The Strangest Abandoned Quarry In The World?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- Dinorwig Quarry in north Wales is a photographers and hikers dream. It's a 700 acre site that once was the workplace of 3000 men. If you pick the right weather conditions, you might just get the place and its ghosts to yourself.
CAUTION - Some of the places in this video are off the main trail and not recommended for the inexperienced or the unprepared to visit. Stay safe, know your limits.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - A CONTRADITION
02:46 - A GRUESOME ENDING
07:35 - GATEWAY TO ANOTHER WORLD
10:40 - ADVENTURE TIME
16:00 - POTENT GUSTS
19:00 - DYNAMITE
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that quarry is amazing. I understand all too well about working in places that didn't have many safety standards. I'm from West Virginia and every male member of my family has either died in or due to the coal mines . they were miners back in the early 1900s to the 1970s and there were a lot of injured workers and workers killed in mine accidents. I'm very glad I decided to fix cars instead. much safer profession
It’s crazy how dangerous so many jobs used to be and it was just accepted
Not only are the quarries spectacular, they are a reminder of the role of the landscape in the heritage, culture and politics of the area, as well as being a result of the hard graft of the forebears of many locals today. Great video and suitably atmospheric weather, cheers!
Yeah so much history up there!
I climbed through the tunnels in Dinorwic in the autumn of 1984 in exactly the same weather. It was like Moria inside, and a really tough, slippery climb in the dark. I was 16. I finally came out at the bottom of a cone shaped open cast mine that I had to scale, back up to the ridges of the mountains, to find a path back to civilization.
Wow - looks like Mordor is in Wales not in Middle Earth.
Visited the quarry about 6 years ago , as was watching Clash of the Titans movie and there a scene filmed there. So checked on line and decided to make a visit.
👌👌
I used to live there, we affectionately called it Mordor around there. No fibs!
So stunningly gorgeous..a reminder of how when mother earth takes back what belongs to her..she covers up the scars with explicable beauty! Thank you for sharing videos like this!
7:35 It's a short sequence but this is probably one of the best you've done. Takes advantage of scenery, music, editing skills, location, emotion. Fantastic.
Thanks Thomas 🙂 was very pleased with that bit. In my head the fading versions of me reflect the history and the lives that have come and gone in this place. Also I thought it would just look cool 😁
I second that, amazing.
A beautiful haunting landscape. Amazing to see those old quarry houses. My family are from South Wales and some of them worked in the coal mines. My gran's house use to overlook the pit wheel, such a dramatic landscape, all gone now, houses the lot. Really enjoyed the watch - great filming and beautiful goats 😊!
Thank you! 🙂 I think the goats were sheltering from the storm down in the woods.
Oooh! I really liked this one :) For a film maker you have to try and film in a way that imparts what are are seeing, feeling, smelling, and hearing, so that your audience is there with you. I really felt it, I felt like I was there - felt you awe, excitement, interspersed with danger and caution. It was brilliant :)
Thanks! That’s exactly what I was trying to do. Very slow approach but it takes it to do the place juisticec
Thanks for the video. It brought back wonderful memories of my trip inside the mountain 30+years ago. I’m now aged 78 and although still very fit may find it more of a challenge.
We were there 7 years ago on a misty day and saw about the same number of people you did . Spent an amazing 8 hours hiking around even doing the less sketchy pair of ladders to get up a level . The scale of the site is unreal . Great video brought back a highlight of our Wales trip . Check out the museum next time too . Greetings from Canada
Like the Mines of Moria! Brutal, but Beautiful!
Ha definitely had a dwarven kingdom feeling about it
Thank you for this educational and courageous video. Beautiful and sad, stunning, all at once. Cities are both beautiful and hideous. Manmade wonders and disgusting absence of nature in some cities. Keep on making videos ❤
Thanks Cathy. Hmm yeah you’re right about cities
Was that an intentional pun at 4:30, miner injuries😂 Crackin video as usual Stephen, it was like watching Journey to the centre of the earth! Seriously though, some amazing scenery, thanks for sharing.
😂 I didn’t notice that until Louise pointed it out. Not planned. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Ended up shooting it over 2 days as I couldn’t fly the drone on the first day.
I first discovered Dinorwic in 1963 riding down the pass on a motorbike, obviously it was still being worked at the time. Ever since I've been fascinated by slate so I've watched many TH-cam videos about this quarry none of them come close to the quality and presentation of this one. Brilliant stuff. Top of the pile mate.
Thank you! My aim was to try and show the place off in a way that was different to all the other videos about it
Beautifully captured! 🙌
Thanks Jeff!
