6am ..... Alarms ringing, today had came, the day I took my friend on the adventures into nowhere exploring, travelling and discovering a new lease to the world and taking on the abandoned side of Wales.
4 days of searching and travelling through unfamiliar areas and learning about the unknown. From Liverpool to Bidston, onto Shotton then into Llandudno Junction and the final stop to Betws-y-Coed.
#did we pack to much
#wales trip
#urban exploration
As for accommodation Plas Y Brenin was where we were staying for the trip, what place is better for Urban Exploration than a National Mountaineering Centre
As for Day 1, we settle into the rooms and set forward to shoot the introduction to the videos with all the equipment in one place, the mysteryness was about to begin .....
With us all settled in it was time to explore and discover the unknown and make an adventure happen
As I like to call it "The Capel Curig Walk" - introductions getting started on the Urban Exploration side of things and taking a few memorys along the way
#introductionfilmshooting #videoediting #boomarangvideo #beingoutdoors #adventure #urbanexploration
We crossed the footbridge and into the forest of Bryn Egan following the path of exploration to Jim's Bridge
Following closure the quarry's workshop, at Gilfach Ddu was acquired by the then Caernarfonshire County Council, who now lease the building to the National Museum and Galleries of Wales. It now houses the National Slate Museum. Equipment from the internal quarry railway was used to build the Llanberis Lake Railway over part of the trackbed of the Padarn Railway.
The quarry has been partly reused as part of the Dinorwig power station, a pumped storage hydroelectric scheme.
It just goes to show how time has changed and how reality and technology has slowly taken over how we treat and help people today
With us all settled in it was time to explore and discover the unknown and make an adventure happen
As I like to call it "The Capel Curig Walk" - introductions getting started on the Urban Exploration side of things and taking a few memorys along the way
#introductionfilmshooting #videoediting #boomarangvideo #beingoutdoors #adventure #urbanexploration
We crossed the footbridge and into the forest of Bryn Egan following the path of exploration to Jim's Bridge
According to a good person I know, Jim's Bridge was apparently named after a guy called Jim Hargreeves and below I will tell you the story on how this local legend got a bridge named after him
The man himself was a real character, he got into fights and drank at bars you would say he was an infamous person
Onto the adventure side of things he paddled an expedition along the Grand Canyon which I must say sounds like a fantastic place to be.
He ran the Pomfret Coffin Rapids and the last drop he always had a saying which was "if you have an unhinged mind and a unhinged canoe you cannot run this rapid"
He worked in Plas Y Brenin many years ago and after leaving he ran a Canoe Store next to the garage which we all know as Siobod Cafe nowadays.
Jim was always famous for his motto's which another one would be of when he ran the River Llugwy Rapids with people his saying would always be "That boat would suit you, go have a go - but if you break it you will pay for it"
So after many years of discovering a new chapter in his life from then it has always been known as Jim's Bridge ......
There is always time for a selfie along the way and what better way to do it by having an adventure along the way
#photograph overload of me
#photo and video overload with beth
Following onto Siabod Cafe, we took a little 10 min break before heading back to Plas Y Brenin for a relaxation session
With sleep on the agenda, counting sheep was what I needed to get a chilled out bit of sleep
DAY 2
6.45am, location Plas Y Brenin
Morning had approached and my routine was running through my body as I woke up to a lovely view and set forward to do a little bit of YOGA, MEDITATION AND POSITIVE THOUGHTS
Dinorwig was the destination of the day as the first Urban Exploration day was set ahead to travel through the quarries, discover the history behind it and explore the surroundings
Onto the journey, we set forward for the long pathway down back to Llanberis trying to find some abandonment around the area, with out the map I followed this path which took us onto a public footpath leading us eventually onto Snowdonia's Slate Trail and this is what we saw along the way
A little bit of Urban Exploration was among myself and my friend as we explored, traveled and discovered the say it must of been back then
A little tunnel house which looked like it gets used as a picnic area, however the faciation of what, how and who made this is also a way to the abandoned side of things
I decided to climb out of a window to show the abandoned side of this mysterious house that looked like it had a little history behind it
#safety first with the helmets
#stickered up helmet
#discovering the urban side
Onto the history and stories behind Dinorwic Quarry ........
The dirnowic slate quarry is a large former slatequarry which is now home to the Welsh National Slate Museum located between the two villages of Llanberis and Dinorwic.
It was the second largest slate quarry in Wales, also the world, after neighbouring Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda.
It covered more than 700 acres which consisted of two slate quarry sections with 20 galleries in each number of ancillary and internal tramway systems connected the quarries using inclines to transport the slate to the galleries
In 1787 the first commercial slate mining took place, although this met with moderate success, the outbreak of war with France, taxes and trasportation costs limited the development of the quarry
After many years the quarry eventually closed in July 1969, the result of industry decline and difficult slate removal because during the 1950/60s extraction became difficult because after 170 years many of the sites were just unsustamatically dumped tips and were beginning to slide into some of the major workings and after an enormous fall in the Garrett area of the quarry in 1966, production had ceased to exist
The Welsh Slate Museum located in Gilfach Ddu
Following closure the quarry's workshop, at Gilfach Ddu was acquired by the then Caernarfonshire County Council, who now lease the building to the National Museum and Galleries of Wales. It now houses the National Slate Museum. Equipment from the internal quarry railway was used to build the Llanberis Lake Railway over part of the trackbed of the Padarn Railway.
The quarry has been partly reused as part of the Dinorwig power station, a pumped storage hydroelectric scheme.
After having a look into the history behind this place I decided to also hunt my way into the Old Quarry Minors Hospital which below images and photos will show you all about the backround of what is now a visitors centre .....
And now there is always time for selfies along the journey especially when you get one with a goat
#selfie time
#goat selfie
2 days in and with only 1 more full day to go adventure is slowly drawing into my mind with the history becoming real on how the world all began
As day 3 kicked in today was just a sight seeing day as the weather was far too windy and wet to explore anything underground or on mountains
Our trip took us to Llanrwst were we set forward to explore the canals, the history behind the village/town itself
A little bit of editing and video making was the afternoon session and of course with food is a necessity #foodtime
#selfie time
With a flask of tea in the equation it was time to settle into creating my URBAN EXPLORATION VIDEO
#plasybrenin sticker on the flask
As the journey and adventure must come to an end keep following your dreams and explore the unknown and mysterious world we know of
