt of independent Medieval Wales — only overcome in 1283 by English forces under Edward I . To this day it remains a stronghold of the Welsh language and a centre for Welsh national and cultural identity. The area

5207-409: The "rubbish men" who cleared the waste rock from the galleries and built the tips of waste which surrounded the quarry. Only about a tenth, or less, of the rock extracted became finished product. The bad rockmen and rubbish men were usually paid by the ton of material removed, but the quarrymen were paid according to a more complicated system. Part of the payment was determined by the number of slates

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5334-588: The Berwyn Quarry near Llangollen . The final large-scale underground working to close was Maenofferen, associated with the Llechwedd tourist mine, in 1999: part of this site, now effectively amalgamated with Votty / Bowydd, is still worked by untopping. The Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff uses waste slate in many different colours in its design: purple slate from Penrhyn, blue from Cwt-y-Bugail, green from Nantlle, grey from Llechwedd, and black from Corris. Part of

5461-542: The Bethesda area, mainly from the Penrhyn Quarry. Blaenau Ffestiniog produced almost as much, and the Dinorwig Quarry alone produced 80,000 tons per year. The Nantlle Valley quarries produced 40,000 tons, while the remainder of Wales outside these areas produced only about 20,000 tons per year. By the late 1870s, Wales was producing 450,000 tons of slate per year, compared with just over 50,000 tons for

5588-792: The Breedon Group). It was previously owned by the Lagan Group, which also owned and carried out some operations at the Oakeley quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog, the Pen yr Orsedd quarry in the Nantlle Vale, and the Cwt-y-Bugail quarry. In March 2010 the company announced its decision to mothball the Oakeley quarry because of subsidence at the site. The Greaves Welsh Slate Company produces roofing slates and other slate products from Llechwedd, and work also continues at

5715-509: The Cambrian line (and those commuting south from other North Wales stations), providing services, in addition to those to South Wales, through England to Crewe, Birmingham International , and Birmingham New Street , and via the Heart of Wales line , services to Llanelli . There are numerous heritage railways in the region. Most of them are narrow-gauge . Several run on sections of historically longer lines. Heritage railways employ more than 300 people and generate over £50 million per year for

5842-475: The Cambrian line, while Welshpool on the Cambrian line is across town from Raven Square on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway . Many rail and bus lines of the region are part of an improvement project called the North Wales Metro or North East Wales Metro, which proposes improvements to the existing lines (specifically the Borderlands lines), improved connectivity between rail and other modes of transport, and more connections to North West England . For

5969-471: The Dinorwig Quarry, with machinery powered by overhead shafting that in its turn was driven by the largest water-wheel in the United Kingdom, over 50  feet in diameter. There were several different categories of worker in the quarries. The quarrymen proper, who made up just over 50% of the workforce, worked the slate in partnerships of three, four, six or eight, known as "bargain gangs". A gang of four typically consisted of two "rockmen" who would blast

6096-399: The Dinorwig Slate Quarry is now within the Padarn Country Park, and the other part houses the Dinorwig power station in caverns under the old quarry workings. The National Slate Museum is located in some of the quarry workshops. The museum has displays including Victorian slate-workers' cottages that once stood at Tanygrisiau near Blaenau Ffestiniog. The museum has a working water wheel, and

6223-403: The North Wales coast and passing Deeside, Llandudno Junction , Conwy, and Bangor. It is described as the economic lifeline for North Wales, and the second most important road in all of Wales, only to the M4 in South Wales. The road connects all the way to the Port of Holyhead following an extension in 2001, which provides ferry connections to the Republic of Ireland . The majority of the road

6350-406: The North Wales economy. The heritage railways in the region are: Several of these lines connect to the Cambrian line. Stations where the heritage railway uses the same station as Network Rail. At Fairbourne, the Fairbourne Railway connects to Barmouth Ferry and the Ffestiniog Railway connects at Minffordd . The Talyllyn Railway's Tywyn Wharf station is a short walk from Tywyn station on

