Corris Mine Explorers for Groups and School Visits

A fascinating insight into the Welsh slate industry

Corris Mine Explorers is an ideal activity for school groups, exciting and educational [+]

Corris Mine Explorers provides schools and groups with an authentic, virtually untouched abandoned Welsh slate mine. Original objects and mining equipment are still in place as the miners left them, including machinery, tools, rail track, candles and even a packet of cigarettes. The Braich Goch mine first opened in 1836 and finally closed in the early 1970s. The visit can explore parts of the mine excavated in the early years and those excavated just prior to its closure enabling striking comparisons to be drawn by the students.

A knowledgeable guide helps groups discover the abandoned mine and also helps to bring it alive with stories of life in the mine.

A school group investigating slate mining relics [+]

Further exploration of the village of Corris can be included as a part of your visit. The village of Corris expanded in line with the growing success of the Braich Goch, and surrounding slate mines. Dwellings were built for miners, the number of churches and chapels multiplied enabling regular worship and a range of shops opened. A guided tour of the village is available which provides a more in depth understanding of life in Corris during the early 1900s. The narrow gauge Corris Railway, which was first built to transport slate from the mine all over the world, is now partly restored and operational. There is a small museum at the Corris Railway which further explores the history of the Railway and its links with the mine.

The nearby village of Corris, a typical Welsh slate quarrying village [+]

Corris Mine Explorers (and the village of Corris) has a natural fit with many areas of the National Curriculum in England and Wales for Key Stages 2,3 and 4.