The Welsh Mines Preservation Trust has been involved with several projects at the Llywernog Mine Museum near Ponterwyd. We have restored two of the iron waterwheels to running order, one of which had not operated for several decades. The 11’ x 2’ buddle waterwheel was the first to be restored, with a temporary repair made to the wooden launders. The launders feeding the 14’ x 2’ jigger waterwheel were heavily rebuilt and both waterwheels are now in regular operation.
A complete overhaul of the museum exhibition room was made in 2017, updating many of the exhibits and adding new caption and information sheets beside the rare and unique artefacts which were found. Many items of mining equipment which had never been displayed before were added to the museum room, and we have also formed a completely new exhibition room on the first floor of the crusher house, including a reconstructed captain’s table, assay table and carpenter’s shop.
We have also been working in conjunction with the Cambrian Mines Trust to restore one of the jiggers – a three-compartment one built in 1907 which spent its working life at Glogfawr Mine under the Lisburne Development Syndicate – to running order. This will form the only exhibition of a working jigger in Wales, and will be driven by means of belts and line-shafting connected to the jigger waterwheel. New belts, bearings and pulleys have enabled us to restore the jigging machinery in traditional style.
Work continues at the Llywernog Mine Museum in the form of extensive clearance of the site, cataloguing the vast collection of items and many other projects. We are very grateful to the Silver Mountain Experience, current owners of the Llywernog site, for giving us the opportunity to restore and conserve their important collection of mining artefacts and machinery.