6477-447: The North Wales region, consists of the 6 northern principal areas, and statistics provided by StatsWales only include these 6 areas. In 2018, the estimated population of the region was 698,400 people. North Wales exhibits the evenest distribution of population across the local authorities of any of the 4 statistical regions of Wales, with 4 of the 6 authorities home to over 100,000 residents, Flintshire, Wrexham, Gwynedd and Conwy. Flintshire

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6604-421: The Ordovician slate was less brittle than the Cambrian slate further north, and therefore easier to work by machine. The slate mill evolved between 1840 and 1860, powered by a single line shaft running along the building and bringing together operations such as sawing, planing and dressing. In 1859, John Whitehead Greaves invented the Greaves sawing table to produce blocks for the splitter, then in 1856 introduced

6731-405: The Penrhyn Quarry. Further mechanisation was introduced, with a computerised laser beam being used to aid the sawing of the slate blocks. As of 2022 , the Penrhyn Quarry is still producing slate, though at a much reduced capacity from its heyday at the end of the 19th century. In 1995, it accounted for almost 50% of UK production. It is currently owned and operated by Welsh Slate Ltd (part of

6858-503: The Penrhyn and Dinorwig quarries and in the Nantlle Valley. There are smaller outcrops elsewhere, for example on Anglesey . The Ordovician deposits run south-west from Betws-y-Coed to Porthmadog ; these were the deposits mined at Blaenau Ffestiniog. There is another band of Ordovician slate further south, running from Llangynnog to Aberdyfi , quarried mainly in the Corris area, with a few outcrops in south-west Wales, notably Pembrokeshire . The Silurian deposits are mainly further east in

6985-420: The Penrhyn estate are recorded from 1713 when 14 shipments totalling 415,000 slates were sent to Dublin . The slates were carried to the ports by pack-horses, and later by carts. This was sometimes done by women, the only female involvement in what was otherwise an exclusively male industry. Until the late 18th century, slate was extracted from many small pits by small partnerships of local men, who did not own

7112-453: The Penrhyn quarries produced an annual net profit of £ 100,000, and the Dinorwig Quarry £70,000 a year. From 1860 onwards slate prices rose steadily. Quarries expanded and the population of the quarrying districts increased, for example the population of Ffestiniog parish increased from 732 in 1801 to 11,274 in 1881. Total Welsh production reached 350,000 tons a year by the end of the 1860s. Of this total, over 100,000 tons came from

7239-407: The River Dyfi). The area is mostly rural with many mountains and valleys . This, in combination with its coast (on the Irish Sea), means tourism is the principal industry. Farming , which was once the principal economic force in the area, is now much reduced in importance. The average income per capita of the local population is the lowest in the UK. The eastern part of North Wales contains

7366-500: The Senedd, shares the name "North Wales", yet does not cover all of North Wales, only the northern coast, Anglesey, and northeast of Wales (specifically the entire area of the former pre-1996 county of Clwyd); the rest of North Wales (mainly Meirionnydd) is covered by the Mid and West Wales Senedd electoral region. All constituencies aside Dwyfor Meironnydd, and Montgomeryshire are in the North Wales Senedd electoral region. Between 1979 and 1994, all of North Wales (including Montgomery )

7493-526: The area borders the principal areas of Ceredigion , Powys , and the rest of Wales to the south, England and its counties of Shropshire , and Cheshire to the east, and the Irish sea to the north and west. Other definitions, especially historical, commonly include Montgomeryshire , one of the historic counties of Wales , to be part of North Wales, although as part of Powys its more commonly considered Mid Wales today. The definitions of North and Mid Wales constantly overlap, with Meirionnydd (southern part of

7620-464: The boundary of North Wales with South or Mid Wales differs between organisations. It is strongly used culturally for comparison to the more urban South Wales. The most common definition for statistical and administrative purposes of North Wales contains the 6 principal areas of: Isle of Anglesey , Conwy , Denbighshire , Flintshire , Gwynedd , and Wrexham . Of which have a combined estimated population in 2018 of 698,400 people. Under this definition,

7747-456: The capital to expand further. The quarrymen usually had to pay a rent or royalty to the landlord, though the quarrymen at Cilgwyn did not. A letter from the agent of the Penrhyn estate, John Paynter, in 1738 complains that competition from Cilgwyn was affecting the sales of Penrhyn slates. The Cilgwyn slates could be extracted more cheaply and sold at a higher price. Penrhyn introduced larger sizes of slate between 1730 and 1740, and gave these sizes

