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| The Glyndyfrdwy or Deeside Tramway is a little know 2 ft. 6 in. narrow gauge line in Wales. Our photographer Chris Parker describes it thus: 'An out and back, or rather up and down, walk following a tramway which was extended in both directions after the arrival of the railway at Glyndyfrdwy to carry slate from Moel Fferna Quarry down to a transhipment wharf in the goods yard. Nowadays, the route forms a hill walk with an ascent and desecnt of 1,100 ft. Like any self-respecting Welsh tramway, this one features delightful scenery, 3 (arguably 4) inclines, interesting archaeology and a horseshoe curve; but its most distinctive feature was its continuing use of wooden rails on some sections long after this had had ceased elsewhere.' | ||
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| Above: The remains of the winding house at the top of Glyndyfrdwy Incline at grid reference SJ 149425 (approx.). As can be seen, there's hardly a perpendicular wall in the place! 21st June 2014. (Chris Parker) |
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| Above: A wooded section of the tramway below Pandy Mill which harnessed the water from the local stream, Nant y Pandy. 21st June 2014. (Chris Parker) | ||
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| Above: The horseshoe curve (SJ 144405) between Pandy Mill and Deeside Quarry. It looks as if there has been some slippage and reinforcement on the embankment recently, but never let it be said that tramways contain no engineering features! There is a fine aerial view of this structure on the web page here. 21st June 2014. (Chris Parker) | ||
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| Above: The remains of the winding house at head of Deeside Quarry Incline. As with the first winding house that handled the drop into the Dee Valley, almost nothing here is perpendicular; the wonder is that the structure survives at all in so remote and desolate a location. 21st June 2014. (Chris Parker) | ||
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| Above: The pit of Deeside Slab Quarry seen on a rather less sunny day than that depicted above. The quarry usually employed about 40 men and remained viable until after World War 1. The Geograph website reports that, 'Small scale working resumed in the 1920s but came to an abrupt end when, according to one account, two of the quarry's three workers were killed by a rock fall.' 4th July 2007. (Eric Jones, used under the terms of this Creative Commons Licence) | ||
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| Above: The fact that Moel Fferna Quarry, viewed here from the tramway, is in shadow gives it a particularly glowering appearance. The course of the line can be seen clearly in the upper half of the picture, climbing uphill and running from left to right; a few sheep are doing their bit to keep the grass on the trackbed neatly trimmed. 21st June 2014. (Chris Parker) |
