Colliery photos john cornwell was a freelance photographer who took many photographs of collieries, mostly in south wales and the english midlands, both underground and on the surface, during the 1970s and early 1980s. Coal mining operations in bargoed colliery started in 1897 when the powell duffryn steam coal company started to sink the shaft. The brecon mountain railway was founded in the mid1970s, by tony hills. By the 1920s britannia colliery employed more than 1700 men. The colliery consisted of three shafts, the north and the south, steam coal at 705 and 625 yards deep respectively and the brithdir house coal, which was sunk in 1903. Its stern, monolithic appearance deceives the onlooker, for like porth over to the west in the taff vale, inside possessed considerable charm. He became a labour mp in 1945 and won fame posthumously as a.
My father, tom wesley upjohn 19211995 also remembered going across the road to the farm for a jug of milk and sometimes eggs. Coastersplacemats tableware cushion cover cushion memories of bargoed tom wesley upjohn. In 19, mr thomas bevan was the manager of nantwen colliery and the company was a member of. Originally called gyfeillion colliery, sunk in 1848. It was a massive cavern approximately 70 yards long,15 feet high and had a width of nearly 30 yards, a fantastic piece of work headed by a. History of bargoed, in caerphilly and monmouthshire map. Along with its sister pit, pengarreg, the sinking of the 20 foot diameter shaft commenced in 1902 and was completed in 1906 at a depth of 2,159 feet and a cost of. The first shaft began to be sunk in 1897, but in 1901 a massive seam was discovered 625 yards underground. Old photos of bargoed in glamorgan sir morgannwg in south wales, united kingdom of great britain. Work began on the first of bargoeds three shafts in 1897 and four years later, in 1901, the mine produced its first coal.
At the outbreak of world war 1 there were over 2,100 men working at bargoed colliery. Crossman 19071974 the lead writer of the programme, was at the time a fellow of new college, oxford, writing his first book entitled plato today 1937 and wowing undergraduates with his special gift for the toughest sort of dialectic. After nationalisation in 1947, the colliery was placed in the south western divisions no. National coal board compensation registers 19221951gb0218. Meet the miners of bargoed, whose library contained many books on classical history and thought.
D349114 accident compensation register for bargoed, brithdir, east elliot, west elliot, groesfaen, britannia, mclaren, pengam and pidwellt collieries 19461948. Originally a market town, bargoed grew into a substantial town following the opening of a colliery in 1903. Fochriw is a typical south wales valleys coal mining village that developed from its rural existence by the need for iron and coal during the 19th century. Thank you for your continued support in these difficult times. Were looking forward to seeing your other photographs. Exminers mission to piece together photo history of pit. The only problem is that the book was published in swedish, by film. Bargoed colliery in caerphilly monmouthshire, southeast wales was famous in its day. Feb 19, 2015 the final shift at bargoed colliery photographs taken by philip l thomas on the last working day of bargoed colliery, may 1977.
Operated by the powell duffryn steam coal company ltd. A series of exhibitions, talks and concerts are being staged to mark the centenary of a mining disaster in the south wales valleys. Many of the photos feature mel lloyd, foreman, blacksmith at the colliery. In 187072, john marius wilsons imperial gazetteer of england and wales described bargoed like this. The darran valley history group became involved with this project last year. See more ideas about coal mining, south wales and wales.
The site consisted of two shafts at bargoed which produced steamcoal and a shaft at brithdir for housecoal. Historic and archive photos of bargoed colliery coal mine. National coal board compensation registers 19221951 gb0218. Glamorgan, bargoed, an old photo of bargoed colliery coal mine. This colliery broke the world record for production of coal in a single shift when 4,020 tons were produced here in 1909. Photographs taken by philip l thomas on the last working day of bargoed colliery, may 1977. During this period the mine was called harris navigation colliery after the name of the. In the 1930s several other mines were opened in this area and production from this group of collieries was maintained until britannia colliery itself was closed in 1983. Not to be confused with the south yorkshire joint railway. Her father moved to wales with a very large family. By 1923 the seams were worked out, and thereafter, until 1983, hetty shaft was used as an emergency shaft for ty mawr and lewis merthyr collieries, the engine being run on.