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7874-405: The city of Wrexham and the conurbations of Deeside and Rhyl/ Prestatyn , where the main retail, cultural, educational, tourism, and transport infrastructure and services of North Wales are located. Bangor and St Asaph are the region's cities , Bangor is Wales' oldest city , whereas St Asaph is one of Wales' smallest and was awarded status in 2012. Wrexham, the region's largest settlement, became

8001-588: The closure of most of the larger quarries in the 1960s and 1970s. Slate production continues on a much reduced scale. On 28 July 2021, the slate landscape of northwest Wales was awarded the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site , whilst as early as 2018 Welsh slate was designated by the International Union of Geological Sciences as a Global Heritage Stone Resource . The slate deposits of Wales belong to three geological series: Cambrian , Ordovician and Silurian . The Cambrian deposits run south-west from Conwy to near Criccieth ; these deposits were quarried in

8128-453: The coastal town of Porthmadog, where it was loaded onto ships. The railway was graded so that loaded slate waggons could be run by gravity downhill all the way from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port. The empty waggons were hauled back up by horses, which travelled down in 'dandy' waggons . This helped expansion at the Blaenau Ffestiniog quarries, which had previously had to cart the slate to Maentwrog to be loaded onto small boats and taken down

8255-427: The death rate for underground workers in the slate mines was 3.23 per thousand, higher than the rate for coal miners . The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to a severe drop in trade. Part of the Manod quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog was used to store art treasures from the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery . The number of men employed in the slate industry in North Wales dropped from 7,589 in 1939 to 3,520 by

8382-402: The east, around Llangollen, to the north on Halkyn Mountain and the Great Orme and in eastern Anglesey are beds of limestone from which metals have been mined since pre-Roman times. Added to all this are the complexities posed by Parys Mountain and the outcrops of unusual minerals such as Jasper and Mona Marble which make the area of special interest to geologists . Terms for people from

8509-455: The end of the war. In 1945, total production was only 70,000 tons a year, and fewer than 20 quarries were still open compared with 40 before the war. The Nantlle Valley had been particularly hard hit, with only 350 workers employed in the entire district, compared with 1,000 in 1937. Demand for slate was dropping as tiles were increasingly used for roofing, and imports from countries such as Portugal , France and Italy were increasing. There

8636-403: The extension of a system of contracting out parts of the quarry. The quarrymen, instead of arranging their own bargains, would find themselves working for a contractor. The union's funds for strike pay were inadequate, and there was a great deal of hardship among the 2,800 workers. Lord Penrhyn reopened the quarry in June 1901, and about 500 men returned to work, to be castigated as "traitors" by

8763-442: The formation of the Welsh League North . North Wales Those from North Wales are sometimes referred to as "Gogs" (from "Gogledd" – the Welsh word for "north"); in comparison, those from South Wales are sometimes called "Hwntws" by those from North Wales. The region includes the localities of Wrexham , Deeside , Rhyl , Colwyn Bay , Flint , Bangor , Llandudno , and Holyhead . The largest localities in North Wales are

8890-425: The gang produced, but this could vary greatly according to the nature of the rock in the section allocated to them. The men would therefore be paid an extra sum of "poundage" per pound's worth of slate produced. "Bargains" were let by the setting steward, who would agree a price for a certain area of rock. If the rock in the bargain allocated to a gang was poor, they would be paid a higher poundage, while good rock meant

9017-458: The geographic features of the River Dyfi to Aran Fawddwy , then crossing the high moorlands following the watershed until reaching Cadair Berwyn and then following the River Rhaeadr and River Tanat to the Shropshire border. The most common definition is that North Wales ends at the peripheries of the northern 6 principal areas, therefore the border is between Wrexham - Powys, Denbighshire - Powys, Gwynedd - Powys, and Gwynedd - Ceredigion (over

