Abercynon Colliery was a

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

located in

Abercynon Abercynon () is a village and community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Opened in 1889, it closed in 1988.

Development

The colliery was developed at a cost of £270,000 from 1889, by the

Dowlais Dowlais () is a village and Community (Wales), community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census the electoral ward had a population of 6,926, The populati ...

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

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, to feed a new

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

works in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Initially known as the Dowlais Cardiff Colliery, the two shafts were sunk to the Nine Feet coal seam at depths of (South - upcast) and (North - downcast).

Accidents

Eighteen men lost their lives during development, including eight on 23 January 1893 and six on 9 September 1895. An underground haulage accident on 28 April 1906 cost the lives of five men.

Production

In 1903 the pit passed into the hands of Guest Keen and Nettlefolds Ltd, at which point it employed 2,502 men. By 1923 the colliery was producing from the Six Feet, Nine Feet and Upper Four Feet seams, employing 2,794 men. In 1931 it was taken over by Welsh Associated Collieries, who were absorbed into

Powell Duffryn Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies * Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers * General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders * Governor Powel ...

Company Ltd. in 1936.

Nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

took place on 1 January 1947, but the returning miners wanted better conditions, and many choose to commute to work at the newly developed Treforest Trading Estate. Now only employing 1,100 men, the vacancies were in part filled by displaced and stateless

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

ans, but even special allowances did not fulfil the labour needs of the mines. Following development of the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate th ...

in the late 1960s, its distinct winding head gear in blue with very long

backstay A backstay is a piece of standing rigging on a sailing vessel that runs from the mast to either its transom or rear quarter, counteracting the forestay and jib. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on the shape of the ma ...

s supported by transitional struts, became a distinct welcoming sign for travellers towards

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

. The winding engines were some of the most powerful in the South Wales coalfield. The South had a single electric motor producing 1600 hp and the North had a twin drive system which had a rating of 3200 hp. In March 1975, it was linked underground via two parallel tunnels with Lady Windsor Colliery, which was situated on the other side of the mountain in

Ynysybwl Ynysybwl ( ) is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales. It is situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, roughly north-north-west of Cardiff, north of Pontypridd and south of Merthyr Tydfil, and forms part of the community (Wales), commun ...

, to form a single production unit at a cost of £450,000. Coal was raised at the Lady Windsor end of the unit from a depth of 687 yards, with 1,150 men were producing 318,000 tons yearly from Six feet, Lower Nine feet and Seven feet seams. By 1981 manpower deployment broke down to 216 on development, 292 on the coalface, 342 underground and 305 on the surface.

Closure

The Lady Windsor Lodge assumed a leading role in the 1985/86 UK Miner's Strike, but on return to work the unit managed an impressive recovery obtaining 98% of expected output within a month. The Lady Windsor/Abercynon unit was closed by

British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...

in February 1988, with an estimated 25 years of workable coal left.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Rhondda Cynon Taf Former mines in Rhondda Cynon Taf Coal mines in Rhondda Cynon Taf Underground mines in Wales