Bargoed colliery with the brithdir pit foreground, 1912. In 1878 two shafts were sunk at the site which were, at the time, the deepest pits in the south wales coalfield. Darran valley history group welcome to the site with the. The three shafts were named north, south and brithdir. This relatively modern british railways western region type 37b signal box at the time of writing stands idle and awaiting destruction on the up end of bargoeds down platform. Operations in bargoed colliery started in 1897 when the powell duffryn steam coal company started to sink the shaft. Opened in 1901 by the powell duffryn steam coal company, the colliery broke the world record for production of coal in a single shift when 4,020 tons were produced here in 1909. Deep navigation colliery was situated near treharris in the taff bargoed valley. Each company had running rights, with the rhymney running as far north as fochriw colliery, past a number of other collieries in the darran valley. The colliery year book and coal trades directory began publishing in 1922 and was published annually until 1964 when it became a directory for the coal distributive trade. By 1910, the pit was employing 1,943 miners and was the largest coal mine in the rhymney valley. The gas, petrol, and oil engine volume 2 paperback july 4, 2012. The south yorkshire junction railway was a railway which ran from wrangbrook junction on the main line of the hull and barnsley railway to near denaby main colliery village, south yorkshire.
You are welcome to use this album for uploading archive or historical photographs of bargoed colliery. He is the treasurer of llafur, the welsh peoples history society. Hills was a long time railway enthusiast who by 1970, had established a base at gilfach ddu on the llanberis lake railway where he stored the locomotives he purchased. The north and south shafts were completed in november 1903, sir alfred thomas, m. Peter price suggested the construction of a memorial because fochriw, was one of a few villages within the local authority, that didnt, have a memorial acknowledging lives lost during the war and within the coal mining industry. Bargoed colliery was established in 1897 by the powell duffryn steam coal co. Image taken from the south wales coalfield published ca 1921. The final shift at bargoed colliery photographs taken by. On 10 december 1908, it broke the world record for production when a tenhour shift produced 3,562 tons of coal. The final shift at bargoed colliery photographs taken by philip l thomas on the last working day of bargoed colliery, may 1977. It was nominally an independent company sponsored by the denaby and cadeby colliery company but was worked by the hull and barnsley railway.
Fochriw was on the brecon and merthyr railway line from bargoed to dowlais top. His book the south wales miners, 19641985 was published by the university of wales press in 20. South yorkshire junction railway project gutenberg self. This too was a place where i learnt a great deal in the art of signalling. Later in the history of the colliery the famous deep navigation castle was caved out of solid rock, part of the way down the shaft. Then there were my parents, douglas and caroline dexter, they met at the bake house in baldwin street in bargoed, they dated for three years before they married on april 1st 1968. It listed all collieries in production, their location, numbers of workers employed and seams worked. Pits sunk in 1896 and a railway connection laid to the rhymney railway. Old photos of bargoed in glamorgan sir morgannwg, south. Another world war two veteran, arthur thomas, died in. Old uk photos glamorgan, bargoed, ivor bowens general store 1920s. He went to bargoed colliery after being demobbed from the army. By 1918 there were 2,033 men employed at the bargoed steam collieries and 567 at the house coal pit. The sinking of bargoed colliery began in 1897 by the powell duffryn steam coal company.
The darran valley in photographs volume ii by peter price book launch 5th february 20 january 14, 20 senghendydd mining disaster memorial august 12, 2012 welcome get involved july 4, 2012. It is located on the northeast flank of mynydd fochriw at the head of the bargoed fach now called the darran valley, approximately 5 miles 8. Bbc south east wales remembering the darran disaster. An interesting installation of a modern coke oven plant is found at the bargoed colliery of the powell duffryn steam. Unfortunately he was killed in an explosion in bargoed colliery in the early 1900s. In 1901, the ras las ninefoot seam was discovered at a depth of 625 yards. Hetty shaft was sunk by the great western colliery company in 1875. D349183 accident compensation register of the west bargoed colliery co. Penallta colliery 19051991 this is the text of the talk given november 2011 by gareth salway, the author of penallta.