9144-497: The horse-drawn Llandegai Tramway to transport slates from Penrhyn Quarry, and in 1801 this was replaced by the narrow gauge Penrhyn Quarry Railway , one of the earliest railway lines. The slates were transported to the sea at Port Penrhyn which had been constructed in the 1790s. The Padarn Railway was opened in 1824 as a tramway for the Dinorwig Quarry, and converted to a railway in 1843. It ran from Gilfach Ddu near Llanberis to Port Dinorwic at Y Felinheli . The Nantlle Railway

9271-405: The industry. This growth was mainly at Blaenau Ffestiniog and in the Nantlle Valley, where the workforce at Penyrorsedd reached 450. Slate production in Wales peaked at over half a million tons in 1898, with 17,000 men employed in the industry. A second lock-out or strike at the Penrhyn Quarry began on 22 November 1900 and lasted for three years. The causes of the dispute were complex, but included

9398-399: The landowners began to operate the quarries themselves, on a larger scale. After the government abolished slate duty in 1831, rapid expansion was propelled by the building of narrow gauge railways to transport the slates to the ports. The slate industry dominated the economy of north-west Wales during the second half of the 19th century, but was on a much smaller scale elsewhere. In 1898,

9525-463: The larger quarries had their own band , with the Oakley band particularly famous. Burn calculates that there are around fifty men judged worthy of an entry in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography who started their working lives as slate quarrymen, compared to only four owners, though obviously there was also a distinct disparity in the numbers of the two groups. A number of Welsh writers have drawn on

9652-555: The largest quarries in mid Wales, employing 300 men and producing 30% of the total output of the Corris district. The Cardigan Railway was opened in 1873, partly to carry slate traffic, and enabled the Glogue quarry in Pembrokeshire to grow to employ 80 men. Mechanization was gradually introduced to make most aspects of the industry more efficient, particularly at Blaenau Ffestiniog where

9779-443: The largest slate quarry in the world. By 1792, this quarry was employing 500 men and producing 15,000  tons of slate per year. At Dinorwig, a single large partnership took over in 1787, and in 1809 the landowner, Thomas Assheton Smith of Vaynol , took the management of the quarry into his own hands. The Cilgwyn quarries were taken over by a company in 1800, and the scattered workings at all three locations were amalgamated into

9906-429: The lives of the quarrymen for their material, for example the novels of T. Rowland Hughes. Chwalfa , translated into English as Out of their night (1954), has the Penrhyn Quarry dispute as a background, while Y cychwyn , translated as The beginning (1969), follows the apprenticeship of a young quarryman. Several novels by Kate Roberts , the daughter of a quarryman, give a picture of the area around Rhosgadfan, where

10033-541: The main line in 1852. The Corris Railway opened as the horse-worked Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad in 1859, connecting the slate quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni with wharves on the estuary of the River Dyfi . The Ffestiniog Railway converted to steam in 1863, and the Talyllyn Railway was opened in 1866 to serve the Bryn Eglwys quarry above the village of Abergynolwyn . Bryn Eglwys grew to be one of

10160-460: The management money. This system was not finally abolished until after the Second World War. Because of this arrangement, the men tended to see themselves as independent contractors rather than employees on a wage, and trade unions were slow to develop. There were grievances however, including unfairness in setting bargains and disputes over days off. The North Wales Quarrymen's Union (NWQMU)

10287-553: The middle of Wales, leading most north-south connections to be slower, leading to diversions onto north-south roads in England. The emphasis on east-west roadways has led to North Wales having closer connections with North West England (centred on Liverpool and Manchester ) rather than with South Wales. The busiest road in North Wales is the A55 , the "North Wales Expressway", a dual carriageway primary road connecting Chester to Holyhead , along

10414-504: The miners. The Braichgoch slate mines at Corris have been converted into a tourist attraction named "King Arthur's Labyrinth" where visitors are taken underground by boat along a subterranean river and walk through the caverns to see audiovisual presentations of the Arthurian legends. The Llwyngwern quarry near Machynlleth is now the site of the Centre for Alternative Technology . A number of

10541-425: The modern principal area of Gwynedd) sometimes considered Mid Wales. North Wales may also be spelled as 'north Wales' with a lower case 'n' for north , coined as the "to cap or not to cap" debate. It is argued that using a lower case 'n' is to be only used to signify "north" as merely a geographic identifier, and a capital 'N' to distinctly separate the region for cultural, organisational, or statistical purposes from

