Spanish Slate for Llanberis

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 Pedro50 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

Imagine the outrage if they proposed reopening a quarry which is now a valued climbing site. Rainbow slab anyone? 

Removed User 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

Brexit'll sort 'em out.

1
 Bob Hughes 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

Always worth reading beyond the headline: "Although the quarry closed in July 1969 and no working quarry remains in the area, the spoil tips remain."

 IJL99 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

 

The report finishes with

"Despite the cost of transporting the material from Spain the slate is often half the price of Welsh slate."

There's not much future for Welsh slate if thats the case

 

 

 steve taylor 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Bob Hughes:

> Always worth reading beyond the headline: "Although the quarry closed in July 1969 and no working quarry remains in the area, the spoil tips remain."

and:

"Despite the cost of transporting the material from Spain the slate is often half the price of Welsh slate."

Love the comment that says Brexit will sort it out too!

pasbury 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Bob Hughes:

And Penrhyn is still operating. Probably only produces premium (expensive) quality stuff.

 deepsoup 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

There's some quality brexity logic in the comments there. 

"It's an absolute outrage that they're buying Spanish slates instead of local ones, just because the local place went out of business 50 years ago."

Just out of interest, how far from a disused quarry do you have to be before it's ok for your roofing contractor to buy slates from a builders merchant instead of re-opening the quarry and making their own?

 deepsoup 13 Sep 2018
In reply to steve taylor:

> "Despite the cost of transporting the material from Spain the slate is often half the price of Welsh slate."

 

And the rest.  Premium quality Spanish slate might be half the price of the cheapest Welsh slate you can find (in small quantities).

I'm surprised they're using natural slate at all in these cash-strapped times.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

AND crap slate  brittle and no camber  

 deepsoup 13 Sep 2018
In reply to IJL99:

> There's not much future for Welsh slate if thats the case

The future isn't particularly bright for the big quarries that shut down 50 or more years ago, no.

There's still a niche market for expensive Welsh slate though, mostly where it needs to match existing slate for aesthetic reasons.  Listed buildings and the like.  I don't suppose that niche will be disappearing any time soon, though it probably won't help when EU investment into Wales dries up.  Still, I'm sure their share of the £350 million a week bonanza will more than cover that eh?

Post edited at 10:50
3
 Fruitbat 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

It does seem ridiculous at first glance but it's like everything now: money talks, so the cheapest option is taken. I think a bit more credibility could have been given to their argument if they had substituted the still-working Penrhyn (Bethesda) quarry for Llanberis, although if they had ended up actually using that slate then I'm sure a (non) story would have been written about the slate being from the wrong valley, never mind the wrong country.

Saying that, even the production of the Penrhyn slate has changed: most (all?) Is now sawn instead of being riven (split along its natural grain). This obviously takes less manpower (cheaper for the company) and is supposed to be less wasteful as it gives more usable finished product, even though it may be thought that the width of the saw blades would produce waste material. I don't know how the sawn slate compares to the riven slate in performance, appearance, workability, durability etc. - nor how the Spanish slate compares.

Going back to the story in the OP, I wonder what is happening to the existing slates that are on the roofs? Many/most of them must be able to be reused but it is probably just a blanket statement in the contract to buy new slate for all the houses.

Most houses that get re-roofed will use the same slates, with maybe just having to buy a few replacements, so surely this could be an option for these houses? The money saved could be used to buy Penrhyn slates for any needed replacements. Am I being cynical is thinking that the Spanish option has been taken as there is bit of money to be made for someone in selling the old slates?

Post edited at 11:26
 keith sanders 13 Sep 2018
In reply to deepsoup:

Most likely the re roofing in Wales is funded by the EU grants.

keith s 

 spidermonkey09 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

This is total bollocks. Welsh slate is definitely better but absolutely extortionate compared to the Spanish alternative, which lest we forget, serves its primary purpose of keeping water out of ones house. Given this is public money Spanish slate is definitely the best option.

I've lived in several houses with Spanish or Chinese slate. It looks different to the Welsh but not worse, and does the job. Plus, the quarry is closed! Jesus...

