Hanes Chwarela

STRICTLY PRIVATE - NOT FOR CIRCULATION

Re-opening of a Valuable Slate Quarry

PARTICULARS
OF A PROMISING
BRITISH ENTERPRISE

The
Pantdreiniog Slate Quarry,
Bethesda, North Wales,
adjacent to the well-known
Penrhyn Slate Quarries

The option to acquire a 50 Years' Lease upon this Property has been secured by
MINERALS, OIL AND GENERAL EXPLORATION COMPANY, LIMITED

London Office (pro tem):- 20, BUCKLERSBURY, LONDON E.C.
Secretary. C.H. HARWARD.

Local Agent and Office:
W.J. PARRY, COETMOR CHAMBERS, BETHESDA,
NORTH WALES

PANTDREINIOG.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE QUARRY.

SITUATION. - This Quarry is situated at Bethesda, in the Parish of Llanllechid, County of Carnarfon, and less than one mile from L. & N. W. Railway Station at Bethesda.

EXTENT. - The Estate comprises about 25 acres, part of which is Agricultural Land and the remainder is used for Quarrying purposes.

GEOLOGICAL POSITION. - The Slate beds traversing this property belong to the well?known Cambrian formation and consist of two valuable beds known as the Blue and Purple slate rocks, in which several of the principal quarries in North Wales are situated.

The two beds are fully exposed at the Pantdreiniog Quarry and immense quantities of marketable slates have from time to time been quarried therefrom.

This Quarry has been worked for more than 80 years, and the works are now down to a depth of 75 yards on the slate veins that have been worked to a depth of 300 yards in the Penrhyn Quarries.

The Blue vein is situated on the North-West side of the Quarry where an extensive body of good rock is available for quarrying after certain developments have been carried out. This is proved by a tunnel which has been driven from the present open quarry, at a depth of over 100 feet from the surface of the Western boundary of the Estate, a distance of 85 yards, practically the whole of which is in rock of excellent quality.

The Purple vein is on the South-East side of the quarry opening, from which large quantities of slates have also been taken. This bed is of great extent and is proved by a tunnel 160 yards long driven in a South-Westerly direction at a depth of 62 feet above the lowest gallery in the present open quarry, about 70 yards of which is driven in rock of good quality.

PRESENT STATE OF DEVELOPMENT. - The Quarry is well equipped with all suitable machinery and plant necessary for its proper working, comprising Two Hauling Engines, with Eight Aerial Ropeways, Two Locomotives, Twenty-two Tram Waggons, Twenty Quarrymen's Working Sheds, Tram Lines, Two Powerful Hydraulic Pumps, Five-on Weigh Bridge, Weighing Machine, and all the necessary buildings for the proper carrying out of the present proposed work.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. - The property contains slate beds of considerable extent and of good colour and texture.

The facilities for working compare favourably with the conditions in other quarries which have been worked successfully.

The accommodation for workmen is ample and convenient.

The terms of the lease compare favourably with other quarries, and the cost of transit being only 1s. per ton to the Railway Station must be considered low.

The fact that quarry workings are drained by means of hydraulic pumps is a valuable asset to this property, and having regard to the extent of the slate beds and the facilities for working, it will confidently justify the proposed expenditure, which, if judiciously applied, should result in adequate profits being returned.

PAST HISTORY OF THE QUARRY. - The Pantdreiniog Slate Quarry was first opened up in or about the year 1825, by local people who knew that it was a continuation of the Penrhyn Quarry Slate Vein.

It was purchased from these local owners by a London gentleman of the name of Overend, who in turn sold it direct or by his representative to a Mr. Schwabe, who built Glyn Garth, the present palace of the Bishop of Bangor. Upon the death of this owner, it was taken over by Overend, Gurney & Co., and successfully worked by them for some years until they failed. It was placed on the Market by the Liquidator and purchased by a well-known Liverpool Builder, Mr. John Williams, of Moss Bank, the father of the late Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and was successfully worked by him for nearly forty years. Early in the nineties it was sold by Mr. Williams to a Cardiff Company, who again in 1903 sold it to a London Company formed to provide employment for the Quarrymen who were then out on strike from the Penrhyn Quarry.

This London Company bought other Slate properties as well, but not having sufficient Capital to work them all, they abandoned in 1912 the three properties they had purchased, and Pantdreiniog was taken over from them by the Trustees of the Cefnfaes Estate, upon which Estate the Quarry is situated.

Owing to the depression in the Slate Trade the Trustees have delayed placing the Property on the Market until now, but have recently granted a 90 day option from July 1st, 1915, to a London gentleman to take a Fifty-years Lease of the property upon reasonable terms.

The right to exercise this option has been secured by the Minerals, Oil & General Exploration Company, Limited, of 20, Bucklersbury, London, E.C.

The Property is part of the Cefnfaes Estate and contains about 26 acres, together with rights over other portions of the Estate upon agreed terms.

EXPERT OPINION:-

It has been estimated that a Syndicate formed with a Capital of £15,000 to work the Pantdreiniog Quarry would show the following results in three years:-

THE ROOFING SLATES OF PANTDREINIOG are widely used for roofing houses and buildings of every description, and for such purposes are equal to any that are produced; the better kinds possessing all the qualities necessary for protection against rain, wind and storm.

PANTDREINIOG SLATE QUARRY.-The Roofing Slates produced at this Quarry are World-renowned. They are among the Most Durable and Weather-Resisting Slates produced.

Special attention will be paid to the production of Slate Slabs from this Quarry to be used for

WELSH SLATES.-Slate stands prominently out among Roofing Materials, and Welsh Slates are unsurpassed throughout the World for the excellence of their quality, The Pantdreiniog Quarry possesses supplies for very many years to come, blue and purple in colour, and its Slate is among the hardest and most durable. They are divided into Three Qualities, Firsts, Seconds and Thirds, and their lasting power is proverbial.

The essential part of a house is its Roof, and no part of a house is more exposed to the destructive forces of the elements than the Roof. Heat, Frost, Wind, Rain, and even the atmosphere itself all combine to attack the Roof of a house. Welsh Slates successfully withstand the attacks of all these elements of nature.

SLATES versus TILES.-There are good reasons for believing that when the present disastrous war comes to an end, and attention is being given to the re?building of the enormous areas devastated by the Ravages of War, that for Roofing Purposes Slates will be First and Tiles nowhere, and that the demand for them will be reckoned by Millions.

In past times many materials have been used for roofs. The Ancients sometimes roofed with Marble, Stone and Metal. In these cases, the expense of the material and the cost of labour was a matter of no account, a great portion of the cost of material and labour having been borne by religious devotees. In modern times, however, a very different material has come relatively into prominence for roofing purposes, viz., Tiles. These are necessarily less durable, and are more expensive, both intrinsically and from the fact that they require constant repair. The use of Tiles for Roofing purposes may be based upon the fact that they are more artistic than Slates, but those who have built with Tiles, in search of the Artistic, have often found that they have grasped at the shadow and lost the substance. Tiles are by their nature, as a rule fragile, and lack durability. They are Artistic without doubt, but no sane person would wear lawn as a substitute for a waterproof, and Slates will be the Roofing material of the future.

VIEWS ON THE PROPERTY

Cyf: XM1233/6