Industrial Archaeology of Snowdonia & Anglesey

     This series of articles was originally compiled in 1978

   It is our record of some 300 mainly pleasant days’ exploration over the previous ten years or so, backed up by extensive research in the local libraries and record offices.          

    The intention, then as now, was to raise awareness of what remains of Gwynedd’s industrial heritage, with the hope of promoting more understanding and conservation, instead of the prevalent decay and destruction.

    To repeat and update the exercise in the same way would take probably another ten years, and would inevitably be out-of-date again long before it was finished!

   So, instead, we would like to use the opportunity now provided by modern technology to offer the subject to a wider audience, and invite contributions from others interested, in the form of corrections, additions and updates, to create an ongoing “live” record, fully illustrated, and as up-to-date as possible.

    Our tour is arranged in some 30 sections, such that each part constitutes a good day’s exploration for these with broad, average interests, by rail, car or bus, and by bicycle or walking (even crawling in a few cases!) as appropriate.  It will become apparent that most of the sections have a specific, dominant theme, but not to the exclusion of other features of interest within their boundaries. Of course, those with more particularly defined interests (or limited time) can focus on these to a greater or lesser extent, changing, expanding or combining sections as desired, but it is hoped that this basic geographical, rather than subject-based, format will prove helpful.

    At present, all the sections are grouped together as one document, with a general index and a subject index appended; click on the links below to open them.....

    It is hoped to gradually bring each section up to date, also add appropriate maps and our contemporary photographs. These will then be split into several separate documents covering each geographic area, and the indexes will also then need to be updated accordingly. 

The outline map below (courtesey of David Mills) shows the geographical area covered by each section of our text, with the numbers indicating the order in which they appear in the main document........