The Ogwen Trail Slate has been quarried at Bethesda for 700 years. The establishment of the Penrhyn Quarry by Richard Pennant in 1770 saw Bethesda slate shipped all around the globe. Richard Pennant was the 1st Baron Penrhyn and his quarry, at one mile long and 1,200ft deep, was the largest opencast system in the world! The standard gauge railway was opened in 1884 to passengers and goods. Because of the discrepancy of the workers pay with the owners wealth, the workers called for union representation and a strike lasted for three years from 1900, one of the largest disputes recorded at the time. Total closure came in 1962. Originally it was a horse drawn tramway serving Flint Mill at Llandegai. Three years later a single track line was extended to Bethesda with a 2ft + half inch gauge track A 4.5 mile track was eventually opened in 1884 run by London and North Western railway with steam locos calling at Felin Hen and Tregarth from Bangor passing over two viaducts and through a tunnel. In places it paralleled and crossed over the Penrhyn Quarry Railway. It's demise came in 1963. The Ogwen Trail follows the quarry railway and is a beautiful route, about 11 miles long and starts from Porth Penrhyn near Bangor to Bethesda along the Sustrans 5 & 82 routes. There is the option to continue all the way to Llyn Ogwen. The railway was used to serve the Penrhyn Quarry. The trail passes through Tregarth and now the recently re-opened tunnels nearby. The British Horse Society campaigned to make the bridge over the A 4244 horse friendly with rubber matting to dampen the horse footfalls. The whole of the trail is horse accessible. If travelling to Bethesda there is a section of the route on tarmac roads. Grid Ref : SH 5923 7256 Porth Penrhyn Room to park Grid Ref : SH 6272 6539 Bethesda Parking at Ogwen bank (see Ogwen Trail link below) The Ogwen Trail - Home Ogwen Valley - Ogwen Snack Bar, famous climbing and walking routes.