Go and sit awhile up on the level with the long building with the benches, You almost expect a quarryman to come in for a tea break. The stillness and silence is out of this world. then you hear it the low thrum from the power station buried inside the mountain. A stunning place and a lasting reminder of what the quarrymen had to face. And if your lucky you might see the wild mountain goats too.
I’m going to have to go back and spend more time there!
I have been there before and done some climbing, also camped up at the top section theres a suitable flat area there. absolutely epic place! There's also a hut somewhere near the top section which still has shoes of the miners in it.
I’m going to have to go back and explore more
Visited there quite a few years ago, and this brought back some great memories of exploring.
Your filming really shows just how amazing this place is.
Many thanks for sharing
Thanks Ivan 🙂 was an amazing place to film in, so many great compositions in the place. I love a good silhouette
The blue pool is called Dali’s Hole and was a very popular rock climbing area. The gateway to another world leads to what’s called, the lost world. Enjoyed climbing and walking that area over many years. Great video 👍
I find that quarry fascinating because my work has it's origins in the little clinic they had onsite to sew miners back together, or at least tidy the pieces into a bucket. As you say worth reflecting on our good fortune to have safe jobs, and remember the people who still work in appalling, dangerous conditions.
Places that are beautiful and ugly? Well anywhere I can turn my back on the town and head into the landscape.
wow, was the clinic pioneering new techniques? I could have spent another day or 2 exploring that place fully.
Not quite but it was state of the art in 19th C, no thought of preventing harm.
Quality film work!
Thanks! 🙂 took my time with this one, was there for 4 hours. Could have spent another 4 hours there.
Spot of trivia, parts of the 2016 Tarzan movie were filmed in Dinorwig quarry, only reason I watched that film, there was some significant local interest in the dozens of supremely buff guys running around in loincloths 😂
Watching it was a rather odd experience, I’ve lived nearby for most of my life and the slate mined landscape is very familiar and homely despite its often imposing and brutal appearance and history, so to see it used to depict a mysterious exotic place was hilarious and weird 😁
Dorothea quarry is another interesting one, there was a decent sized village of miners cottages and some industrial building, machinery and tunnels that are being reclaimed by nature. They are in an interesting sorta inbetween state at the moment, lots of things to poke about and some stunning little pit pools like dalis hole and tunnels with a bit of a rabbit warren of trails around the buildings. Also a fairly popular if off the beaten track place that local marathon runners use to train.
It was a totally alien landscape to me, there are a few very small quarries in the mountains I go to at home. But nothing remotely close to this scale.
Definitely going to have to explore a few more!
Beautiful film Stephen thank you! What a fascinating place 🤩
Thanks Sarah! 🙂 I could have stayed and explored for hours, but would have been difficult in the 🌚
Hi, great video. The rain really helps to show off the slate. A hard landscape indifferent to us puny folk. Puts me in mind of the opening sequence of Prometheus (Alien), and a bit Tolkien. The North Wales landscape also makes for some hairy driving conditions. 😨
Hmmm yeah the entire place feels like Mordor, no doubt Tolkien had places like this in mind.
I live in SoCal and have been in many mines and quarries, but have never seen any thing like that. That was awesome!! Many thanks.
Thanks! 🙂
Loved this, Stephen! It absolutely is a juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness. I can’t think of any places I’ve been that are like this in that way but maybe one day I’ll find one. Lovely photography as usual! I love how the quarry seems like it’s slowly being reclaimed by the wild.
(On a side note, I really appreciate that you take the time to properly edit and grade your footage! As someone who works in the film industry myself it’s these little details that keep me coming back to your videos! Stay wild!)
Thanks Leigh! Glad the work was appreciated. It was one of my toughest shoots with the wind and rain. Lens constantly needing wiped, had to be careful with the mic and the wind blew everything over twice🙈
I had a hard time matching the drone footage as it was shot the next day. The conditions on the day were too wet and windy to fly. Did my best to match the footage and added a subtle rain mist over some of the drone shots. 🙂
Well it looks fab :) Looking forward to your next video!
This is definitely the best filmed dinorwic I've seen. You definitely need 2 or 3 days to truly see everything. I've walked up through the woods at the bottom before and it's taken us 4 hours to get to Anglesey barracks. There's loads of things along the way and plenty of closed off bits. You did the right thing starting from the top. There's plenty camp spots there too.
Thanks Phil 🙂 I watched quite a few TH-cam videos of the place from other people and was determined to capture it in a different way. The wind & rain was very difficult to film in but actually I think the quarry looks best in those conditions. It’s much less dramatic in the sunshine.
