Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Llanberis
POP 2030
While not the most instantly attractive town in the area, Llanberis is a mecca for walkers
and climbers, attracting a steady flow of rugged, polar-fleece wearers year-round but espe-
cially in July and August when accommodation is at a premium. It's actually positioned
just outside the national park but functions as a hub, partly because the Snowdon Mountain
Railway leaves from here.
The town was originally built to house workers from the Dinorwig slate quarry; the
massive waste tips are hard to miss. While tourism is the cornerstone of Llanberis life these
days, the town proudly wears its industrial heritage on its sleeve. Dinorwig, which once
boasted the largest artificial cavern in the world, has now become part of Europe's biggest
pumped-storage power station. Some of the old quarry workshops have been reincarnated
as a museum of the slate industry, and the narrow-gauge railway that once hauled slate to
the coast now transports excited toddlers along Llyn Padarn.
Sights
National Slate Museum
MUSEUM
(
www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/slate
;
10am-5pm Easter-Oct, to 4pm Sun-Fri Nov-Easter)
Even if you're
not all that fussed by industrial museums, this one's well worth checking out. At Llanberis
much of the slate was carved out of the open mountainside - leaving behind a jagged,
sculptural cliff-face that's fascinating if not quite beautiful. The museum occupies the
Victorian workshops beside Llyn Padarn. It features video clips, a huge working water
wheel, workers' cottages (each furnished in a progression from 1861 until 1969, when the
quarries closed) and demonstrations on elements of the tile-making process.
The turn-off is along the A4086 between the Electric Mountain exhibition centre and the
Snowdon Mountain Railway station.
Electric Mountain
( 01286-870636;
www.electricmountain.co.uk
;
tour adult/child £7.75/3.95; 10am-4.30pm)
More than just
Dinorwig Power Station's public interface, Electric Mountain is a tourist hub incorporating
INTERPRETATION CENTRE