10668-416: The morning, and the same distance home after six in the evening; to work hard from six to six; to dine on cold coffee, or a cup of buttermilk, and a slice of bread and butter; and to support (as some of them had to do) a family of perhaps five, eight or ten children on wages averaging from 12s to 16s a week. In 1879, a period of twenty years of almost uninterrupted growth came to an end, and the slate industry

10795-639: The most important slate producing areas were in northwest Wales . These sites included the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda , the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis , the Nantlle Valley quarries, and Blaenau Ffestiniog , where the slate was mined rather than quarried . Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in

10922-531: The most populous areas, with more than 300,000 people living in the areas around Wrexham and Deeside. Wrexham, with a population of 65,692 at the 2011 census in its built-up area , it is North Wales' largest city. The total population of North Wales is 696,300 (2017). The majority of other settlements are along the coast, including some popular resort towns , such as Rhyl , Llandudno , Pwllheli , Prestatyn and Tywyn . There are two cathedral cities – Bangor and St. Asaph  – and

11049-551: The names which became standard. These ranged from "Duchesses", the largest at 24 inches (610 mm) by 12 inches (300 mm), through "Countesses", "Ladies" and "Doubles" to the smallest "Singles". Methusalem Jones, previously a quarryman at Cilgwyn, began to work the Diffwys quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog in the 1760s, which became the first large quarry in the area. The large landowners were initially content to issue "take notes", allowing individuals to quarry slates on their lands for

11176-466: The north Wales coast, and connecting with Irish Ferries and Stena Line ferry services to Dublin Port in the Republic of Ireland. The Conwy Valley Line branches off at Llandudno Junction, heading north to Llandudno and south to Blaenau Ffestiniog . The Shrewsbury—Chester line, connects Chester and Shrewsbury via Wrexham , providing the main north Wales and south Wales connection. A former open-access operator Wrexham & Shropshire , used to provide

11303-514: The north coast. English Maelor , currently part of Wrexham County Borough, located east of the River Dee, as the name suggests, was part of England during a significant part of this period. North Wales is electorally divided into constituencies and electoral wards to elect local representatives to multiple layers of government. There are eleven constituencies used for both the UK Parliament and

11430-401: The oldest quarry in Wales, closed in 1914, though it later reopened. In 1917, slate quarrying was declared a non-essential industry and a number of quarries were closed for the remainder of the war. The demand for new houses after the end of the war brought back a measure of prosperity; in the slate mines of Blaenau Ffestiniog production was almost back to 1913 levels by 1927, but in the quarries

11557-505: The other side of the Wales-England border . There have been proposals to upgrade the A55 into a motorway or have more motorway-like features. Trunk roads in the region are maintained by the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent (NMWTRA). The main roads spanning across North Wales, mostly span east to west, especially along the North Wales coast. This is mainly due to the mountainous terrain in

11684-733: The other west-east line in the region (as the Mid-Wales line), it connects Shrewsbury, westwards with Mid Wales and towns along Cardigan Bay . The line is commonly split into two sections, the section from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth is sometimes referred to as the Cambrian Main Line, with the Cambrian Coast Line, splitting off from this line at Dovey Junction , heading northwest to Pwllheli . The Welsh Marches Line connects Crewe to Newport , via Shrewsbury, with services from Holyhead usually continuing to Cardiff Central . It forms part of

11811-417: The output was still well below the pre-war level. The Great Depression in the 1930s led to cuts in production, with exports particularly hard hit. The quarries and mines made increasing use of mechanisation from the start of the 20th century, with electricity replacing steam and water as a power source. The Llechwedd quarry introduced its first electrical plant in 1891, and in 1906, a hydro-electric plant

11938-415: The population density of North Wales grew by 2.3%, the third-highest rate of population density growth of the 4 statistical regions of Wales. Gwynedd, with 3.7% growth, had the highest population density growth rate in North Wales, whereas the Isle of Anglesey had the lowest population density growth rate at 0.1% from 2008 to 2018. The population growth for the region between 1998 and 2018 was 6.3%, however,

