Where did all the Slate used on roofs come from - Page 2

Benipete · 07-07-2010, 09:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

I had a cottage in Hassy with a stone roof G. what a ball ache that was, I was forever pointing the bloody thing

Why on earth would you want to do that??

Should have stuck to wood butchery.

jaysay · 07-07-2010, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benipete

Why on earth would you want to do that??

Should have stuck to wood butchery.

Ya might well duck behind the wall Beni, even wood has to be fixed to Nori's

jedimaster · 07-07-2010, 10:32

during the victorian era north wales was the largest producer and exporter of roof and building slate slate in the world. the largest slate mining areas being around llechwedd, blenau ffestiniog, and llanberis. each area having its own particular slate ie. you can tell quite easily which area the slate comes from by its colour, the pigmentation of the slate is due to the various minerals that filter through the hefty grantie which sits over the slate reserves and finally into the slate. for example if you were to go to the quarry at Llanberis you would find the slate to be a light blue/green colour due to the large amounts of copper that filters into it.
Sadly in later years it became cheaper to import slate from abroad and the slate quarries of north wales slowly died out, however in more recent times a number of the quarries have reopened utilising the "slate tips" ie all the unusable slate that was dumped on the hillsides around the quarries, much like the slag heaps of coal mines. this slate is now being used as foundation material and also for decorative purposes such as driveways etc. it is also ground into a fine powder and used as a base for cement and believe it or not.................................. WOMEN'S MAKE-UP!!!!!!!!

garinda · 07-07-2010, 10:39

From just one quarry 'At least twelve ship loads a month were sailing to Liverpool'.

The History of Quarrying - The Industrial Revolution in the Slate Industry

Which I suppose could easily have been transported here, via the Leeds/Liverpool canal.

garinda · 07-07-2010, 10:49

'The majority of the roofs of the buildings in the Conservation Area
are covered with blue slate, not locally derived. The opening of the
railway in the mid 19th century enabled the cheaper and lighter
Welsh slate to be imported for local use. This replaced the locally
derived sandstone flags that were used as a roofing material.'

http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/downloa..._CAA_Final.pdf

Benipete · 07-07-2010, 10:56

Have a look at this site.

Burlington Stone New :: Home.

A pleasure to work with.