A selection of historic photographs of the North Wales’ slate industry have gone on show in Gwynedd.
Pictures gathered from Wales’s national collections are on display in the Images of Industry exhibition at the National Slate Museum in Llanberis.
The photographs – many of which have never been seen before – show the moving of slate-filled wagons, quarrymen’s journey to work, tools, workplaces and stunning locations and landscapes.
The exhibition features images of the industry in the 1960s by photographer Emrys Jones of Colwyn Bay, including locations like the Dinorwic quarry in Llanberis, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Bethesda.
A spokeswoman for the slate museum said: “Many of the pictures have never been seen before and, while we have basic information about most of them, we have no names for the men in the photos.
“We would welcome any assistance from Daily Post readers to identify the quarrymen.”
The images have recently been digitised as part of an Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales project called Natural Images, made possible thanks to a £600,000 gift from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation in 2011.
The project set out to digitise images of subjects ranging from geology and botany to industrial history and art.
Up to 10,000 images will have been digitised by the time the project ends in April 2015.
David Anderson, director general of Amgueddfa Cymru, said the project involved transferring the finest examples from the museum’s collection of around 500,000 photographs, drawings and historic items into an accessible digital format.
The pictures include photographic portraits from the late 19th century, pioneering wildlife photography from the early 20th century, photographs taken at archaeological excavation sites during the 1930s, and underground and surface photography of mines in the south Wales coalfield from the 1970s and 1980s.
Mr Anderson said: “Digitisation of these images means we are able to open up access to the collections for the public and ensure greater use of the collections in future. It helps preserve history.”
Images of Industry can be seen at the National Slate Museum in Llanberis until April 30.
Source : www.dailypost.co.uk – Feb. 2015
More informations : http://www.museumwales.ac.uk