From the collection of
Established in 2001, the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive holds an unrivalled collection of films, TV and radio broadcasts, video tapes and sound recordings relating to Wales and the Welsh, from 1898 to the present day. The collection spans multiples formats and genres, both professional and amateur.
From rockface to museum - a quarryman's skills live on.
Huw Jones, retired slate quarryman living in the Nantlle Valley, talks about his work at the Dinorwig slate quarry in Llanberis up until 1957, which included the skilled tasks of splitting and dressing slates as well as working on the rock face, descending on ropes to dislodge slate using 'black powder' in holes that were hammered into the rock. The work was hard, perilous and a health risk, with many developing silicosis from inhaled slate dust, but there was also, as Jones explains, a great feeling of togetherness and comradeship in the quarry, which extended beyond the work sites into the communities surrounding them.
He expands on the decline of the slate industry (world markets and loss of labour to other industries being among the chief causes), and comments on the legacy and heritage of slate, with visitors stopping to watch ex-quarrymen (Jones himself among them) split and dress slates at the at the National Slate Museum at Llanberis.
North Wales is undeniably stunning, but it's worth looking behind the castles, crags and beautiful coastline to uncover some of its unique voices and stories…