English: The site of the Rhiwbach School.. The Rhiwbach School, which catered for the children of the village, 23 on the opening day, the 21st September 1909, was housed in a corrugated iron building, which also doubled up as a chapel. The building has long been demolished.

The following BBC Cymru link has an AV account of life at Rhiwbach by a local historian, Vivian Parry-Williams, whose father worked at the quarry. It relates how the schoolmistress, Kate Griffiths of Blaenau Ffestiniog, commuted daily to Rhiwbach. In the morning she travelled up the three Rhiwbach inclines on a returning empty wagon. From the top of Incline 3 she was expected to walk the 3 miles on the flat to Rhiwbach and then descend the uphaulage incline to the quarry. This journey must have taken her well over an hour each morning. In the afternoon, when quarrying for the day came to an end, she would climb up to the nearby Graig Ddu Quarry between the twin summits of Manod Mawr and then ride that quarry's 4 pitch incline down to Blaenau Ffestiniog on a deadly contraption known as "car gwyllt" (wild/furious car) - described as a kind of skateboard on railway lines - a journey which took just a few minutes. She was the only woman known to have regularly rode a "car gwyllt".

The AV may be accessed by clicking on the photo, which is of Mr Parry-Williams' father. Then click the words "Lansio mewn chwaraeydd unigol (launch in independent player). Even if your Welsh is a bit rusty, the photos by themselves are worth a look.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/cipolwgargymru/stori/vivian-parry-williams.shtml

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