I hope the rain that woke me at 5am is only a passing shower don't feel like riding in the rain to do the Hydro Electric Mountain Tour. Miracles do happen there is peeks of blue sky and we have internet connection, which means we can catch up with lost time not spent on the computer the last couple of days. How did we ever survive without computers? One quick text and Edna always comes to our rescue in times of need with suggestion of caravan sites to stay at in the Lakes Districts, as we had no WIFI for the last few days to research sites and book as weekends are very busy.

The morning past very quickly and before we knew it we were on our bikes riding down to do the Hydro Electric Mountain Tour and after a short introduction video we headed off to the bus with our guide to go deep into the mountain for our tour. For security reasons all our electronic equipment and mobiles, personal belongs were put in lockers. The tour was miles too interesting to be taking photos and you would miss what the guide was describing.

There seemed no better way to disguise the station than by hiding it inside the mountain which had already been excavated for hundreds of years by the slate quarrymen. Engineers spent two years investigating possible sites for a large generating scheme. In the end three sites were shortlisted, all of them in North Wales. Elidir Mountain, sited on the boundary of the Snowdonia National Park, had the unique feature of a lake near its peak, Llyn Machlyn Mawr and another, Llyn Peris, at the bottom – ideal for a pumped storage scheme.

Having made the decision to build a power station at Dinorwig, consultations began with the local community who, by a large majority, welcomed the prospect of up to 2,000 jobs during the construction phase. They also welcomed a sensitive design which involved hiding most of the power station deep inside Elidir Mountain in underground caverns.

After almost ten years of hollowing out the mountain, creating tunnels, enlarging the lakes and shifting all the heavy machinery into the mountain, Dinorwig was ready to go and was opened by Prince Charles in 1984. Since then Dinorwig has become essential to Britain's power supply, stepping in on those occasions when we all decide to make a cup of tea.

When it was fully commissioned in 1984, Dinorwig Power Station was regarded as one of the world's most imaginative engineering and environmental project. Today, Dinorwig's operational characteristics and dynamic response capability are still acknowledged the world over and is the largest scheme of its kind in Europe.

Dinorwig is comprised of 16km of underground tunnels, deep below Elidir Mountain. Its construction required 1 million tonnes of concrete, 200,000 tonnes of cement and 4,500 tonnes of steel. St Pauls Cathedral can quite easily fit into the station that is how large the excavated cavern is.

The station's six powerful generating units stand in Europe's largest man-made cavern. Adjacent to this lies the main inlet valve chamber housing the plant that regulates the flow of water through the turbines. Dinorwig's reversible pump/turbines are capable of reaching maximum generation in less than 16 seconds. Using off-peak electricity the six units are reversed as pumps to transport water from the lower reservoir, back to Machlyn Mawr.

That was one fascinating tour and now we know how a hydroelectric power station works.

   Cycled across the bridge pathway over Lake Padarn to the Quarry Hospital initially built for the men working in the Quarries and their families, interesting to see the original medical equipment from the 1800s, a restored ward and the old x-ray machine.

Last site to see was Dolbadarn Castle overlooking Llyn Peris this castle was built by the Welsh Prince Llywelyn Ap Iorwerth during the 13^th century. The ruins look more like a tower prison than a small castle nestled on the hilltop surrounds by woodlands and crossed by a stream.



We are so fortunate to meet so many lovely helpful people on our trip who have helped us a lot.