I had arrived 3hours before I started but the rain was torrential so I waited for it to settle down a bit. But it meant I was limited in where I could explore, figured the pool, caves & waterfall was a good focus.
I did spot quite a few spots I thought would be good to camp in! Is it somewhere that camping is tolerated?
@@StephenJReid as with all places it's down to popularity and time of year. I reckon lower down is frowned on, but side bits where some of the old engineering works are have been fine from what I've seen. I've not camped there yet but it's on the list! I know in the tops no-one bothers about vans staying the night.
The most visually dramatic vlog you've done. Incredible!
Thanks! Filming in weather like this with my higher quality camera was a new challenge. Everything took twice as long and the camera got blown over twice. Was worth the effort though, the place has so many amazing views
That's a lot more rugged than my adventures at "Elephant Rock" granite quarry in eastern Missouri. But it's also a state park area, lots of scenery and if you ever get to the states I recommend it.
Stunning and very atmospheric place. As always beautifully filmed 👍
Thanks! 🙂
Looks amazing, incredible footage Stephen, love the back ground music too.
Thanks Nigel 🙂
Watching you go through that tunnel felt like a video game. I kept thinking "you're not checking for items enough!" Lol
Missing them loot boxes 🤣
Tales of slate told by the cold biting wind .
This slippery, grey beauty
Raised and shaken
By tens of thousands of rains
Memory of men! That was to come.
Great in their empty hunger
These surroundings threw walls to the sky.
Inspired by Stephen J Reid and Slate by Edwin Morgan
That’s excellent! 🙂
Lol xx
There is no question, it a beautiful monument to the men who created it.
An absolutely brilliant video..even though it was wet, gloomy, dark etc your filming told a brilliant story. Even in the depths of darkness colours were evident, the lake and vegetation...A superb video. Many thanks and best wishes.
Thanks Andy! The weather was a huge challenge but it definitely was the best conditions to show this place off
Your work is amazing!
Thank you so much!
Great vid. Loved this.
Thanks David 🙂
Great content - well filmed - subscribed - thumbs up too !!
That was some seriously gorgeous footage. 🤩
Another stunning video. 👏🏻
Thanks!
Such a stunning landscape! Great footage
Thanks! I think actually it probably looks best in rain, although more so the need to have the right kit
Another belter. What an amazing place. Thanks for sharing it with us.
thanks!
What an amazing piece of presentation and editing indeed, including the drone work.
Superb film, thank you for sharing this amazing and ghastly place!
You’re welcome!
Amazing place and thank you for the history on it, really interesting 👍
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Amazing video Stephen. Absolutely beautiful. I look forward to every single one.
Thank you! 🙂
Well the weather definitely added to that video! Stunning looking place and great footage Stephen.
Thanks! Yeah the weather made it I think. Glad I didn’t wait until the next day as it was dry but boring and overcast
You capture the place so well. I too have been around the quarry a couple of times so many thanks for bringing back the memories. Your images and music are beautiful.
Wow what a place.
Super video. What an amazing place.
Thanks Rob!
Amazing place, thanks for sharing, great video. 💯👏
Thanks Frank 🙂
Wow very cool video, stor tack!
thanks!
That was VERY cool. Just a delight to watch! I will say there seems to be many, MANY sharp rocks there.
Thanks Woody! 🙂
Absolutely stunning !! The video work is second to none.
Thank you! 🙂 cameras and mics completely soaked by the time I was done.
@@StephenJReid I can imagine, least it wasn’t salt water
Beautiful area! (Was that a Loch Ness Plushie on your dashboard?) 😇
Thanks and yes it is indeed! 😃 Picked that up a couple of years ago at a gift shop near the beach in Dores
@@StephenJReid Too Cool.👍😇
Thanks for risking life and limb for such a cool video.😊
Thanks Greg. I was being careful
Absolutely incredible Stephen!..what a place to go see😮
Thanks Mark! I nearly skipped it too because the weather was so bad. Glad I didn’t!
Thank you for the Adventure! Great video! That is a place i would never be able to find or get to !
Amazing adventure ! Interesting plase.
Thanks!
Hi Stephen,
I came across you recently in a video with the big dog Messner and subscribed.
I'm glad I did. You are very engaging, and your footage is spectacular and thoughtful. Enjoyed this.
Thanks, Paul
Thanks Paul, glad you enjoyed it 🙂 can’t promise I’ll put this much effort into every video!
