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A470 Road Improvements by Ivor wynne Jones
" Slate capital of the world, Blaenau Ffestiniog, is set to benefit from improvements to the A470 trunk road..."
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Although the A470 is the Cardiff-Llandudno trunk road, environmentalists spent many years proposing the widening of the very picturesque Lledr Valley, from Betws-y-Coed to Dolwyddelan.
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The two-year scheme, now complete, does, however, enhance the environment. One much-praised feature of the scheme is the many miles of slate-stone walling, made of random blocks from Llechwedd.
Gone now are the temporary traffic lights that remained in operation on the route whilst finishing touches took place and the long stretches of improved road now mean that it can take less than 15 minutes to reach Blaenau Ffestiniog from Betws-y-Coed. With the work now completed, Llechwedd Slate Caverns intend installing a new slate-
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splitting theatre, so as to further diversify the slate activities for the increased number of visitors. It was the ability of the Welsh craftsman to split the blocks into the world's best roofing slates that brought the industry into being.
This feature was first exploited by the Romans, at the lower of their two forts at Caernarfon. Roofing slates were next used by James of St George, architect to Edward 1, to complete the towers at Conwy Castle. Llechwedd Slate Caverns came into being to provide an alternative to thatch for the countless terraces of houses needed to accommodate workers for the "Dark Satanic Mills" of the Industrial Revolution. Llechwedd slates were subsequently exported to every continent.
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