Slate quarrying in Pembrokeshire. ########### There follows a series of comments/facts based on the article ; The Pembrokeshire Slate Quarrymen by Dafydd Roberts, in Llafur [Journal of Welsh Labour History] Vol 5/1, 1988. What slate industry ? To most people "the Welsh slate industry" naturally implies north west Wales, within the former counties of Caernarfon and Merioneth. After all, in the period 1780 to date , these areas produced 80-90% of the UK's total output of roofing slate with quarries such as Penrhyn and Dinorwig producing at least 100,000 tons of finished roofing slates annually at their peak, and employing up to 3,500 men each. However, this obscures the fact that viable slate quarrying industries existed elsewhere in Wales, and for the purpose of this exercise, in north Pembrokeshire, namely, along the north facing coast of the county, in the Preselau mountains, along the border with Carmarthenshire, and in the Cilgerran area of the lower Teifi valley. Reference can be found to the existence , at various times, of about a hundred slate quarries in Pembrokeshire, and to a labour force totalling perhaps several hundred during the second half of the C19. [Based on The Pembrokeshire Slate Quarrymen by Dafydd Roberts, in Llafur [Journal of Welsh Labour History] Vol 5/1, 1988. Gareth, 19 Jan 2001 D/P] ########## Gareth List Administrator for Dyfed, CGN & PEM. Lookup Exchange http://www.johngareth.freeserve.co.uk/lookup.html Help Page http://www.johngareth.freeserve.co.uk/hicks.html