Bryn Navigation Colliery

Bryn, Maesteg, Llynfi Valley

This colliery was sunk in c1896 with one shaft to the Yard seam at a depth of 380 yards, and a 700 yard long slant to the Two-Feet-Nine seam. Its mineral take extended to 1,424 acres although half of it was dogged by poor geological conditions. This colliery worked the Gellideg seam as the Lower Vein at a section of between 48 inches to 72 inches. The Upper-Five-Feet seam is the Middle Vein, also with a thickness of up to 72 inches. The Lower-Seven-Feet seam was worked as the Little Vein, a small section of this seam was worked at a thickness of between 32 inches to 36 inches. The Bute seam was worked as the No.3 seam at a thickness of 36 inches. The Lower-Nine-Feet seam had limited workings as the No.2 seam with a thickness of 47 inches. The Four-Feet seam was worked with a thickness that varied tremendously up to 7.5 feet. The Two-Feet-Nine seam was worked as the Finery seam at a thickness of 54 inches. In 1896 it was owned by the Bryn Navigation Collieries Company of Port Talbot who employed 14 men working underground and 6 men working on the surface opening this mine. The manager was F.E. Jacob. It was later worked by Baldwin’s Limited which was incorporated in 1902 and became a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association.

By 1908 this mine employed 252 men working underground and 128 men working at the surface it was managed by J.F. Bell. Just a few of the fatal accidents that occurred at this mine:

• On the 28th June 1910, John Rees, aged 61 years, and a labourer, was crushed and killed by trams.
• On the 15th May 1912, William Rees, aged 31 years, and a collier, died through straining himself.
• On the 29th December 1912, Thomas Marks, aged 52 years, and a collier, died under a fall of roof.
• On the 6th March 1914, Evan Davies, aged 24 years, and a haulier, was run over and killed by trams.
• On the 11th December 1924, Robert Moors, aged 34 years, and a hard ground man (driving roads in stone), died through a shot-firing incident.
• On the 30th March 1926, Dilwyn Morgan, aged 21 years, and a collier, was run over and killed by trams.
• On the 17th August 1927, Samuel Fitzpatrick, a collier, died under a fall of roof.
• On the 3rd December 1927, Samuel Morgan, aged 55 years, and a repairer, was crushed and killed by trams.

In 1913 the colliery employed 300 men producing manufacturing and steam coals. It was then managed by D.H. Thomas. In 1915 D.M. Arbuckle was the manager, in 1919/30 T. Miles was the manager.

On the 7th of August 1930, a new 1,232 yard long slant which intersected all the seams available to work was opened from the surface. It was capable of drawing up 15 tons of coal per journey. Manpower increased to 675 men in 1932 when the manager was E. Parry 133 men on the surface and 716 men working underground in 1934 when it was working the Lower and Middle seams. The manager was now E. Miles and along with Aberbaiden Slant production was 500,000 tons of coal. In 1943/5 it employed 540 working underground in the Middle, Six-Feet, No.2 and Little Veins and 154 men on the surface with the manager being J.P. Thomas. This was one of the first collieries in South Wales to experiment with water infusion on the coalface as a form of dust suppression. It was tried in the 60-inch thick Middle Vein on the 140 yard long No.10 Conveyor.

Bryn Navigation Colliery came under National Coal Board control in 1947 when the nation’s coal mines were nationalised. It was placed in the South Western Division’s No.2 Area and at that time employed 130 men on the surface and 520 men underground working the Six-Feet, No.2, Little and Nine-Feet steam coal seams. The manager was D.W. Jones who was still the manager in 1949. By 1954 manpower had dropped to 108 on the surface and 431 underground, and at that time the manager was S.M. Jones. In 1955, 186 men were employed at the coalfaces, this figure dropped to 148 in the following year, but by 1958 had risen to 170.

In April 1956 both Arthur Wanklyn aged 37 years and David Davies aged 54 years were killed under the same fall of roof, it took four hours to reach them.

In 1961 this colliery was still in the No.2 Area’s, Maesteg Group, along with Caerau, Coegnant and St. John’s collieries. Total manpower for the Group was 2,720, while total coal production for that year was 768,562 tons. The Group Manager was C.P. Jones, and the Area Manager was W.B. Cleaver.

The NCB sanctioned the closure of the colliery on the 1st of April 1963, production ceased on the 7th of June 1963 with the closure being completed on the 18th of December 1964. The NCB estimated that 250,000 tons of coal reserves were abandoned unworked. The site of the colliery was eventually sold to Afan Borough Council. 218 men were transferred to Glyncorrwg Colliery, 32 men to other collieries, 6 were made redundant and 37 men left for other industries. When closed it was working the Gellideg seam.

Some statistics:

• 1899: Manpower: 158.
• 1900: Manpower: 176.
• 1901: Manpower: 166.
• 1902: Manpower: 110.
• 1903: Manpower: 255.
• 1905: Manpower: 186.
• 1907: Manpower: 141.
• 1908: Manpower: 380.
• 1909: Manpower: 260.
• 1910: Manpower: 81.
• 1911: Manpower: 350.
• 1912: Manpower: 316.
• 1913: Manpower: 300.
• 1915: Manpower: 750.
• 1916: Manpower: 675.
• 1919: Manpower: 675.
• 1920: Manpower: 675.
• 1923: Manpower: 703.
• 1924: Manpower: 787.
• 1927: Manpower: 831.
• 1928: Manpower: 853.
• 1930: Manpower: 692.
• 1932: Manpower: 830.
• 1933: Manpower: 837.
• 1934: Manpower: 849.
• 1940: Manpower: 780.
• 1941: Manpower: 680.
• 1943: Manpower: 694.
• 1947: Manpower: 659. Output: 128,297 tons.
• 1948: Manpower: 640. Output: 110,220 tons.
• 1949: Manpower: 597. Output: 120,600 tons.
• 1950: Manpower: 539. Output: 99,998 tons.
• 1951: Output: 98,116 tons.
• 1952: Output: 94,768 tons.
• 1953: Manpower: 447. Output: 91,535 tons.
• 1954: Manpower: 539. Output: 94,848 tons.
• 1955: Manpower: 365. Output: 90,642 tons.
• 1956: Manpower: 326. Output: 78,302 tons.
• 1957: Manpower: 381. Output: 97,278 tons.
• 1958: Manpower: 369. Output: 81,668 tons.
• 1959: Output: 78,760 tons.
• 1960: Manpower: 342. Output: 75,264 tons.
• 1961: Manpower: 346. Output: 69,880 tons.
• 1962: Manpower: 332. Output: 72,673 tons.

Information supplied by Ray Lawrence and used here with his permission.