Radical Ffestiniog

By: Grace Blakeley

The north Wales town of Blaenau Ffestiniog was once the slate capital of the world. Now, it is pioneering grassroots alternatives to the devastation of post-industrial capitalism.

Mountains of slate create the landscape near the disused Maenofferen Slate Quarry on July 29, 2021 in Blaenau Ffestiniog (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

Small

The first thing you notice about Blaenau Ffestiniog is the slate. The two-up two-down houses that line the narrow streets blend into the mountains directly behind them, which are covered in mounds and mounds of thin, grey sheets of cast-off stone. For every tonne of useable slate that was produced in the area, about ten […]

Medium

The first thing you notice about Blaenau Ffestiniog is the slate. The two-up two-down houses that line the narrow streets blend into the mountains directly behind them, which are covered in mounds and mounds of thin, grey sheets of cast-off stone. For every tonne of useable slate that was produced in the area, about ten […]

Large

The first thing you notice about Blaenau Ffestiniog is the slate. The two-up two-down houses that line the narrow streets blend into the mountains directly behind them, which are covered in mounds and mounds of thin, grey sheets of cast-off stone. For every tonne of useable slate that was produced in the area, about ten […]

The first thing you notice about Blaenau Ffestiniog is the slate. The two-up two-down houses that line the narrow streets blend into the mountains directly behind them, which are covered in mounds and mounds of thin, grey sheets of cast-off stone. For every tonne of useable slate that was produced in the area, about ten […]

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