Black Figures of Cwmorthin

The disused Cwmorthin Slate Quarry can be found on the shore of Llyn Cwmorthin above Blaenau Ffestiniog. The following description of a strange experience was e-mailed into Mysterious Britain early in 2013 and I would be very interested to hear from anybody who could add more.

“Start from Blaenau Ffestiniog. Ascend the steep path from Dolrhedyn until you reach the hidden valley of Cwmorthin. Proceed along the left hand side of the llyn or lake passing the old,ruined slate miners village and church. The Cwm is wonderfully atmospheric and is a natural amphitheatre. Ahead of you there lies a steep incline trending to the left and this will lead you over the mountain spur to the old Croesor slate mine works. Now I have witnessed the phenomenon several times ,once with my 30 year old son, and an ex-rock-climbing partner of mine has also experienced the sighting. As you approach the incline at a distance of about 200yds. Sometimes there appears to be two figures, dressed in black standing near the top and looking back down the Cwm at you. As you ascend they turn and make for the top, this is where it gets interesting!!! You are maybe one minute or less behind them, the incline resolves into a deep man made declivity that carries on upwards for hundreds of yards, the sides are precipitous and there is nowhere for these figures to have gone, but they have vanished. Many of the locals tell the same tale and others equally as baffling about Cwmorthin. There is a sense of “otherness” in the place.”