Coegnant Colliery

Near Maesteg; Llynfi Valley (85549329)

The original Coegnant Colliery was sunk in the 1840s by the Cambrian Iron and Coal Company, however, it encountered very wet conditions and when it was taken over by the Llynvi Vale Iron Company in the 1850s it was abandoned. This colliery was sunk to work the Six-Feet seam in 1882 by the Llynfi Coal and Iron Company. The first coal was wound up the shaft in 1890. The North (No.1) Pit was 15 feet in diameter and sunk to the No.1 Rhondda seam which it struck at a depth of 534 feet 5 inches. This pit was later deepened to 1,244 feet. The South (No.2) Pit was 20 feet in diameter and sunk to a depth of 1,121 feet 8 inches. These two shafts were 29 yards apart. Original ventilation was by a steam-driven Guibal-type fan which had a diameter of 40 feet and a width of 12 feet. In 1903 a Walker-type fan was installed, it was 24 feet in diameter and 8 feet wide. This colliery worked the Gellideg seam at a thickness of 48 inches.

The Yard seam was worked as the No.8 seam, it had a thickness of up to 62 inches. The Bute seam was worked as the Lower New and had a thickness of 48 inches. The Lower-Nine-Feet seam was worked as the Upper New seam at a thickness of 51 inches. The Upper-Nine-Feet seam was worked as the Harvey seam and had a thickness of between 54 inches to 60 inches. The Red Vein was extensively worked at a thickness of 52 inches. The Lower-Six-Feet seam was worked at a thickness of up to 96 inches. The Upper-Six-Feet seam had a small amount of workings at a thickness of 29 inches. The Two-Feet-Nine seam was extensively worked at a thickness of 60 inches. In one area of its mineral take, the Six-Feet seam was opposite the Five-Feet seam whereas they are normally vertically 181 metres apart, this was due to geological faulting.

Pre-nationalisation the colliery could wind 3,000 tons a day. When the winding engines were electrified by the National Coal Board the No.1 Pit had a 600hp engine and the No.2 Pit had a 1,000hp engine. It was capable of winding 25 men at a time or 3 tonnes of coal. The North Pit was the main coal winding shaft for the Six-Feet, Seven-Feet and Two-Feet-Nine seams, and it wound from the Six-Feet seam level which was at a depth of 142 yards. There was a 500hp ‘main and tail’ haulage at pit bottom to bring the coal out, and to take supplies in, and then an endless rope haulage used to haul over a total distance for the both of 1,400 yards. The haulages nearer the coalfaces were operated by compressed air. The South Pit raised coal from the Upper and Lower New Seams using two 300hp electric haulages to bring the coal to the pit bottom.

Based on the Nine-Feet seam this colliery’s coals were classed as type 301A Prime Coking Coals for use as a foundry or blast furnace coke. They were low ash and low sulphur coals. The Llynvi Company was purchased by Colonel North for £350,000 in 1888 and transformed into North’s Navigation Collieries (1899) Ltd which had a capital of £450,000. This company further expanded in the Llynfi and Ogmore Valleys until it controlled a mineral area of 10,000 acres. It was a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association. In 1893 the manager was Jenkin Jones. In 1896 Coegnant employed 488 men underground and 81 men on the surface with the manager still Jenkin Jones. In 1913 the company employed 5,150 men, 1,900 of these working at Coegnant Colliery with Joshua Davies as manager. In 1916 Norths’ Company came under the control of Lord Rhondda but retained its own identity, it had paid out almost £3,000,000 in dividends to shareholders by 1922. In 1918 the pit employed 1,470 men underground and 175 men on the surface with the manager being D. Davies.

