The well-known double ore-bin at Gwaithcoch Mine in Cwm Rheidol has suffered from rapid deterioration in recent years. Both lintels at the picking slides had rotted away, and large chunks of masonry were falling from the collapsing walls almost every week.
We have acquired and inserted two new, strong jarrah wood lintels to the original sockets at both picking slides, and a traditional repair has been carried out on the walls above them. Blending into the original masonry, the new sections of wall support the old from further deterioration.
Work continues in the form of conserving the backs of the deteriorated sections of masonry, and also clearing the vegetation which is growing in and damaging the stone lining of both bins. The building is one of the only survivors of the once-large Gwaithcoch dressing floor which was landscaped in the 1960s, and is also in a very prominent position and easily visible from the Cwm Rheidol lane.
