When I look back at my trip to Wales in 2011, I recall one particular place that I have somehow never written about - The National Slate Museum of Wales. I remember a long coach drive through rolling grass-covered hills that filled us with a sense of anticipation for the place we would be visiting. And the place did not disappoint. In fact, I get flashbacks of this place almost every time I think of Wales and that is why this museum deserves a Time-Turner post of its own.
Even though the place was memorable, I had somehow forgotten the fact that it was a Slate Museum. The most lasting impression of the place are several locomotives that were on display. Some of these locomotives dated back to the early 20th century. It reminded me a little of the Railway museum in Delhi, but Delhi's museum is of course much larger and has a much bigger collection of locomotives. Which is not surprising, because National Slate Museum isn't only about locomotives, where as Delhi's Railway Museum is dedicated to railways.
I just happened to check the website of the National Slate Museum today and as expected, it is closed because of Covid-19. However, I was looking at the photos and other activities that one can do there. I am surprised at how many of those I do not recall at all. And I am also surprised about the things that the site does not mention, but I recall clearly.
One of them is a little pond that one had to go a little off the track to discover. It had an overhanging cliff right next to it and made me think of scenes from many Hollywood and Bollywood movies where the lead actors jump from a height into the water below. In some, they were escaping dinosaurs or some human villains. Or were may be just going for skinny dipping.
There were enough reminders everywhere that this was once a quarry site. Piles of slate tiles, train carriages loaded with slate, narrow-gauge railroad running through a secluded countryside are all remnants of intense mining activities.
Apart from this, I remember there was a very large and beautiful lake at a little distance from the quarry and in order to get to the banks, one had to navigate through some overgrowth. While my friends were exploring the museum, I ventured on towards the lake. It turned out to be a good decision because I got a couple of nice photographs and the lake was quite beautiful indeed.
Now that I have finally written about the National Slate Museum, probably I will be able to also recall other aspects of Wales. A lot of my memories are like flashes of oil paintings, dominated by pastel colours. And, yes, given a chance, I would like to relive them.