Taff Bargoed Valley (086060)

Three shafts were sunk in 1839 to a depth of 154 yards. It consisted of the Cwmbargoed, Bargoed Big Coal Pit, and the Longwall Pit. They were opened to feed the iron works of the Dowlais Iron Company.

There was a strange result (to me anyway) to a court case in 1861. Ben Davies a 19-year-old collier was working with his brother, aged 17 years, in a stall where they left the top coal up as the roof and just worked the bottom coal of the seam. They were working nights and at about ten o’clock Ben went looking for timber to support the coal roof. He asked nearby colliers and the overman for timber but there was none to be found. He returned to his stall and continued working only to be killed by a fall of the roof. At the Inquest the Jury returned the verdict of:

“We agree that Benjamin Davies met his death from the want of pit wood, caused by the neglect of John Davies, night overman, and we, therefore, return a verdict of manslaughter against him.” 

He was then committed to the Assizes where he was found guilty on three accounts; not issuing the rules of the colliery to the workmen, of negligence in not supplying timber and of negligence in allowing a man to continue working without timber. The Judge agreed with the verdict but then bailed Davies for £100 saying that if he committed another crime he might be called back for punishment.

May 1862 was a bad month for young boys at these mines, Thomas James was a collier, but only 12 years old when he died under a roof fall, while on the 23rd 13-year-old Morgan Davies, a doorboy was killed by moving trams. At the other end of the age scale, and in August 1862, John Williamson, an ostler in his 60s decided to break down a barrier warning of firedamp and take a shortcut through old workings with a naked candle. This created an explosion which killed him.

In 1866 the drought was so severe that there was insufficient water to operate the water balance winding gear. Retained by Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited in 1902 when they took over the Dowlais Company, but not by the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company Limited when they took control of GKN’s South Wales mining interests in 1924. Cwmbargoed only employed 2 men in 1907 and abandoned the Black seam in 1909 the Big or Six-Feet seam in 1914, the Nine-Feet, Red and Seven-Feet seams in 1917.

In 1893 there was a national strike of hauliers, as South Wales was not affiliated to the national union they decided to remain at work with a significant minority joining the strike. This caused many a battle between the two sides. At Fochriw the strikers decided to stop the pit and gathered en mass ready to attack, the men working at Cwmbargoed heard of this and rushed over the hill and attacked them, and with further men from Merthyr put them to rout. In 1896 it employed 277 men underground and 50 men on the surface with the manager being J.H. Jones, in 1907 the manager was John Bevan and it employed 155 men working underground and 49 men working at the surface. In 1908 this mine was managed by William Jones and employed 200 men underground and 18 men on the surface. In 1911 William Jones was still the manager and it employed 248 men.

Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited were one of the largest employers in the Coalfield in 1913, employing 8,584 men in 8 collieries, Cwmbargoed at that time worked with Penydarren and they employed 326 miners between them with the manager still being W. Jones. This figure had dropped to 280 men in 1916 when W. Davies was the manager. GKN Limited, who was a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association, worked Cwmbargoed for steam coals.

Also, see the Bargoed Longwork and Big Pit.

Some Statistics:

  • 1887: Manpower: 721.
  • 1892: Output: 77,048 tons.
  • 1893: Output: 80,533 tons.
  • 1894: Output: 76,374 tons.
  • 1895: Output: 78,495 tons.
  • 1899: Manpower: 261.
  • 1900: Manpower: 271.
  • 1901: Manpower: 289.
  • 1902: Manpower: 297.
  • 1903: Output: 71,531 tons.
  • 1905: Manpower: 237.
  • 1907: Manpower: 204.
  • 1909: Manpower: 172.
  • 1910: Manpower: 245.
  • 1911: Manpower: 248.
  • 1912: Manpower: 298.
  • 1913: Manpower: 326. Output: 57,515 tons.
  • 1914: Manpower: 285.
  • 1915: Manpower: 330.
  • 1916: Manpower: 280.
  • 1917: Manpower: 270.

 

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

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