Llanberis Slate Mines

With its long lake and steep mountainsides, the Llanberis Valley has much of the look of a Norwegian fjord — but for the old slate mines which dominate one of the slopes. There are massive strip mines all the way up the mountainside, rivaled only by the mountains of tailings piled up to recreate the slopes.

Slate and slateworking are an enormous source of pride for the Welsh. Llanberis is called "the town that roofed the world," and they have an outstanding free museum on the site of the now-quiet Dinorwig Mines. We learn about famous buildings roofed with Welsh slate, the labor history of slate including an incredible three-year union strike. Slate is one of the only industries where Welsh has always been the dominant language in the worker community, and many of the tools of the trade only have names in Welsh.

The kind man who demonstrates slate splitting in the museum is sixth generation at this quarry. He shows us how slate has a grain, that the rock must be treated like wood. With two taps of his chisel, the slate block splits into two tablets. It's an art, and he has been practicing it most of his life.

He tells us that 92% of the slate extracted from the mountain goes to waste — but that now they call it a byproduct and use it as gravel, in makeups, even in glass.

"But if it's used in products now," Eileen asks, "why are there mountains of it on the hillsides here?"

He frowns. "It's a memorial, like. So many men have died there."