after our excursion up Ordinary Route on Saturday, Claire and I elected for a gentler Sunday morning with a trip to Pete's Eats (go if you've never been and are in Llanberis) and then a wander around the lower slate quarries...
As you come down the Llanberis Pass and see the scarred flanks of Elidir Fawr it does appear that the quarries are a hideous blot on the landscape - and to a point they are. They come from a time where no-one gave a damn about tourism and how things would look to later generations....and yet...
When you actually go around them they have an interesting ambience. The area has managed to put some great tourist trails around them whilst still keeping some of the old buildings and machinery and making everything work really well.....most interesting.
Obviously - we were also interested in the climbs; most of the climbing is up on the upper tier which we didn't get to (and is usually approached from Dinworic), however we saw enough on the lower tiers (including the seminal 'Comes the Dervish - the first and still one of the best slate routes) that we are both inspired for future visits. Slate is also climbable all year round and dries almost instantly :-); both as climbers and interested visitors we'll be back..
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