Minfford Slate mine from Camlan Garden Centre

This walk is the shortest route to explore the impressive remains of Minffordd Slate mine, 3 miles from Isfryn. Starting from Camlan garden centre near Dinas Mawddwy It takes about 25 strenuous minutes to reach the ruined mine buildings, abandoned in the early 20^th century. You could easily spend an hour or so exploring. I’ll include some history here, but if you’d like to know more please ask Steve.

Nearby are Pont Minllyn, a photogenic old packhorse bridge, Meirion Mill, which sells clothing and gifts from an ex-wool-weaving mill and, in Dinas Mawddwy ¼ mile further on, Hen Siop Cafe and the Red Lion Inn.

1) Drive from Isfryn to the A470 and turn left, continuing straight on at the Brigands Inn roundabout. 1 mile after the roundabout park by the Camlan garden centre on your left – either directly outside if quiet, or (better) on the unmetalled forest road that runs to the left and then behind the garden centre. You can fuel up here with coffee, cake and snacks if needed.

2) Walk up the forestry road on the left edge of the garden centre and then turn right at the T junction to follow the road directly behind the garden centre. Follow this for 250m to where a footpath crosses the road.

3) Turn sharply left up the footpath and follow this, increasingly steeply, for around 20 minutes until you suddenly pop out of the trees and then through a gate at a flat open area containing the ruins of the old slate-working shed.

Here slate from the mine would have been cut into slabs using a mixture of steam and water power before being loaded onto carts to be sent down a steep rail incline to the valley floor.

There are some places you could explore:

Above you are a number of impressive open pits reached by various ‘inclines’ - long steep ramps which would have had 2 sets of rails down which trucks of raw slate would have been lowered by steel cables, some of which are still visible underfoot.

Directly ahead a small stream runs out of a tunnel entrance; this tunnel leads into another pit which contains the main remaining underground mine entrance. You can easily reach this pit from above as well. I would not recommend going into the mine unless you are an experienced mine-explorer and also don’t mind getting wet feet.

4) Once you have explored enough head South East from the end of the slate shed (i.e. turning left if coming from the approach path) to follow the line of what used to be a tracked tramway for 200m or so (boggy in places) until you reach the slate remains of the winding house that stood at the top of the main incline leading down the valley and more slate-working sheds below. The line of the incline can clearly be seen still.

5) Continue along the well-trodden footpath, alongside a fence initially, then down through a gate to Maes y Camlan Farm and a lane.

6) Turn left along the lane and follow it for ½ a mile back to the garden centre. Most of the buildings on the left along here were associated with the mine. Many of them were quarrymens’ cottages. Ty Derw, now a B&B, used to be the mine manager’s house and the long building beyond it used to be another slate-cutting shed at the foot of the main incline (it now processes wool for local farmers).

Extras:

Pont Minllyn is at the entrance to Meirion Mill 200m back along the A470 towards the Brigands Inn roundabout. There are three generations of bridges over the Dyfi at this point – the packhorse bridge (built in the early 1600s by Dr. John Davies of Mallwyd, a famous Welsh scholar) a later Victorian bridge and the current road bridge.

The Pub and Cafe in Dinas Mawddwy are ¼ mile in the other direction on the A470: up the hill and then turning right onto the single street of Dinas Mawddwy village. Both are good!

The route in purple. Note Pont Minllyn on the right and Dinas Mawddwy (Pub, cafe) at the top. The Start/Finish is just left of the word “Hotel”.

Top: Looking up from the upper slate working shed to the pits and mine entrances.

Bottom: Looking down from one of the higher levels towards the slate shed and the Dyfi valley beyond.