1
 deepsoup 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Fruitbat:

>  Am I being cynical is thinking that the Spanish option has been taken as there is bit of money to be made for someone in selling the old slates?

Most likely, yes, you are.

A good many of them will be knackered, and getting the rest off in a re-usable condition would slow the job down to the point that the additional labour costs involved would probably exceed their second-hand value.

OP Sl@te Head 13 Sep 2018

It would be great to find a disused slate quarry in Spain to bolt up ready for winter bolt clipping trips

Out of interest does anyone know if there's slate climbing outside of the UK?

 

 jethro kiernan 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

There is some in the lakes I hear

Bogwalloper 13 Sep 2018
In reply to jethro kiernan:

> There is some in the lakes I hear


W

 Bob Kemp 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Fruitbat:

Just had a look at some of the info on Penrhyn slate out of interest (getting a re-roof soon), and the pic here looks riven: 

https://www.lbsproducts.com/natural-roofing-slate/welsh-slate/penrhyn-bango...

This company's website has some interesting info on Spanish slate (which they also sell) - seems to be a lot of variation in quality. And as ever, you get what you pay for. 

In reply to spidermonkey09:

Your right it is totall Bollaks   

Based on you have lived in  several house  that I assume did not leek you state that in your short time there  it's  bolaks 

well I  tell you and others  that the resale prices for Welsh and others are miles apart  and you know why???

and  see above. 

TQ. If slate is now sawn how is the capillary Ingres prevented 

4
In reply to deepsoup:

Unlikely 

In reply to Sl@te Head:

The obvious question here is "Where are the Spanish slate quarries and are they climbable?"

 spidermonkey09 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Name Changed 34:

Excuse me?!

 earlsdonwhu 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

When I needed some reroofing in N Wales, I was offered Welsh , Spanish or Brazilian slate. They claimed that the local stuff was better quality but it was twice the cost of Spanish and the stuff from S America was even cheaper. Mad.

 

 cander 13 Sep 2018
In reply to Pedro50:

Think of all the new routes though, starting with a clean slate so to speak

 MeMeMe 13 Sep 2018
In reply to earlsdonwhu:

We had a similar thing with sandstone flags.

We looked at a local quarry but it just wasn't something that we could afford. Plus they didn't cut them to a specific thickness you had to wait until they happened upon a layer of stone that happened to be the right thickness and hope there was enough of it for what you wanted it for...

I guess high end quality is what they can compete on because they'll never be able to compete with India or China on price. 

In reply to cander:

Many slate quarries are in the NW region of Spain, near Lugo and Leon. Some of the pictures I've seen, especially of the Del Carmen quarry, are mind boggling. There is plenty of potential.

 

 Billhook 15 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

I love the outrage.  And the 'blame it on brexit' posts.

SO WHAT?    The quarries are closed.  That is the end of the matter.  

And what a waste of money it would be to try to re-open them just to roof a few houses.

 elliott92 15 Sep 2018
In reply to Fruitbat:

i imagine the reason they wont be reusing the old slate is because to gain council work the contractors will have to have guarantees through the NHBC or similar organisation. No one in their right mind will guarantee new work with old slates as its probable you're going to get a few break down a vein and slip down the roof

 McHeath 15 Sep 2018
In reply to Sl@te Head:

Reminds me of the reports about Welsh wool being processed and turned into blankets in Spain, which are then sent back to Wales and sold. Or the North Sea shrimps which are peeled in Morocco before hitting the market back home.

 Billhook 15 Sep 2018
In reply to McHeath:

"Whitby scampi"  

The lovely food eaten by many visitors to our town is actually caught in the far east then sent to China for processing and packaging then supplied to the couple of wholesale fish merchants in town.

 Toerag 17 Sep 2018
In reply to earlsdonwhu:

> They claimed that the local stuff was better quality but it was twice the cost of Spanish and the stuff from S America was even cheaper. Mad.

It'll be fine after Brexit when the foreign stuff gets more expensive, all the disused quarries will re-open....

 earlsdonwhu 17 Sep 2018
In reply to Toerag:

They will probably have to recruit lots of Brazilians to do the work!


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