BLAENHIRWAUN COLLIERY

Near Cross Hands (No.1: 547131. No.2: 548130)

This mine was located half a mile northeast of Great Mountain Colliery, one mile west of Cross Hands Colliery and 16 miles to the northwest of Swansea. It was curtailed by the 165 metre Tumble geological fault to the west and by the 365 metre Bryngwili fault to the west. There is one kilometre between the faults in the Big Vein but the distance narrows to 750 metres in the Pumpquart seam. The No.2 or downcast ventilation shaft was used for coal/men/material winding, it was 13 feet in diameter and 209 yards deep and could only transport a single tub at a time. The No.1 or upcast ventilation shaft was 10 feet in diameter and 160 yards deep to the Green Vein.

In 1908 there were 3 men sinking this mine and in 1911 there were 32 men on sinking operation, while by 1913 fifty men were employed by the Blaenhirwaun Colliery Company Limited opening up this mine. The manager during this period was John Lewis. The Blaenhirwaun Colliery Company Limited was formed in January 1909 with a capital of £30,000 in £1 shares. In 1913 it was the only deep mine that was working the anthracite Big Vein seam in the Gwendraeth Valley area. In 1915 it was owned by Simpson & Rogers and still employed 50 men with the same manager. By 1917 the hyphen had been introduced and Blaen-Hirwaun was now owned by SR Anthracite Collieries Limited who did not affiliate to the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association. In 1918 it employed 309 men underground and 104 men on the surface of the mine with the manager being J. Lewis. It was still under the ownership of SR in 1921 and 1927 when it employed 620 men with the manager being A. Williams. In 1930 it was in the hands of the receiver. By 1932 it was called either SR Anthracite Colliery or Blaenhirwaun, it was still managed by Andrew Williams and was owned by the New Blaenhirwaun Anthracite Collieries Limited who retained the mine until Nationalisation in 1947. In 1935 the manager was still A. Williams and it was working the Big Vein, Stanllyd and Pumpquart anthracite seams employing 343 men underground and 110 men on the surface. In 1943/5 the manager was W.B. Watkins and this mine employed 388 men underground in the Big, Green, Stanllyd and Pumpquart seams and 104 men on the surface. Upon Nationalisation in 1947 Blaenhirwaun came under the control of the National Coal Board’s South Western Division’s Area No.1 (Swansea), Group No.1 (Pontyberem). In 1949 Mr. Watkins was still the manager and it employed 417 men working underground and 98 men at the surface of the mine producing 100,000 tons of coal. By 1954 it was working the Big Vein, Stanllyd, Green, Gras, and Pumpquart seams employing 368 men underground and 81 men on the surface producing 68,267 tons of coal with the manager being I.R. Jeffreys. In 1955 there were 211 men employed on the coalfaces, this figure had dropped to 200 by 1956, and further to only 162 men working at the coalfaces in 1958. In 1954/55 this was one of 42 pits that concerned both the NUM and NCB over the high levels of accidents.

On the 6th of September 1955, an explosion on the Q coalface in the Pumpquart seam killed six miners and injured another eleven. This coalface was 85 yards long and at approximately 12.45pm an ignition of firedamp caused a flame to travel forty yards down the ‘face and forty to fifty yards the other way into the heading. All the men incurred burns with two being blown down the roadway by the blast. Those who were killed – J. Davies, N. Howells, R. Morris and W.H. Richards. Those who were fatally injured- D. Pennington and A.C. Phillips. Those who were injured- B.R. Burton, W. Cooper, C. Davies, H. Davies, S. Davies, S. Evans, V. James, M. Jones, D. Phillips., D.H. Rees and W.J. Wilson. Four where killed in the explosion and 13 others were injured. One of the injured died in hospital on the 18th and another on the 30th. September 1955. The full report into the disaster can be found here.

In 1962 the new deeper anthracite mines were coming into their own and needed manpower and this probably helped the decision to close Blaenhirwaun on the 1st September 1962. At that time the No.1 Group consisted of Blaenhirwaun, Carway, Cynheidre, Cross Hands, Great Mountain and Pentremawr collieries. Total manpower for the Group was 2,810, while total coal production was 465,810 tons.

Some Statistics:

  • 1907: Manpower: 29 surface only
  • 1908: Manpower: 3
  • 1910: Manpower: 57 sinking
  • 1911: Manpower: 32 sinking
  • 1913: Manpower: 50.
  • 1918: Manpower: 413.
  • 1922: Idle
  • 1923: Manpower: 585
  • 1924: Manpower: 605
  • 1925: Manpower: 609.
  • 1926: Manpower: 620
  • 1927: Manpower: 717
  • 1928: Manpower: 698.
  • 1929: Manpower: 698.
  • 1930: Manpower: 700
  • 1932: Manpower: 620.
  • 1933: Manpower: 511
  • 1934: Manpower: 453.
  • 1937: Manpower: 570
  • 1940/1: Manpower: 550.
  • 1942: Manpower: 497.
  • 1943/5: Manpower: 492.
  • 1948: Manpower: 515. Output: 100,000 tons.
  • 1950: Manpower: 458
  • 1953: Manpower: 452 Output: 98,000 tons
  • 1954: Manpower: 449. Output: 68,267 tons.
  • 1955: Manpower: 432. Output: 61,935 tons.
  • 1956: Manpower: 448. Output: 65,028 tons.
  • 1957: Manpower: 451. Output: 74,074 tons.
  • 1958: Manpower: 403. Output: 54,910 tons.
  • 1960: Manpower: 203. Output: 41,256 tons.
  • 1961: Manpower: 371. Output: 49,540 tons.
  • 1962: Manpower: 210.

 

Some of those who died at this mine:

  • 11/12/1924, Rhys Davis, Age: 40: Assistant repairer: While passing under a collar it slewed and hit him.
  • 6/01/1925, S.E. Sims, Age: 25: Hitcher: Two of five trams jumped the rails, the engineman stopped while he rerailed them when a second shackle broke and two trams ran back on him – skull fracture
  • 23/03/1925, Evan Davies, Age: 60: Labourer: As the cage was descending it jerked and the driver thought it had struck something at bottom – found that he had fallen out and had been killed.
  • 26/08/1925, David Evans, Age: 65: Roadman: Empty trams at the top of a dip had been pushed there by hitcher who forgot to put the rope on. Trams accelerated and became derailed and caught him.
  • 6/01/1926, W. Derbyshire, Age: 29: Collier: Walking out to pit bottom when there was a fall on the main road.
  • 30/05/1928, David Davies, Age: 26: Hitcher: There had been a stoppage due to the compressed air supply being cut, the haulage started after it was restarted. He was heard to shout and was seen scrambling along the double parting – ankle and pelvis fractured – fatal injuries.

 

 

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