Thanks for posting this video, it truly is a beautiful and hideous place. Whenever we're in the area I always try and go running round there,
Glad you caught sight of the goats, in my experience you can usually smell them before you see them
the goats really do stink! 🤣
This was an amazing video! It's one of my favorite edited videos you have done! Love watching. Keep it coming!
Thank you! Putting more effort into developing my style for these kinds of videos.
You are talented for sure.
What an incredible place! Would have been an interesting place to camp. Your camera and drone work is equally incredible, you captured the beauty of the Quarry wonderfully. Thank you for taking us on your adventure. :) :)
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 I might return in the middle to camp in it.
A really excellent piece of work, seamlessly incorporating the different media. I've explored Dinorwic on many occasions and the weather was always excellent but the weather on your trip really adds atmosphere. I'm visiting the quarry next month and want to explore the hidden waterfall area which I haven't been to before (hope the hole in the fence is still there! but I think you can get to the cave from the other direction). I'm impressed with your camera & sound equipment and in particular, the 360 camera footage, What camera did you use?
Thanks Brian! 🙂 I make videos for a living so I have good kit. This was shot on a Sony A7siii with a weather sealed 24-105mm lens. Also used a DJI action 4 for most of the walk and talk shots as it’s just easier to work with when it’s raining.
Well that's it snakes and ladders is now on my todo list. Thats after I've fixed my broken back. 😂 great video and amazing to bump into you at the NEC
Yeah the snakes and ladders route looks pretty epic. Although maybe one for a dry day. Heal up!
Great video by the way, I really like your camera work and editing, you captured it really well.
Thanks! This was a real challenge for me trying to shoot a cinematic style in really raining and wet conditions. The lens was covered in water ever few minutes and had to keep a lens cloth in a plastic bag and it was tricky getting the audio in the wind.
Glad I put in the effort though! Was good experience and less effort wouldn’t have done the place justice 😊
@@StephenJReid yeh, I thought you had spent some thought on it, but great cinematography once again.
Another story… when you looked down to the electricity scheme down by the lower lake there was big open area and it was used for the film set of ‘Willow’ there were piles of bones and skeletons hanging up everywhere, it wasn’t long before you started getting to climbing belay stances to be met with a skull or something else just as random!
Bet that was a surprise 😂
I really enjoyed this, there are some serious Mordor vibes going on with that weather beating down on you 😄
Felt like I was crawling into Mount doom. 🤣
Incredible video...the weather added to the atmosphere. You're in a very special place. Manufactured, and still being utilised in ways that I can only guess at 🤐🤔
Seen something similar in Wicklow, great video, love watching.❤❤
Thanks Alan! Do you know where in Wicklow? Sounds like it might be worth a visit
@@StephenJReid Driving into acklow, think it was copper mining. I think it was on the same road the prison on, Shelton Abbey. Some big holes and steep bits I found when I had a car over 25 years ago.
Only getting to see it now. But well worth the wait! I’ve ran in around and over that mountain and few routes and ridges in that area! Fabulous place no matter the weather! Great film and might be your best so far!
Thanks! 🙂 very pleased with the video, was one of those videos where it ended up being exactly what I hoped.
@@StephenJReid yes a nicely made one! Good edits and to the point in what you were doing! Fun too which is important! Keep it real dude!
Wonderful film completely caught the grimness and the appalling beauty of the place.
“Appalling beauty” is a brilliant phrase
Stunning video Steve. I spent many a weekend/ weeks in my youth exploring the area and was inspired to go to some places further afield. About 20 or so years ago, I had an old customer who had the most wonderful collection of B&W photographs that he took in days gone by of him (and some well known locals) climbing the vertical slate faces - truely inspiring. Not too inspired by the goats though! Scared the living s..t out of me once when I was scrambling up Tryfan 😂😂😂.
You can feel the history in the place. The goats are freaky looking and they smell terrible
Excellent video we love Going to dinorwic , I saw that fence hole but never braved it lol ,for every ton of usable slate there was 30 ton of waste ,allegedly,,the goats where at the cottage ruins last year ,,well wiffy,
The goats really do stink, last time I was in the area it was summer and they were extremely stinky
Fab video, and yes, we got the “miner injuries” pun! Quality. 😂
thanks Phil and that pun wasn't even deliberate! 🤣
Wow! The fossils that must be in that slate. Beautiful place and thank you for your bravery for showing us.
Take care and stay safe
Wow looks amazing! Could spend hours possibly days exploring that 😅
Yup!
What an amazing place! The weather was ideal for such a jagged landscape. No midges there!
Midges probably all still larvae hiding in that water!
That was amazing.
Thank you
It felt like you were taking us on a tour through Mordor in lord of the rings!
