Pistyll Rhaeadr

A small footbridge provides a good vantage point from which to dwell on the local legend that huge rocks at the base of the waterfall were dropped by giants who were disturbed when building a bridge.

About one-third of the way up the waterfall is a natural rock arch. At the bottom corners of this arch are two grooves where a board was attached to deflect water into an aqueduct ditch. The ditch follows the contours of the valley side to the Craig y Mwn lead mines, some half a mile away. Shortly after leaving the falls, you will notice the workings of the Powis slate quarry, a small but once productive mine. The slates were mined above the aqueduct and dressed below it before being transported down to the valley.

There is evidence that the Craig y Mwn mines were worked from Roman times or even earlier. The technique of fire and water was used — this involved heating the rock with fire and then suddenly cooling it to shatter it.

The ancient trackway in the valley bottom was used in both the Bronze Age and Roman times. More recently, the mines were worked from 1733 to 1880, producing ten to twelve tonnes of pure lead per week before being closed.

At the mines you will see the aqueduct supplied a reservoir. This in turn fed a small ditch leading to a large water wheel. The water then flowed onto the filter beds where the crushed ore was washed to separate the rock. At the far side of the spoil heap are the remains of the workers' cottages. Above is the incline from the upper levels.

The nearby village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant is an important place in Welsh literary history because it was here that Bishop William Morgan translated the Bible into Welsh in the 1580s.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.