Sunday May 4th 2025
In my previous post I mentioned the Richard Pennant (Lord Penrhyn) who made his money through slave plantations in Jamaica. He and his descendants then made a lot more money in the slate business. The Slate Landscapes of North West Wales are now a World Heritage Site and the Penrhyn Quarry, port, railway and castle are included in the site. Penrhyn Quarry began operation in the 18th century and became the largest slate quarry in the 19th century. As I mentioned previously the family were anti-abolitionists and it seems like they treated the slate workers only marginally better than slaves. In 1900 the workers began a three year strike, one of the longest in British history. Many families left the area at this time, and the ones that stayed almost starved to death. The quarry is still producing slate now but the disused quarry pit is now home to ZipWorld, an adventure junkie playground, but they also run quarry tours which are more our speed.
After our tour we drove to Caernarfon which was about 30 minutes away. It was a Sunday so normal parking restrictions didn’t apply on the street and we managed to get a park not far from our destination—Black Boy Inn, an historic pub dating back to the 16th century. We were there for the Sunday Roast, so stepped through the historic pub room at the front to the carvery in the rear. There were roast meats, massive yorkies, roast veggies and peas, with a ladle of gravy spooned over the lot. For dessert we had jam pudding with swimming in custard. It was very good, and we were pleased to get at least one Sunday Roast while we were in the UK.
After lunch we rolled out of the pub and up the street to Caernarfon Castle, the next one of Edward’s Castles on our itinerary. All four of the castles were designed by the same man, but each is different and takes advantage of the site that they were built on. Along with the castle, town walls and the quay were also built, taking 47 years. The Castle walls and octagonal keep echoed imperial Roman architecture. Edward I’s son, also Edward, was born here, and was named the first English Prince of Wales. The Castle also holds the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum which we had a look through as well. We used our Cadw Explorer Pass for entry to the castle.
Total Steps: 6,827 (Not much walking today)
Comments
8 responses to “Wales Day 3: Penrhyn Quarry, Caernarfon”
That’s fascinating, about the slate trade.
I love all the castles – Wales is so cool!
After our trip, I feel like Wales is an underappreciated destination.
So interesting. That roast looks so good. It doesn’t help that I am hungry. We’re driving home from downtown Chicago. Purely played in a tournament there and she just played a team from Australia. They were very good and we lost, but we played so well that the team was all smiles afterward. The Australian team beat most teams by 25 points, but we only lost by 10. We got with four a few times. Curly said They were so nice, saying ‘good game mates.’ 😉
I’m a sucker for a good castle and these photos are great.
The roast was really good! Losing when you’ve played well, while still disappointing, is much better than when you play badly and should have won. I’m glad to hear that the Australian team were nice.
That roast dinner does look mighty good. And the castles! So beautiful!
The castles are amazing.
Wales is moving up on my travel list as I read your posts.
I am hesitant roadtripping in the UK as I never drove on the wrong side of the road. I guess you are used to it.
That Sunday roast looks delicious.
G is not too keen on driving in Europe because of being on the wrong side of the road for us. We had a bit of a horror drive in and out of Paris (unplanned but done due to a train strike), which has put him off.