Coegnant Colliery and the Maesteg area were in the forefront of the South Wales Miners Federation’s drive to recruit miners into the union, and on the 7th of July 1927, 8,000 men went on strike to remove non-union men from North’s pits. The non-union men promptly joined the South Wales Miners Federation, but in retaliation for the strike the men were locked out of work until the 13th of July, the company claiming that no work was available, in 1929 the colliery became part of the newly formed Welsh Associated Collieries Limited under the chairmanship of D.R. Llewellyn. In 1934 North’s Navigation Collieries (1899) Limited was based at Aberdare House, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff with the directors being; Sir D.R. Llewellyn, Viscountess Rhondda, J. Wentworth Smith, W.P. Miles, C.P. Hailey, H.H. Merrett, W.E. Davies, F. Llewellyn Jacob and W.M. Llewellyn. The company secretary and commercial manager was W.E. Davies. This subsidiary company controlled five collieries that produced one million tons of coal and employed 4,104 miners.

By 1935 Coegnant Colliery employed 118 men on the surface and 1,544 men underground. The manager at that time was W. Llewellyn, he had been the manager in 1927. It was in 1935 that Welsh Associated Collieries merged with the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company to form Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries Limited which controlled 44 pits in south Wales producing 12,372,000 tons of coal, 32% of the Coalfields production and had a capital of million. On the 20th of May 1939, this colliery had its pit head baths opened.

Mr. Llewellyn was still manager in 1943/5 when this pit employed 597 men underground in the Two-Feet-Nine, Lower Five-Feet, Seven-Feet and Red Veins and 125 men on the surface. On the Nationalisation of the nation’s coal mines in 1947, Coegnant Colliery was placed in the National Coal Board’s South Western Divisions No.2 (Maesteg) Area which had its headquarters at Tondu. The pit was now working the Two-Feet-Nine, Seven-Feet, Red and Lower-Five-Feet seams, with 575 men employed underground and 135 men on the surface. The manager at that time was still W.M. Llewellyn but by 1949 it was D.J. Haines. In 1954 this pit worked the Red, Lower and Upper New and Harvey seams and then employed 663 men underground and 143 men on the surface. The manager was now D.T. Simons. In 1955, 376 men worked at the coalfaces in this Colliery. In 1956 it was 370 men at the coalfaces while in 1958 the figure had risen to 405 men working at the coalfaces.

In 1958 industrial relations at this colliery hit rock bottom with 22 separate strikes being recorded. This caused considerable alarm within the NUM who sent in the area president to sort matters out. In 1957 the NUM Lodge at this colliery had 99 unemployed members – the highest figure in the Maesteg Area. In 1960 a reconstruction programme at this colliery included the deepening of one shaft by 207 metres to access the lower seams. In 1961 this colliery was in the No.2 Maesteg Area’s, Maesteg Group, along with Bryn, Caerau and St. John’s collieries. The total manpower for this Group was 2,720 men, while coal production for that year was 768,562 tons. In 1967 this colliery was losing £3.44 on every ton of coal produced and was in danger of closing but efforts at the colliery saved it. In 1969 this colliery was probably the first in South Wales to operate two coal cutters on one coalface. Around this time, it was working the Six-Feet and Gellideg seams. The manager at that time was E. Morgan. In 1970 the manager was J. Smith, in 1971/78 it was T.M. Bond, in 1979 the position was vacant to be filled by W.C. Nicholas in 1980.

The 1972 miner’s strike was for an increase in wages, the local NUM Lodge at this pit defied the National NUM and pulled out their safety workers. The NUM Lodge Secretary in 1977, 1978 and 1981 was Verdun Price. In 1976 heavy geological faulting reduced the number of coalfaces and resulted in one hundred men being transferred to St. John’s Colliery. Around that time there were four miles of underground roadways in use with 1.5 miles of conveyor belts. The average length of a coalface was 140 metres. In 1979 the coalface output per manshift was 2.4 tonnes while overall for the colliery it was 1 tonne. It was producing around 2,100 tonnes of coal a week. In 1980 the NUM lodge and workmen at the colliery were aware that the pit was being run down for closure, in November it was losing £130,000 each week, and made tremendous efforts to keep it open including driving a total of 1,420 feet of roadways in 8 weeks to open up the Y2 coalface. This coalface doubled the production figures for the colliery and gave it a respite, however, the Y3 failed to come up to standard due to a weak roof. In 1981 this colliery was working the Y2 coalface in the Yard seam which had a thickness in that area of 87cm. The coalface length was 190 metres and coal cutting was done by Gleithobel plough with roof supports being the self-advancing types. It was working over three shifts with an average expected advance of 2.5 metres per day. The saleable yield of coal was 60% of total coal production and manpower distribution was; coalface 123 men, developing new coalfaces 30 men, other work underground 129 men, surface work 84 men. The manager at that time was W. Nicholas and he hoped that the Y2 coalface would have another 700 metres of life once it had hit a projected fault line.

