The Drum House

One of Dinorwic quarries few remaining winding houses, this location offers a chance to capture the dereliction and epic scale of the quarry in a single shot.

What Is It

The many levels of Dinorwic quarry are full of winding houses in various states of decay and collapse.

When viewed from the area known as Australia, one winding house in particular is impressively situated. It sits perched on the edge of a giant triangular mountain of waste slate, behind it rises the gargantuan peaks of the Snowdonia Mountain range conveying in a single image a vast sense of scale.

What to Shoot

The classic view, as in the shot above, is with the drum house framed against the Snowden mountains atop the slate spoil, giving scale both to the size of the waste tips and the welsh mountains in a single frame.

But there are plenty of opportunities nearby for something more unique here. This section of quarry, known as Australia, is littered in intriguing pieces of industrial dereliction and other slate structures, which you can combined to tell the visual story of the quarry.

Lens Choice

From the vantage point on the Australia level, a 70 - 200mm focal range will isolate the drum house from it’s surrounds and nicely compress the hills in the distance.

I prefer to go slightly wider to ensure a sense of context in the wider landscape, using the angles of the giant spoil heap as a leading line into the frame.

A wide angle lens is useful to capture more nearby elements, but this does conspire to throw the Drum House into the far distance, making it appear very small and it loses the ability to be the focal element in the landscape, but with the right light and foreground, there’s still compositions to be had.

Sunrise illuminates the Snowdonia Mountains behind the Dinowric Drum House

When To Shoot

The Drum House is a great subject in any weather conditions or light.

Early morning is best here as the sun rises down the valley through the year, bouncing golden sidelight onto the hillside and clouds as it rises above Glyder Fawr.

Even if the mountains are shrouded in cloud, don’t rule this location out. For those with the patience to wait out the weather, sprees of light will pierce the gloom throwing fleeting gold on the hillside, which contrasts wonderfully as the quarry remains in shadow till late morning.

Plenty of foreground oprions remain in the quarry on the levels around the Drum House

How To Get There

The best vantage points for the Drum House are along the level into Australia, at the foot of the ‘Grand Staircase’ to the left and toward what remains of an incline.

From the bus stop car park, pass the Mills and head onto the main path, look out for the metal gate on the left hand side, jump over

Navigate toward Australia
Ascend x3 galleries going up the slate staircases
You will then reach the entrance to Australia, denoted by some small buildings on the right and a hole in the quarry wall on the left
Turn around, with Australia to your back, the Drum House will now be in front of you

View on Google Earth

Difficulty

Rated 1 / 5

The Drum House is an easily accessed location from the main path.

It involves ascending three levels to get to the best vantage point at the base of the pit known as Australia, all of which have slate staircases in place at the time of writing.

This side of the quarry is very near to the bus stop car park so the overlook is accessed with minimal effort compared to other parts of the quarry.

Crowd Factor

Low to Medium.

Australia is quite popular with climbers, but you shouldn’t have to jostle with too many tripods whilst you are here.

The narrow nature of the tunnel and the small rockfall at the mouth of the tunnel does mean there is only room for a solitary tripod, so if you do meet other photographer’s here prepare to wait or move on.

Winding Houses in Australia separated by the vast sincs of Australia

NEARBy LOCATIONS

Secret Waterfall

A magical hidden waterfall deep lying in the bowls of Dinorwic quarry in the area known as California.

Read More on the location here.

Disclaimer

Please read the signs. Whilst a wonderful, enchanting photographic location, with unrivalled opportunities it’s easy to forget that first and foremost Dinorwic is an abandoned quarry.

Buildings, spoil heaps, tunnels, staircases they all collapse. Nothing is maintained; everything is decaying after nearly half a century of abandonment and merciless mountain weather. Enter at your own risk.