Garn Colliery

Near Blaenavon, Afan Lwyd Valley (225101)

This colliery consisted of a pit, slope and level and was approximately one mile to the northwest of Big Pit. The pit was sunk c1839 by the Blaenavon Iron Works Company to feed their Iron Works with early ventilation by furnace at pit-bottom. It was closed as a production unit in 1903. It was managed in 1878 and 1888 by P. Williams who managed all of the Blaenavon’s Company’s mines. This company was reformed in 1880 into the Blaenavon Company Limited, and sunk the No.2 or Garn Slope in 1881. The new drift was opened in 1925.

In 1888 the Garn Level was working the Horn Coal (Lower-Nine-Feet) seam, the pit was working the Old Coal (Five-Feet/Gellideg) and Bydelog coal seams, and the Bottom Vein Mine iron ore seam. In 1896 the Garn Pits employed 137 men underground and 27 men on the surface working the Old Coal, Bydelog and Bottom Vein ironstone seam while in 1908 the manager was C. Davies and along with Kays and Milfraen it employed 957 men underground and 175 men on the surface. It possibly suffered a temporary shutdown in 1913 as there were no miners attributed to it in that year. Quite the reverse had happened by 1935 when this colliery employed 700 men on the surface and 1,500 men underground producing steam, gas and house coals. The manager at that time was W. Lewison. In 1938 E. Turner was the manager and the pit employed 576 men underground and 114 men on the surface, these figures were 549/137 respectively in 1943/5 when W.C. Morris was manager and was working the Yard, Black and Meadow Vein seams.

On Nationalisation in 1947 this colliery was placed in the National Coal Board’s, South Western Division’s, No.6 (Monmouthshire) Area and at that time employed 137 men on the surface and 541 men underground working the Yard, Nine-Feet, Meadow Vein, and Garw seams. The manager was still W.C. Morris who was still there in 1949. In 1956 this colliery employed a total of 735 men, 315 of them working at the coalfaces by 1958 the coalface figure was down to 292 men.

Garn Colliery was merged with Kay’s Slope in 1958 and with Big Pit on the first of January 1961, and finally closed in 1966.

Up until 1947 thirty miners died at this mine, seventeen died under roof falls, five died in haulage accidents and eight due to other causes. These are some of them:

• 10/05/1854, John Jones, Age: 35: Haulier: Fell from the carriage,  intoxicated.
• 31/05/1854, David Thomas, Age: 66: Collier: Fall of the roof.
• 4/08/1859, Thomas Sanders, Age: 50: Collier: Fall of stone over coal.
• 16/10/1862, Thomas Haywood, Age: 45: Miner: Fall of clod on 16th.
• 21/06/1864, William Smith, Age: 15: Haulier: Fell under trams which he was riding sitting on the cross in front and was so injured that he died 2 days later.
• 24/07/1866, William Austin, Age: 32, Collier: Killed in the Garn slope workings by fall of stone from the roof.
• 14/11/1866, Thomas Williams, Age: 38: Fireman: Died in the discharge of his duty whilst examining workplaces before the men went in the morning. Fall of the roof in the Garn Slope workings and was found dead.
• 11/04/1867, James Davis, Age: 22: Haulier: A full tub was standing at the bottom of the incline and he went with his brother (who is the onsetter) to get him to assist in bringing it to the bottom and they took out the sprag for that purpose but it started with great violence and he was unable to replace the sprag and the chain struck him against the side wall and killed him.
• 2/05/1868, Edward Hall, Age: 25: Hitcher: He slipped and fell on the slope whilst the engine was in motion and the rope carried him into the drum.
• 14/04/1869, John Watkins: Fall of a large stone.
• 3/11/1870, David Walter, Age: 12: Doorboy: Scalded by water from exhaust steam in the Garn pit.
• 3/10/1874, Thomas Lane, Age: 38: Collier: Fall of coal in Garn Slope.
• 1/12/1880 Thomas Watkins, Age: 23: Miner: Struck his head against some timber whilst riding on a tram and died the following day.
• 28/07/1884, William Revening, Age: 21: Collier: He went back a few yards from the face to fetch some tools, and a lump of coal about four cwt. fell upon him.
• 7/04/1887 Jacob Howey, Age: 16: Labourer: Injured April 7th and died May 17th. He received a blow in the side from a piece of stick used as a lever for the brake.
• 9/08/1888, John Davis, Age: 21: Smiths striker: In the smithy through the bursting of a short iron tube made into a roller for the rope on an engine plane to work over. There were cast iron ends in this roller for the spindles or axles one of which required repairs. It was put into the smith’s fire and in five or six minutes it burst and killed this man.
• 3/09/1889, William Parry, Age: 14: Colliers boy: Fall of roof
• 29/07/1910, Samuel Waters, Age: 60: Roadsman: Run over by tram drawn by horse.
• 22/10/1929, Gabriel Baker: Roof fall. 2 injured.

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