Big Cockerel left to crow another day
Owners say there are no plans to reopen quarry
FEARS an iconic pinnacle at an historic quarry may be blown up have been allayed by its owners.
Y Ceiliog Mawr (literally the Big Cockerel) is a piece of granite exposed by generations of quarrymen extracting slate from the Dinorwig quarry at Llanberis.
The quarry, which closed in 1969, is now owned by energy company First Hydro, a joint venture between International Power Ltd and Mitsui & Co, who operate the hydro electric power station built in deep underground caverns.
Locals became concerned when they saw large trucks and excavators working around the area. Rumours spread that the quarry appeared to be reopening and blasting was being prepared around the rock, which is now classed as a small hill.
A small crowd gathered along the banks of Llyn Peris late on Thursday afternoon in driving rain to see what was going on.
But apart from a few wisps of white smoke from the base of the rock, no dramatic explosions were seen or heard.
One onlooker said: “If they manage to blow it up they’re destroying part of Llanberis’ history.”
But a spokesman for First Hydro said there are no plans to reopen the quarry.
“We are carrying out safety-related work and removing a small amount of rock above the Dinorwig Power station,” he said.
The appropriate planning authorities had been made aware of the plans and had approved them, and the local communtiy council has also been informed, the spokesman added.
Dafydd Roberts, curator of the National Slate Museum, said the pinnacle had been problematic for quarry owners for more than 150 years and previous attempts have been made to blow it up.
The first was in 1896 when the general manager, Walter Vivian, decided the days of Ceiliog Mawr were numbered, and invited guests and quarrymen were told they would witness “a real explosion”.
Newspaper reports from the time said after the Llanberis Silver Band led a procession before the explosives were set off.
The North Wales Express reported: “Smoke issues from the fissures in the rock, and a fall of some hundred tons of rock occurs from the left side of the dyke, while behind the dyke the rock seems to be boiling, and everything is over. The smoke is soon cleared away by the wind. Everybody was, of course, very disappointed.”
Several years later a Royal visit gave quarry managers an excuse to try and dispose of the rock again. Several tons of explosive were set at the bottom of the pinnacle but only a few rocks were dislodged.
In 1905 a third attempt was made but this was also a failure and since then Y Ceiliog Mawr has been an icon of the Dinorwig quarry.