12065-424: The present six (seven with Montgomeryshire) is that Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire were combined into one principal area, initially called 'Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire' until a day after its formation where it took the name Gwynedd instead, and the formation of two county boroughs, Conwy carved out of Caernarfonshire and Denbighshire, and Wrexham carved out of Denbighshire and Flintshire. The north of Wales

12192-459: The present, Montgomeryshire remained a part of Powys. Prior to the preserved counties, there were counties, now referred to as historic counties. These are the oldest of the counties of North Wales, used for centuries. North Wales contained 6 historic counties during these times, the counties were; Anglesey, Caernarfonshire , Denbighshire , Flintshire , Merionethshire , and Montgomeryshire. The most notable difference between these six counties and

12319-479: The professions, and in Wales as a whole, its output value compared with that of coal. The prosperity of the slate industry led to the growth of a number of other associated industries. Shipbuilding increased at a number of coastal locations, particularly at Porthmadog, where 201 ships were built between 1836 and 1880. Engineering companies were set up to supply the quarries, notably De Winton at Caernarfon. In 1870, De Winton built and equipped an entire workshop for

12446-698: The railways which carried the slates to the ports have been restored as tourist attractions, for example the Ffestiniog Railway and the Talyllyn Railway. In July 2021, after development of a bid for over 10 years, the slate landscape of Northwest Wales was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . The areas included in the nomination include Penrhyn quarry and the Ogwen Valley , Dinorwic quarry , Nantlle Valley , Gorseddau and Prince of Wales quarries, Ffestiniog and Porthmadog , including

12573-594: The rate was lower between 2008 and 2018, than in 1998 and 2008. Conwy was the area with the highest population growth rate for the two decades at 8%, with Isle of Anglesey having the smallest growth rate at just over 3%. Population settlements North Wales' largest settlement (locality) is Wrexham, with 65,692 people in the 2011 census. Data from the census details that North Wales has a lower number and proportion of residents living in settlements of 25,000 or more, than South East and South West Wales, but higher than Mid Wales. StatsWales attributes this to North Wales' lack of

12700-672: The region include; North Welsh, and North Walian (also spelt as North Walean), or informally as "Gogs" from the Welsh word for North, "Gogledd". This term is mostly only used to distinguish from other parts of Wales (i.e. only used domestically in Wales), a majority of the population consider themselves as just " Welsh ", and some additionally or only as " British ". Communities along the Wales-England border and northern coast may identify as " English " as they are home to many of those of English ancestry . According to Statistics for Wales (StatsWales),

12827-510: The region serve as a reminder of the former railways across the region. The majority of lines operated in Wales are part of the Wales & Borders franchise , the current operator is Transport for Wales Rail , a Welsh-Government owned company , although some services (from Holyhead and Wrexham) are operated by the West Coast Partnership operator, Avanti West Coast on services using

12954-514: The remainder. Eventually the workers were forced to return to work in November 1903 on terms laid down by Lord Penrhyn. Many of the men considered to have been prominent in the union were not re-employed, and many of those who had left the area to seek work elsewhere did not return. The dispute left a lasting legacy of bitterness in the Bethesda area. The loss of production at Penrhyn led to a temporary shortage of slates and kept prices high, but part of

13081-520: The rest of Wales may use a capitalised N. Local newspapers, such as the Daily Post describe themselves to be a "capper" capitalising the 'N', whereas other organisations such as BBC News may use a lower case. The Welsh Government's style guide uses lowercase, whereas Visit Wales uses capitalised. David Williams, chairman of the North Wales Business Club, announced his support for capping

13208-421: The rest of Wales. Such usage may follow ideological lines, with North Wales used to confer the region as a distinctly separate entity from the rest of Wales, whilst north Wales as merely the northern bit of Wales. Organisations, where the region is administered the same as with the rest of Wales, may prefer to use a lower case for north. Whilst organisations only operating in the region or separate from any others in

13335-430: The rest of the United Kingdom, which then included Ireland. In 1882, 92% of the United Kingdom's production was from Wales with the quarries at Penrhyn and Dinorwig producing half of this between them. Alun Richards comments on the importance of the slate industry: It dominated the economy of the north-west of Wales, where, by the middle of the 19thC. it accounted for almost half the total revenues from trade, industry and

