Trehafod, Rhondda Valley (03759111)

The original sinking at Coedcae was carried out by Edward Mills, but he abandoned the sinking due to excessive water in the shafts.

Two brothers, David and John Thomas then purchased to the colliery in 1850 and completed the sinking to the No.3 Rhondda seam which was extensively worked at a thickness of between 32 inches to 36 inches.

Two shafts were sunk; the Old Pit being the upcast shaft, and the New Pit, the downcast shaft, the No.3 Rhondda seam was encountered at a depth of 115 yards.

The Thomas Brothers company; the Coedcae Coal Company was purchased by W.T. Lewis (later Lord Merthyr) in the 1870s who then formed the Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries Limited and sunk the Bertie and Trevor pits, which, along with the Hafod and Coedcae pits formed the Lewis Merthyr Colliery. The Coedcae pit continued to work the No.3 Rhondda seam for house coal while the other pits worked the deeper steam coal seams. It was deepened to the Hafod seam in 1890. It employed 220 men underground and 48 on the surface in 1896 when managed by Thomas Richards, 454 men underground and 61 men on the surface in 1908 employed 556 men in 1913, and in 1918 it employed 483 men underground and 83 men on the surface.  The manager in 1908 was H.H. Dacres, and in 1918 it was W. Moses.

The Lewis Merthyr Collieries were purchased by the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company Limited in 1929 which then closed the Coedcae pit as a production unit although it was kept open for pumping purposes until 1973.

On the afternoon shift of the 11th of February 1882, two men were working on a landing 50 yards from the pit top when an explosion killed both of them. Twenty minutes later a rescue party of four men started to descend the shaft and was killed by another explosion. Naked lights were used at this mine.

Some statistics:

  • 1896: Manpower: 268
  • 1899: Manpower: 303
  • 1900: Manpower: 322
  • 1901: Manpower: 386
  • 1905: Manpower: 301
  • 1908: Manpower: 515
  • 1913: Manpower: 556
  • 1918: Manpower: 566

 

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

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