Day4 Wales Ty Mawr - Zip World Llechwedd

Day 4 and a fairly early start to head over to our second Zip World activity day at Llechwedd. The drive through to Llechwedd was just incredible with some stunning scenery. I was really interesting to see the change in landscape from the lush green mountains of North West Wales to the grey slate mines of Llechwedd. At this Zip World center we had booked the massive Titan 2 zip wire and the cave trampolines.

Titan 2 was incredible. After getting kitted up in helmet and safety gear you are escorted off to an army style truck which takes you 1200ft up the slate mine. Enroute they stop off at various locations for sightseeing and to tell you some of the history. Some absolutely incredible details facts about the slate mines - for example we learnt they were some 55 levels deep with 150 miles of tunnels and over 15,000 people working in them in there hey day. These Welsh slate mines provide most of the worlds quality slate so it is big business for the region.

Anyway at the top of Titan 2 you descend the zip wire in groups of 4 across the first 600m drop. Then after a short walk you jump on a second zip wire which takes you the remaining 400m back to basecamp. Although this zip wire is not as fast as Velocity (which we didn't do as Holly wasn't old enough), in my opinion it is better because in the seated position you really get to enjoy the scenery and take in the views as you go down. Overall time on the trip was almost 2 hours with the tour of the mines.

After Titan 2 we hit the Bounce cave trampolines which is such a weird experience. They have literally built a 5 story trampoline park inside one of the slate caves with all neon lighting to add to the experience.  There is one part of it where you are literally about 70ft up in the air looking straight through a trampoline at the cave floor below you. Tina got pretty freaked out on the Bounce and had to get off pretty quickly leaving me to chase around with the kids. It is such good fun but also very physical and you certainly don't need more than an hour on this. Despite the caves only being 6 degrees, we all came off absolutely soaked in sweat.

Llechwedd is known for supplying slate all over the world.

The Llechwedd Zip World center.

Some of the old relics from when the mines were active.

They are building a underground cave crazy golf course but it doesn't open until July (gutted).

They have one hole outside the center to try and promote this new attraction.

My clan at the slate caverns.

All geared up and ready to take on Titan 2.

It is all smiles at the moment, but will it be at the top.

Joshua with his goggles on and head cam loaded.

The goggles are definitely needed given the speed and how high up you go.

Through the slate mine we go to find out army truck.

And there it is, our ride to the top of the slate mine.

Me and B on the truck.

Things below quickly start looking very small.

The views as we climb to 1200ft are just stunning.

This lake and cave are sitting almost at the top of the slate mine.

The others didn't want to get off the truck for some site seeing so it was me taking a selfie.

The castle looking building in the distance is apparently a dis-used nuclear power station.

Time to get to the start of Titan 2.

More views at the top of the slate mine.

And more.....

Here we go.

Brandon all hooked up and ready to go.

Fearless Joshua. Me and him needed to have a mini parachute attached due to body weight.

Instead of a parachute, Holly had to have extra ballast added.

And then Tina. So the first 4 were Josh, Brandon, H and Tina leaving me to go on my own afterwards :(.

The nervous wait for the all clear and the barrier to drop.

And they are off, too late to back out now.

Holly certainly showed no fear.

Holly and josh exiting the platform.

That is a long, long way down.

Getting smaller.

And smaller.

Those little specs of colour are my family!

All lined up and ready for the second zip wire.

The gate drops and they are off again.

Joshua's parachute flapping around behind him.

I'll meet you at the bottom. You can see the landing platform here.

From the second zip wire I got an amazing view of some caves.

Then it was time for the Bounce experience.

You definitely need the hard hats in here.

Across the 5 levels you have ladders to go up and slides to come down.

With little tunnels seperating different trampoline rooms.

Tina couldn't handle the see through trampolines and being able to see the cave floor below you.

It is just so weird running across trampolines elevated in a dark cave.

Holly absolutely loved it and was the last man standing.

Holly about to go down one of the dark slides.

It was exhausting chasing her around in here.

You can see why Tina found it a bit hairy.

Joshua taking some chill time and cooling down.

Brandon running across one of the cave trampolines.

Where is she plotting to go next?

This view gives you an idea of the size and the different levels and rooms.

The lighting is constantly changing like mood lighting.

I hate to think what testing that have to do in order to make sure this is safe!

Some of the trampolines are 4 layers thick which gives you some confidence that you won't plummet to your death.

Never seen anything like it though.

If you are afraid of heights, forget this one.

Back at camp in the evening and Joshua hit the jackpot on a machine scooping about 900 tickets.

He must have been standing there for over 5 minutes  whilst tickets poured out of this machine!