Pontyberem Colliery

Pontyberem, (617122)

This was an anthracite pit opened in 1845 by the Pontyberem Colliery Company Limited. The Pontyberem Old Pit or South Pit (50861082) was located 540 yards east-south-east of St. John’s Church and was sunk to just below the Ddugaled seam to a depth of 254 feet 10 inches.

The Big Vein was struck at a depth of 137 feet, the Green Vein at a depth of 150 feet and the Ddugaled seam at a depth of 248 feet 10 inches. The Pumpquart (Five-Quarter) or Gwendraeth Pit was located 320 yards to the east of St. John’s Church and was sunk to a depth of 450 feet. It struck the Gras Uchaf seam at a depth of 4 feet, the Gras Isaf seam at a depth of 36 feet 9 inches, the Braslyd seam at a depth of 115 feet 9 inches, the Gwern seam at a depth of 196 feet 10 inches, the Pumpquart seam at a depth of 429 feet 8 inches.

Its name was changed to Gwendraeth in 1907 and merged with Glynhebog Colliery.

It worked the Pumpquart and Trichwart seams together, it also worked the Braslyd, the Green Vein at a thickness of 36 inches, the Ddugaled seam at a thickness of between 34 to 42 inches, and a small area of the Big Vein at a section of between 36 to 84 inches, it abandoned both this seam and the Green seam in March 1918. The Gras Uchaf seam was worked at a thickness of between 27 to 32 inches. The main slant of the colliery was driven into the Carway Fach seam for 65 yards working a small amount of it at a section of 15 to 21 inches. It extensively worked the Carway Fawr seam at a section of between 39 to 45 inches. It was listed in 1878 as consisting of the Pontyberem Five-Quarter pit and the Pontyberem South pit and in 1882 as the Pump Quart Pit and South Pit under the ownership of the Pontyberem Collieries Company with the manager being T. Seymour. In 1883 it was still the Pumpquart and South Pits working.

In 1885/86 the Pumpquart slant was working the Big, Green, Braslyd and Gras seams while the Main Slant worked the Big, Green and Braslyd seams. In 1885 a 24 feet in diameter Waddle type ventilating fan was installed, with in 1896 another, this time 18 feet in diameter, Waddle fan being installed. In 1893 it was still owned by the Pontyberem Collieries Company of London and included the slants and the Glynhebog, the manager was still Thomas Seymour. In 1896 it employed 270 men underground and 85 men on the surface, the manager was still Thomas Seymour.

In the days before the welfare state you had to work until you dropped, as was the case of John Davies a fitter aged 74 years who was crushed to death at this colliery on the 30th of November 1900.

In 1901 the Glynhebog was shown to be working the Pumpquart seam on the pillar and stall method of coal extraction, using naked lights and a furnace for ventilation. The Slant was working the Big, Gauche and Green Veins on the long wall system of coal extraction and was using safety lamps and a steam-driven 24 feet blade Waddle fan for ventilation. It had the same manager in 1908 when the pit employed 107 men and the slant 364 men and worked the Big, Green and Grasucha seams while the Clynhebog slant worked the Lower Pumpquart seam.

In 1913 this colliery employed 650 men. In 1918 the pit employed 396 men and the slant 14 men the manager for both was D. Mainwaring. He was still the manager in 1923. The Pontyberem Colliery Company was purchased by the Ammanford Colliery Company, which in turn was purchased by the United Anthracite Collieries Limited in 1924, which was absorbed into Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Limited in 1926. In 1927 the manager was D. Mandry and it employed 667 men. Pontyberem Colliery gradually declined from the peak year of 1913 until in 1934 only eleven men were employed at the mine. The manager was still D. Mandry in 1934. In 1945 it had bounced back again with 249 men working underground and 86 men on the surface. T. Robinson was the manager.

It was in 1945 that Llanelli magistrates fined a collier £5 when he covered 22 ¼ hundredweights of stone with 1 ¼ hundredweights of coal in a tram and tried to claim a full tram of coal.

On Nationalisation of the Nation’s coal mines in 1947, Pontyberem Colliery was placed in the National Coal Board’s, South Western Division’s, No.1 (Swansea) Area, No.1 (Pentremawr) Group, and by that time had merged with Glynhebog and Great Mountain No.3 Colliery’s. Together they employed 32 men working at the surface of the mines and 55 men working underground in the Gwendraeth and Triquart seams. The manager was still T. Robinson who was there in 1949. Pontyberem Colliery was closed on the 15th of October 1949 but continued to be used as a training centre for recruits to the industry and as the site of central stores.

Some Statistics:

• 1896: Manpower: 355.
• 1899: Manpower: 376.
• 1900: Manpower: 388.
• 1901: Manpower: 376.
• 1902: Manpower: 384.
• 1903: Manpower: 359. Glynhebog: 110.
• 1905: Manpower: 322. Glynhebog: 102.
• 1907: Manpower: 324. Glynhebog: 103.
• 1908: Manpower: 364. Glynhebog: 107.
• 1909: Manpower: 471.
• 1910: Manpower: 519.
• 1911: Manpower: 364. Glynhebog: 113.
• 1912: Manpower: 221. Glynhebog: 354.
• 1913: Manpower: 650.
• 1915: Manpower: 205. Glynhebog 335.
• 1918: Manpower: 14. Glynhebog: 396.
• 1920: Manpower: 14. Glynhebog: 454.
• 1922: Manpower: 14. Glynhebog: 454.
• 1923: Manpower: 20. Glynhebog: 509.
• 1924: Manpower: 11. Glynhebog: 618.
• 1925: Manpower: 607.
• 1926: Manpower: 667.
• 1927: Manpower: 824.
• 1928: Manpower : Glynhebog: 407 Pumpquart No.4: 269.
• 1930: Manpower: 11. Glynhebog: 600.
• 1934: Manpower: Glynhebog: 542.
• 1937: Manpower: Glynhebog: 445.
• 1938: Manpower: Glynhebog: 443.
• 1940: Manpower: 351.
• 1941: Manpower: 353.
• 1942: Manpower: 372.
• 1944: Manpower: 434.
• 1945: Manpower: 335.
• 1947: Manpower: 87.
• 1949: Manpower: 91. Output: 10,000 tons.
• 1950: Manpower: 27.

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