In February 1981 the NCB announced its closure programme, including Coegnant, before the NUM could arrange a conference to debate strike action, Coegnant came out on strike, followed by Brynlliw and others, the NUM leadership in South Wales then quickly brought forward their conference and called for a strike. There was an air of bitterness at Coegnant over the tactics of the NCB, a few days earlier, they had congratulated the men for opening a coalface two weeks before schedule, now they were saying that only 32% of the coal was saleable. The NUM lodge chairman, Malcolm Beck, claimed that all trust that they had with the NCB had gone. The Government backed down on the closure programme – for a while, but Coegnant only lasted until the 27th of November 1981 when it was closed because of serious geological problems. 392 men were employed there at that time.

Some Statistics:

• 1889: Output: 156,514 tons.
• 1894: Output: 230,574 tons.
• 1899: Manpower: 812.
• 1900: Manpower: 901.
• 1901: Manpower: 1,120.
• 1902: Manpower: 1,172.
• 1903: Manpower: 1,208.
• 1905: Manpower: 1,558.
• 1907: Manpower: 1,760.
• 1908: Manpower: 1,898.
• 1909: Manpower: 1,898.
• 1910: Manpower: 1,926. Output: 302,311 tons.
• 1911: Manpower: 1,912.
• 1912: Manpower: 1,926.
• 1913: Manpower: 1,900.
• 1915: Manpower: 1,900.
• 1916: Manpower: 1,900.
• 1918: Manpower: 1,645.
• 1919: Manpower: 1,500.
• 1920: Manpower: 1,500. Output: 309,177 tons.
• 1922: Manpower: 1,800.
• 1923: Manpower: 1,945.
• 1924: Manpower: 1,914.
• 1925: Manpower: 1,800.
• 1927: Manpower: 1,842.
• 1928: Manpower: 1,400.
• 1930: Manpower: 1,662.
• 1932: Manpower: 1,500.
• 1933: Manpower: 1,032.
• 1934: Manpower: 1,662.
• 1937: Manpower: 1,182.
• 1938: Manpower: 1,200.
• 1940: Manpower: 1,100. Output: 253,241 tons.
• 1945: Manpower: 722.
• 1947: Manpower: 712.
• 1948: Manpower: 706. Output: 112,241 tons.
• 1949: Manpower: 695. Output: 120,000 tons.
• 1950: Manpower: 652.
• 1953: Manpower: 727. Output: 180,000 tons.
• 1954: Manpower: 652. Output: 191,386 tons.
• 1955: Manpower: 749. Output: 157,476 tons.
• 1956: Manpower: 778. Output: 138,120 tons.
• 1957: Manpower: 797. Output: 185,486 tons.
• 1958: Manpower: 779. Output: 201,999 tons.
• 1960: Manpower: 787. Output: 187,849 tons.
• 1961: Manpower: 819. Output: 210,181 tons.
• 1962: Manpower: 827.
• 1969: Manpower: 773.
• 1970: Manpower: 723.
• 1971: Manpower: 740.
• 1972: Manpower: 752.
• 1974: Manpower: 610. Output: 163,000 tons.
• 1978: Manpower: 690. Output: 100,000 tons.
• 1979: Manpower: 509. Output: 80,000 tons.
• 1980: Manpower: 425. Output: 80,368 tons.

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