Bridges have always been required to ease the passage of people and goods from the earliest of times. In this book are described stepping stones, suspension, clapper and stone-arched bridges. Many of them are very old and contribute greatly to the history of Snowdonia and enhance many views.
'The Slate Trail' of Snowdonia is a 85 mile long path and this guide highlights day walks that can be undertaken from it. These walks are all slate themed and explore the area in greater detail. All the walks follow rights of way on paths, tracks or roads. Many of the walks are away from the 'honey pots' of Snowdonia and meeting other people is a rare occurrence. In the near future, the slate areas of north Wales may well become a UNESCO World Heritage area. Walking the paths, we can appreciate the variety of technology and craft, organisation, social and environmental impacts of the slate industry in these mountain communities, which once dominated world slate production.
Much less known than the slate industry in Snowdonia are the metal mines. But these, too, greatly contributed to the economy of the area. The main metals found in Snowdonia are lead, copper, manganese, gold and iron. Gold was also found and mined during 'gold rushes' in great quantity.As with slate mining and quarrying the legacy of the mineral mines is slowly disappearing whether this is occurring from natural causes or vandalism. Des Marshall wanted to record what can be seen of the metal mines before they too are lost to brambles, bracken and trees which are taking over and hiding these wonderful places.