Visited with..

RichardSawyer, Aliweb, John N, Bella, Seantaylor, Jay(my lad) and AndyJ(cpc)

we had arranged to meet close to the location at 10am and we really did intend to
be on time, but this as useual wasn't to be. We had worked out we would need to
leave Manchester at around 7.30am, at 6.50am i got a phone call off andy which i
rejected as i was still dreaming in my lovely warm bed, when my alarm went of at
7am I phoned him back, he told me he was running late due to a power cut at home
and would be about half an hour late.

8am comes and Andy turns up, giving us 2 hours to make the 127 mile trip in rush
hour traffic and down various A roads, we eventually arrived around 15mins late.
John had decided the directions we had wern't the best and he was fairly sure he
could drive us most of the way in his 101, as we were allready late and it was
quite cold, this sounded like a plan.

we followed him to the parking area, got kitted up and jumped in his car and off
we went, we traveled probably about a mile untill it was decided that this was the
end of the road and to be fair, the land from here on was far to rutted even for his
101 and the ground at the side of the track was a waterlogged bog, to the point we
lost Andy to his waste at one point, which made me laugh lots.

the walk from this point wasn't too bad, the GPS saying 2.2km, but it didn't feel
this far or take that long.

Once up at the mine, getting in became fun, there is a gate on the mine which looks
quite recent, there are lots of sign's on it, but NONE of them say keep out, infact
they all say the gate was fitted for health and safty reasons, we had a good look
around the mine and for most people it turned into a through trip with them exiting
via a climb up a small ladder and then following an obvious route, John wasn't to keen
on this route and wanted to go back the way we came, so i followed him collecting
peoples bags and other belongings which they had left in various points around the mine.

we exited the mine and ocupied one of the buildings while we ate lunch, then made the return
trip to the 101 and then back to the carpark.

all in all, a uneventfull trip, quite a disapointing mine, quite pretty in places but it is
very very small, in reality, the walk up probably takes twice as long as the trip through the
mine, worth visiting if you're in the area, but i wouldn't go out of your way to see it.

some pics.

Are we to understand that John illegally drove his vehicle past the sign that says it is illegal to drive your vehicle beyong this point ?

Nice report, pity the mine was so small though - I didn't think I had seen it all but from your report I probably have.

..... I also believe it was the source of the gold that made either the wedding ring or engagement ring for Prince Edward for Sophie (I guess that is why it is so named lol)



Ian

Princess marina's wedding ring was made from gold mined here, togeather with gold from marina mine. 123 tons of gold ore was mined from which 278 ounces of gold was extracted over 40 years.

John drove along a road that is marked on a map as a road shared with pedestrians, the google car also drove along this road too (well as far as it could). The road takes you through a slate yard which is obviously accessed by trucks

The signs are at the side of the road in places where people in 4x4's have clearly took off driving up into the hills, to be honest, had John of been feeling a bit braver i suspect you could leagally get a 4x4 right uo to the minors buildings above the mine.

Keep them coming, love reading your trip reports

Nice pictures as usual.

Mad dan. please enter your photos in the aditniw photography competition.

Labrat wrote:
I keep saying this as well...

*hint hint* Dan...

NewStuff wrote:
Theres LOADS of people miles better at it than me, it's best leaving it to those who deserve a bit of recognition for their pics.

Dan, do it. It's well worth it

Mad-Dan wrote:
There, corrected for accuracy. You're plenty good enough to be amongst it. Far better than anything I've done this year.

Ian wrote:
The sign does not say that. It says that it is a criminal offense to drive on the land. The route in question is a BOAT (Byway Open to All Traffic) and then a RUPP (Road Used as a Public Path). In my view the sign is deliberately misleading to discourage people from off roading - on the land at each side of the BOAT and RUPP.

If a member of the public or landowner set up a sign on a public right of way discouraging the public from using their right pass and re-pass then they would be liable to prosecution. On this basis I am very concerned about the obstruction of the public right of way through Fairy Glen.

The reason why we could not go any further was because the track had become eroded so much that even the high axles of the 101 would have fallen in. The ruts were near two feet deep. there was another way around but this was not following the route of the official BOAT.

My guess is that we could get through on the south route, but this is only footpath status.

Well, it had me fooled

Glad there is someone who understands these things

Ian wrote:
The local names for the mine have been Moel Croesau and Bwlch y Llu. Pritchard Morgan named it Prince Edward as gold from here provided the material for the regalia used in the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1911 (Edward VIII). I was part of a team that had this mine under an exploration license when Prince Edward and Sophie announced that they were getting married and thought it would be good to continue the tradition and contacted the relevant people to see if they wanted some gold to make the rings. We got the reply 'Yes please !!!!!!!' and we duly recovered and donated enough gold for the two wedding rings.

Marina mine is the alternative name for Beddcoedwr mine after it supplied the gold for Princess Marina's wedding ring in the 1930's.

Awesome .... thanks Manicminer

Hi Meirion

welcome to here.

We had a trip on Sunday 11th Jan 2015. The track has been resurfaced as it has been used by vehicles working on the 275Kv overhead lines. Although we parked down near the farm it would be possible to drive all the way to the mine without needing a land rover or similar. Only fear of losing my exhaust in a fully loaded car prevented us from driving all the way. It was very windy walking up, but thankfully dry...

Dave

It was bitterly cold on the day we went to this mine with Dan Sutton and Andrew Farrow. We walked a long way in the wind to get to the mine - but once inside it was fine! I returned there last year with a small team and did the through trip, and found the entrance gate easier. The surfaced track does not provide permission for access, but my feeling is that the discouraging signs are an attempt to prevent people off roading.

The road/track from the junction before the ruined house at Dolddinas up to the mine is private and the farmer gets pissed off if he catches people driving up there.

The sign is there to deter people from driving on the land next to the road.