13462-409: The rock to produce blocks, a splitter, who would split the blocks with hammer and chisel, and a dresser. A rybelwr would usually be a boy learning his trade, who would wander around the galleries offering assistance to the gangs. Sometimes a gang would give him a block of slate to split. Other groups were the "bad rockmen" who usually worked in crews of three, removing unworkable rock from the face, and

13589-464: The shortfall was made up by imports. French exports of slate to the UK increased from 40,000 tons in 1898 to 105,000 tons in 1902. After 1903 there was a depression in the slate industry which led to reductions in pay and job losses. New techniques in tile manufacture had reduced costs, making tiles more competitive. In addition, several countries had placed tariffs on the import of British slate, while

13716-555: The single-carriageways of the A470 from Llandudno to Cardiff via the Conwy valley , and the A487 from Bangor to Haverfordwest via Caernarfon and Snowdonia. The Port of Holyhead, on the isle of Anglesey, is the main commercial and ferry port in North Wales. The port had the third-largest volume of freight traffic , in Wales, in 2018 (5.2 million tonnes), after Milford Haven and Port Talbot , and it

13843-608: The slate communities; distress was widespread. In the quarries there was short-time working, closures and reductions in earnings. Between 1906 and 1913 the number of men at work in the quarries of the Ffestiniog district shrank by 28 per cent, in Dyffryn Nantlle the number at work fell even more dramatically by 38 per cent. The First World War hit the slate industry badly, particularly in Blaenau Ffestiniog where exports to Germany had been an important source of income. Cilgwyn,

13970-554: The slates were not used merely because they were available on-site. During the mediaeval period, there was small-scale quarrying of slate in several areas. The Cilgwyn quarry in the Nantlle Valley dates from the 12th century, and is thought to be the oldest in Wales. The first record of slate quarrying in the neighbourhood of the later Penrhyn Quarry was in 1413, when a rent-roll of Gwilym ap Griffith records that several of his tenants were paid 10 pence each for working 5,000 slates. Aberllefenni Slate Quarry may have started operating as

14097-508: The ten-year period, at 22.5%. The least amount of rail journeys in 2018-19 was in Anglesey. As of 2020, there as 66 rail stations within the boundaries of the 6 northern principal areas, of which 2 are among the 20 busiest stations in Wales, Rhyl , and Bangor . 41 of the rail stations are stations of the North Wales lines, whereas the remaining 25 are stations of the Mid Wales lines, specifically

14224-525: The term "North", stating that North Wales should be a "very recognisable region in our own right". For local administration, the region is most commonly made up of the following six principal areas , consisting of counties, and county boroughs, they are: the Isle of Anglesey, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Wrexham County Borough. These principal areas are commonly divided into two groups, used for local news (e.g. BBC ), regional tourism boards, town and country planning , and were

14351-410: The two sides usually involved the use of interpreters. In October 1885, there was a dispute at Dinorwig over the curtailing of holidays which led to a lock-out lasting until February 1886. At the Penrhyn Quarry, George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant took over from his father Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant in 1885, and in 1886 appointed E. A. Young as chief manager. A more stringent management regime

14478-409: The world. Slate is mainly used for roofing, but is also produced as thicker slab for a variety of uses including flooring, worktops and headstones . Up to the end of the 18th century, slate was extracted on a small scale by groups of quarrymen who paid a royalty to the landlord, carted slate to the ports, and then shipped it to England, Ireland and sometimes France. Towards the close of the century,

14605-561: Was a single European Parliament constituency (EPC), the North Wales European Parliament Constituency . In 1994, minor border changes put parts of Montgomeryshire in the neighbouring Mid and West Wales constituency. In 1999, both of the constituencies ceased, when it was absorbed into the larger Wales constituency until 2020 when it was subsequently abolished following the United Kingdom 's withdrawal from

14732-430: Was built in 1828 and was operated using horse-power to carry slate from several slate quarries in the Nantlle Valley to the harbour at Caernarfon. In 1831 slate duty was abolished, and this helped to produce a rapid expansion in the industry, particularly since the duty on tiles was not abolished until 1833. The Ffestiniog Railway line was constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to

