Garth Collieries

GARTH COLLIERY
Near Maesteg, Llynfi Valley (86668999)

This colliery consisted of a series of two pits and levels that were opened in 1865 by John Brogden and Sons. The pits were 14 feet and 12 feet in diameter and were deepened to the Six-Feet seam at a depth of 250 yards in 1883.

In 1867 an explosion and the subsequent fire forced the owners to flood the pit in an attempt to put out the flames. It then remained idle for almost a year but by 1877 it was producing 350 tons of coal a day. In 1884 it was managed by W. Rees. In 1896 the Garth Merthyr Colliery Company employed 437 men underground and 67 men on the surface with the manager being Jonah Davies. In 1900 this colliery was purchased by Elders Navigation Collieries Limited, who under the directorship of Alfred L. Jones and W. J. Davey then held 1,600 acres of mineral rights and workable seams that totalled a thickness of 58 feet. This company was a subsidiary of the shipping line Elder Dempster Company.

In 1901 the shafts were again deepened, this time to the Lower Four-Feet seam which it found at a depth of 369 yards, and the Garth pits were then used as the downcast shafts to the Oakwood Colliery’s upcast shaft. The combined output of both pits was then 400,000 tons of coal and 75,000 tons of coke (there were 60 coke ovens in operation) with 930 men being employed. In 1908 E.J. Bevan was manager and the pit employed 888 men underground and 177 men on the surface. In 1913 Elders Collieries (1910) Limited were operating from the Merchants Exchange, Swansea and employed 500 men at the now Garth Merthyr Colliery with the manager being W. Morgans. By 1917 it was being worked by Celtic Collieries Limited which was a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association. In 1918 the manager was David Rees and it employed 616 men underground and 114 men on the surface.

In 1920 Garth Colliery came under the control of North’s Navigation Collieries (1899) Limited who employed 680 men at this pit in 1922. The Caedavid seam was abandoned in 1879 while the Garth Nos. 1,2,3 worked the Upper Blackband ironstone vein, No.2, 4 worked the Middle Blackband ironstone seam, No.4, 9 worked the Upper Blackband ironstone vein, No.6 worked the Yard, Twenty Inch, Two and a Half Feet, Caedavid and Victoria coal seams. Garth, Allens, Hopkins, and Lewis worked the White and Clay seams which were abandoned in May 1919. Garth Colliery was closed in 1930.

GARTH CELTIC COLLIERY
Maesteg

Garth Celtic or Merthyr Colliery was adjacent to Maesteg Merthyr Colliery and had a mineral take of 490 acres and consisted of two shafts originally sunk to the Caedefaid seam at a depth of 140 yards.

The South Pit was also called the No.1 and was the downcast ventilation shaft used for coal winding, it was 14 feet in diameter.

The North Pit, or No.2 was the upcast ventilation and pumping pit, it was 12 feet in diameter. In 1889 the downcast shaft was deepened to the Six-Feet seam at a depth of 250 yards, and the upcast shaft was deepened to the Red Vein to a depth of 270 yards. There were landings to work the Victoria seam at a depth of 62 yards and one at the Yard seam level at 102 yards deep. It was sunk to the south of the anticlinal ridge at the south of the Coalfield and therefore encountered difficult geological conditions and worked between 1867 and 1930.

It was opened by John Brogden and Sons who ran into financial difficulties within their empire and then went into receivership in 1878. The receiver formed the Lynvi and Tondu Company Limited possibly leased it out to James Humby who with others formed the Garth Merthyr Steam Navigation Collieries Limited in 1882. This company failed to turn the fortunes of the colliery and was placed in liquidation in 1885 and the colliery was closed. In 1888 a partnership consisting of John and Richard Cory, Ebenezer Lewis and James Barrow formed the Garth Merthyr Colliery Company who deepened the shafts to the steam coal seams in 1889. In 1900 Sir Alfred Jones purchased the colliery along with Oakwood Colliery as part of his new Elders Navigation Collieries Limited, the name was changed to Celtic Collieries Limited in 1910.

This mine was working the Clay coal seam around 1877 and the Caedavid seam around 1887 and the yard seam between 1884 and 1886. Due to a trade recession this colliery was not worked for fourteen months in 1880 and 1881.

At 5 pm on the 11th of June 1897 at this colliery an overwind of the cage caused the deaths of nine miners, among those who died were Edgar Howells aged 13 years, J.G. Thomas and George A. Kerman both aged 14 years and John Rees aged 16 years. At the other end of the life scale, on the 18th of November 1897, Evan Griffiths was 75 years of age when he was run over and killed.

In 1899 it was working the Upper-Four-Feet, Truro, Six-Feet, Red and Nine-Feet seams producing 450 tons of coal a day mainly from the Upper-Four-Feet seam. At that time it had 7,256 yards of underground roadways in use and employed 33 horses to pull 201 trams. In that year it produced 60,516 tons of large coal and 32,750 tons of small coal.

Along with Maesteg Merthyr, it abandoned the Six-Feet in 1903 and the Truro in 1904. It abandoned the New Seam in March 1926, and the Lower Four-Feet Seam in May 1927.

A book published by the Business Statistics Company in 1915 and titled ‘South Wales Coal and Iron Companies’ lists Elders Collieries Limited as now called Celtic Collieries Limited. It stated that; “This Company works the Garth and Maesteg Collieries at Llangonydd, Glamorganshire.” It valued its collieries at £243,984 with the company making a profit of £46,389 between 1911 and 1914. The board of directors consisted of, Sir Owen Phillips, Chairman, Charles E. Evans, David Jones, Philip Poore and O. Harrison Williams. It employed 1,001 men in 1907 and 700 men in 1916 when it was managed by W. Morgan and owned by Celtic Collieries Ltd.

In 1923 it employed 508 men working underground and 131 men working at the surface of the mine. Mr. Morgan was still the manager. In 1927 David Rees was the manager and it employed 700 men and produced 150,000 tons of coal. Mr. Rees was still the manager in 1930 when it employed 493 men working underground and 97 men working at the surface of the mine. At that time it was working the Two-Feet-Nine, Nine-Feet, Upper-Four-Feet and Seven-Feet seams.

The shafts were filled in 1968, and the colliery surface flattened to make way for the new Mill View housing estate.

Some statistics:

• 1899: Manpower: 468.
• 1900: Manpower: 426.
• 1901: Manpower: 397.
• 1902: Manpower: 391.
• 1903: Manpower: 397.
• 1905: Manpower: 536.
• 1907: Manpower: 1,001.
• 1909: Manpower: 1,065.
• 1910: Manpower: 411.
• 1911: Manpower: 1,170.
• 1912: Manpower: 691.
• 1916: Manpower: 700.
• 1920: Manpower: 700.
• 1923: Manpower: 639.
• 1927: Manpower: 700.
• 1928: Manpower: 652.
• 1930: Manpower: 590.

GARTH LEVELS
Numerous levels came under the Garth title including Allen’s levels at 869900, 869901 and 869902. The last of the No.3 closed in 1919. The Lewis Level was at 869902 with its air pit at 870902. It was closed in 1918. Lewis’ No.2 was closed in 1917 and was located at 868899 and consisted of two levels while the No.3 (868897) closed in March 1918. Hopkins levels were at 867898.

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