This place had been on my list of places to photograph for my typology for a while but it’s a long drive and I’d relegated it to do ‘later’. But we booked our 2023 summer holiday in Anglesey so there was no excuse not to pay a visit!

I’d visited the island previously in 2010 to visit the copper mine at Parys Mountain next door and the headgear appears in the distance of some of those photos, but I didn’t think to photograph it up close at the time. So after dragging my wife, daughter and dog around Parys Mountain I excused myself for 30 minutes to go and take a look.

The actual status of the mine is somewhat unclear. Anglesey Mining are still doing exploratory work here but have been for years, and the place looked like it was under care and maintenance. But as I was in the Parys Mountain car park I did notice a loaded pickup truck turn off the main road and head down to the mine, so presumed some kind of activity was ongoing on the site. When I reached the site though I noticed a lot of CCTV, and with the possibility of it being a live site, I just photographed the place from the gate – I didn’t need to get particularly close anyway so it was fine.