14859-565: Was dependent upon slate quarrying and quarry closures led to a growth in unemployment in 1959. The nearby Votty and Bowydd quarries also closed in 1963 and in 1969, 300 quarrymen lost their jobs when the Dinorwic quarry closed. The following year the Dorothea quarry in the Nantlle Valley and the Braichgoch quarry near Corris announced their closure. Oakeley at Blaenau Ffestiniog closed in 1971, but

14986-506: Was formed in 1874, and the same year there were disputes at Dinorwig and then at Penrhyn. Both these disputes ended in victory for the workers, and by May 1878, the union had 8,368 members. One of the founders of the union, Morgan Richards, described in 1876 the conditions when he started work in the quarries forty years before: I well remember the time when I was myself a child of bondage; when my father and neighbours, as well as myself, had to rise early, to walk five miles (8 km) before six in

15113-572: Was from the 5th to the 12th/13th centuries under the control of the influential Welsh kingdoms of Gwynedd, and Powys following the end of Roman rule in Britain . The Kingdom of Gwynedd controlled the majority of what is now the commonly defined 6 counties of North Wales, including all of the North Wales coast, with Powys retaining control over what is modern Powys, and parts of Wrexham and Flintshire, in addition to part of Shropshire. Through their over 800 year existences', their rulers acclaimed themselves to be

15240-404: Was harmless. In 1979, after a long struggle, the government recognised silicosis as an industrial disease meriting compensation. There was an increase in demand for slate in the 1980s, and although this came too late for many quarries there was still some production in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area at the Oakeley, Llechwedd and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries, though the bulk of roofing slate production was at

15367-464: Was hit by a recession which lasted until the 1890s. Management responded by tightening rules and making it more difficult for the men to take time off. Labour relations were worsened by differences in language, religion and politics between the two sides. The owners and top managers at most of the quarries were English-speaking, Anglican and Tory , while the quarrymen were Welsh-speaking and mainly Nonconformist and Liberal . Negotiations between

15494-557: Was introduced, and relations with the workforce deteriorated. This culminated in the suspension of 57 members of the union committee and 17 other men in September 1896, leading to a strike which lasted eleven months. The men were eventually obliged to go back to work, essentially on the management's terms, in August 1897. This strike became known as "The Penrhyn Lockout". There was an upturn in trade in 1892, heralding another period of growth in

15621-409: Was later reopened by another company. By 1972, fewer than 1,000 men were employed in the North Wales slate industry. For many years, the quarry owners had denied that slate dust was the cause of the high levels of silicosis suffered by quarrymen. From 1909, they had been responsible for all accidents and illnesses caused by the work, but had managed to persuade successive governments that slate dust

15748-538: Was opened in Cwm Dyli, on the lower slopes of Snowdon , which supplied electricity to the largest quarries in the area. The use of electric saws and other machinery reduced the hard manual labour involved in extracting the slate, but produced much more slate dust than the old manual methods, leading to an increased incidence of silicosis . The work was also dangerous in other ways, with the blasting operations responsible for many deaths. A government enquiry in 1893 found that

15875-421: Was some increased demand for slates to repair bombed buildings after the end of the war, but the use of slate for new buildings was banned, apart from the smallest sizes. This ban was lifted in 1949. Total production of slate in Wales declined from 54,000 tons in 1958 to 22,000 tons in 1970. The Diffwys quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog closed in 1955 after almost two centuries of operation. North Wales

16002-410: Was the most popular in 1998 with over 1.7 million passengers ferried, however following a consistent decline in passenger traffic, it was removed in 2015. The other route to Dublin saw an overall increase in passenger numbers from just over 1 million in 1998 to just over 1.9 million in 2018, an increase of 82%. A Mostyn -Dublin ferry service once existed, on the now Liverpool -Dublin route, attracting

16129-620: Was traditionally divided into three regions during the middle ages: Upper Gwynedd (or Gwynedd above the Conwy), defined as the area north of the River Dyfi and west of the River Conwy ; Lower Gwynedd (or Gwynedd below the Conwy), also known as the Perfeddwlad ("the middle country") and defined as the region east of the River Conwy and west of the River Dee ; and Ynys Môn (or Anglesey), a large island off

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