Stunning
"ok tour and if you look to the left you'll see a giant spider waiting in the darkness, we will need one volunteer as a sacrifice"
That is pretty special. Indeed. ❤
It was indeed, especially in that weather!
Unreal mate. Looked like a brilliant place to explore.
Was amazing. Loads of potential camp spots too!
@@StephenJReid brilliant matey
Thank you for showing us this desolate place. Imagine cutting into the side of a mountain made up of billions of bricks only held together by gravity and friction.... 🙏🏽
Thanks! Well I think those bricks were solid rock before they started digging them out
Hi, I like your vlog. The place looks amazing and I wish to visit it. What's the correct pist code for the upper car park please? Also, how to get to that lake and "gate" from that car park? ✌️
Saw you in tesco today but didn't want to bother you, awesome seeing you anyways!
You wouldn’t have been the first to say hello in Tesco! 😂
Definitely need more than a day to explore. We only had 4 hours so much to see . The 360 cams not the best in drizzle . Cracking footage n editing
Yeah I ended up with only 4hours as well. Didn't use the 360 too much as yeah it's not the best in those conditions.
6:33 there’s no “possibly” about it!
🤣 There was no sign that explicitly said no to
Brilliant footage and I did a recent video with the drone flying around the quarry. One of many parts to come as it's an amazing place. Thanks for sharing. Definite sub from me.
If you haven’t already visited, you’ll love Parys Mountain on Anglesey. A former copper ore mine & great to explore
I haven't yet, a few people have mentioned it to me. Not sure when I'll get a chance to visit but its on my list!
Your pit zips were open on that walkway with that gale blowing - refreshing 😊😎😎😎. Was thinking you were gonna climb up that sheer wall 😂😂. Brilliant video as always 👌
I was warm the entire time, sweating if anything 🤣 I'll return with a grappling hook
@@StephenJReid The paramo is some job , I don’t think I would use anything else in the winter now 👍. Yes grappling hooks and remember your helmet 👌
Some spot, almost has a very Nordic feel to it. Be some crying done if you were hitting that every Monday 😂 Water colour epic, I’m assuming that’s something to do with the slate either in or connected to it. Hell of a trek out 👌
Yeah it was like being on another planet in places, totally unfamiliar type of place. Did my best to capture what it’s like to be there. Hard to describe the scale of the place.
Yeah I wonder about the water colour, must be the slate
It’s an awesome place to climb in, or the ladders tour for wet days (if you know what you’re doing!)
I'd love to go back and try that sometime with someone who knows what they are doing.
What an awesome place! Never been there but just think of all the houses that have been built from that mountain! I have been to Parys Mountain in Anglesea which is also an other unworldly place. Excellent points about lives taken through mining. Sadly though it's a bit of an inevitability as we would quite have the modern world we do today without mining.
Yeah a lot of people in our history paid a high price for the lives we enjoy today.
@@StephenJReid It was brilliant and timely you pointed this slight little fact out. Too many today wish for us to return (or it seems) to a bygone age where everything was carried by horse and cart and so everything was safe and easy again. Far from it!
Amazed i've never heard of this place before - it looks like a Game of Thrones location. Was "minor injuries" intended as a pun? Also - the intro was obviously inspired by Saturday nights out in Belfast City Centre.
That area around the Duke of York is a strange mix of beauty and ugliness 😂
Place looks epic, the bad weather almost makes it more cinematic.
Yup! the weather made it perfect
@@StephenJReid I can also imagine it on a s sunny day the light reflecting of the shear surfaces
Ey up me duck.
Loved this one me owd 👍
Ay a good'un🙂
Thank you! 😁
It looks like the most incredible, otherworldly death trap period!
Good description!
Beautiful place sir....But where there is beauty, there is danger.... Be safe sir
Thanks Ajay! I do my best to be safe when making these videos
@@StephenJReid oh that's good.. you are welcome sir
I hope you have a note on your camera that says when found, where to post your last film to. Don't worry about editing it, we will understand, just make your last words dramatic: "that doesn't look too bad" or something.
😂 not sure anyone would want to watch the nearly 2hours of raw footage I shot for this
Hmmmm......... beautiful and hideous.... London?
I love ow nature is reclaiming the place and softening the edges.
You need to go back in 100 years and take another look and see how much has changed ;-)
That’s a good one! I think most cities are like that always beautiful parts and really ugly or run down areas.
I suspect in 100years it’ll not look hugely different. Maybe a few more fences, trees and a few of the buildings might be missing a few bricks. Parts of it are already over 200years old
6:34 First rule of trespassing. Never document or admit that you know you're trespassing.