The idea for an aluminium smelter in Dolgarrog using hydro-electric power (see nprn 85420) was first conceived in 1895, although it was not until 1908 that the smelter first produced aluminium. A 600mm-gauge tramway was built in 1911 for internal transport of materials and a rope-operated section ran between a wharf (at SH 77525 68000) on the River Conwy some 700m to the north east and the works. To avoid trans-shipment of material, a short canal was constructed parallel to the tramway in 1913; by 1916 the wharf tramway had fallen out of use as the works had by then gained a standard-gauge railway-connection to the London and North Western Railway's Conwy Valley line, crossing the river by a steel girder bridge. In the same year a sheet rolling mill was constructed at the works.

In 1925, the reservoir dam above the village burst and the ensuing deluge claimed the lives of sixteen people and caused major damage. This and the general economic downturn in the late 1920s and 1930s caused the fortunes of the works to decline sharply. During the second World War between 1939 and 1945, the works was taken over by the Ministry of Aircraft Production and it enjoyed considerable expansion. However, smelting aluminium was no longer considered viable, and by the end of the war the works specialised in rolling and finishing aluminium. From 1949, when the British Aluminium Company took ownership, continuous investment was made in modern plant and techniques.

B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 03 June 2008.