ABC Wednesday - B

B is for back at last!! Haven't done this for a while, but pleased to be here again!

B is also for Bryntail Lead Mines. A beautiful place not far from where we live, what's left of the mines lay at the base of the Llyn Clywedog dam, near Llanidloes, Powys.

Bryntail Mine, a Guardianship Monument in the care of Cadw, was worked between the late 18th century up to the late 1860s, producing lead ore and barytes. Visible workings are largely of 19th century date and include 3 main shafts and a deep adit, well-preserved remains of an earthwork incline, tramway track beds, a leat which once carried water drawn from the Clywedog further upstream, substantial remains of buildings including structures which housed pumping and winding machinery, a barytes mill, mine office, smithy and store building, a circular explosives magazine, together with wheelpits for winding and crushing machinery, ore bins, roasting ovens and precipitation tanks, jigger placements, a washing and picking floor area, buddles, slime pits.
(Information from Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust)

The approach to the mines with Llyn Clywedog dam in background



Part of the mine ruins



An old stone wheel



Llyn Clywedog that lies above the mines



A woodland walk close by




Photos mine!