This is one of a series of more detailed reviews for the “National Slate Museum.”:https://museum.wales/slate/
One of the rooms in the National Slate Museum has a wonderful collection of black and white photographs showing slate quarrying in the C19th. These illustrate just how dangerous quarrying was with men working on the sheer quarry face with just a rope to secure them.
Massive slabs of slate were manhandled on very basic wagons with no thought of health and safety, to the workshops, where they were split and trimmed to size. Slate waste was taken by wagon to be tipped. The finished slates were then taken by wagon along the Padarn Railway to the wharves at Port Dinorwic for transport by sea.
There is one wonderful photograph showing how men used a basic trolley (car gwyllt) to descend the inclines after work, rather than walking down the paths. Taking four minutes, this must have been a scary ride.