Pub owner knocked through wall and found 'lost' tunnel

THE OWNER of a marina pub knocked through a plasterboard wall and discovered a 'lost tunnel' that runs under a Welsh village.

- OWEN HUGHES

Robert Bennett's Waterside Consortium bought Port Dinorwic Marina in Y Felinheli out of administration in the spring of last year.

This included a number of buildings, one of which had been the La Marina restaurant. That site has been turned into a bar called Yr Heulyn.

During work on the site they were interested in what was behind a plasterboard wall at the rear.

Rob was aware of the Port Dinorwic Tunnel that ran down from Penscoins, situated above the village. It was part of the line that carried slate from the quarries around Llanberis down to the waterside.

He had a theory it could be behind their site and decided to take a look behind the wall at the back of the pub. They initially knocked a small hole in the plaster to take a peep, and then a worker on the project climbed through for a look round.

They initially found a small storeroom before forcing open a door to a larger store of bottles at the bottom of the tunnel. An explorer of historic tunnels later took a closer look after being invited down.